Old book: lather to stiffen hairs instead of soften?

[AVH]

Hi all,

The general concensus seems to be that one uses hot water & lather to soften the beard hairs.

However, I recently came across an old book about straight shaving (Shaving Made Easy, 1905), that states the following:

The popular impression is that the soap is used for the purpose of softening the beard, in which condition it is supposed to be most easily cut.
This is a mistake. The soap is used, not to soften the beard, but to produce exactly the opposite effect—namely, to make the hair stiff and brittle, so that they will present a firm and resisting surface to the razor.

A hair, as is well known, is a tube composed of a hard fibrous substance, growing from a bulb or root, which secretes an oily matter. This oil works its way up through the hair, and by permeating all parts, renders the hair soft and pliable. Now in this natural oily condition, it is very difficult to cut the hair with a razor, and it becomes even more difficult if the beard be made still softer by the application of hot water.
Many do this, and it is no wonder they find shaving difficult. When this is done, the hairs become soft and limp, and the razor will either slip over them entirely, or else cut partly into them, bend them back and slice them lengthwise, all the while pulling and straining them at the roots, and making the process of shaving most painful.

Now soap has the opposite effect. It contains either alkali, potash or soda, which when applied to the beard in the form of lather, unites with the oil of the hair, neutralizing it and removing it, and renders the hairs hard stiff and brittle—in which condition they may be easily and readily cut.

For the sake of cleanliness, the face should, of course, be washed previous to shaving in order to remove any dirt or grit from the beard, which might dull the razor; but before applying the lather, the face should be well dried with a towel.

So what do you guys think about this passage? Could it be correct? Are we doing it all wrong?

 

[Mr. O]

It makes sense to me.

 

[drewmac]

Very interesting! Did you find the book on the internet? I can't imagine it is still copyrighted and must be free somewhere.

 

[mmack66]

Shaving Made Easy

 

[drewmac]

Shaving Made Easy

That was fast!

 

[AVH]

Yep, that's the one!

If this book is right, would that mean that a DE shave will also be improved by not using hot water?
Would that mean that the hot-towel treatment / Kyle's prep / hot shower are not as good for your shaving experience as they seem?

 

[Dharion]

IMO the truth lies in between. Some parts stiffen and the hairs stand up. And some parts 'soften'. Like the skin the beard grows on when properly moisturized.
The lather removes oil and adds water but that doesn't necessarily mean the hair stiffens. If stiffen means standing up and gaining volume (every looked at your beard when it's moiturized?) then this is true. But it's a little bit more than that, I think.

 

[DonOhio]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eONHUKwcd9Y

[I am so, so sorry.]

 

[DonOhio]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEfp6gyroag&NR=1

Seriously - does dry shaving lead to psychosis? Vice versa?

 

[Gafer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eONHUKwcd9Y

[I am so, so sorry.]

The knife across the face didn't bother me but dry shaving with a disposable razor made me cringe.

Don't believe everything you read in an old book. For example, there are books out there that assert that the earth is at the center of our universe and we know now that ain't true. Still others claim that Massachusetts will always have a democratic senator. Ok, I just HAD to get that one in.

 

[pauls51]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEfp6gyroag&NR=1

Seriously - does dry shaving lead to psychosis? Vice versa?

Oh dear... I think you may be onto something

 

[AVH]

Seriously - does dry shaving lead to psychosis? Vice versa?

Not shaving leads to crazyness too; check out this (and the rest of the book if you're in for a good laugh)

Don't believe everything you read in an old book. For example, there are books out there that assert that the earth is at the center of our universe and we know now that ain't true. Still others claim that Massachusetts will always have a democratic senator. Ok, I just HAD to get that one in.

 

[DonOhio]

Still others claim that Massachusetts will always have a democratic senator.

If they still do after last night, they're probably dry shavers.

Technically they do still have one...

 

[Gafer]

If they still do after last night, they're probably dry shavers.

Technically they do still have one...

Good point. I suppose I should edit my post to say "Massachusetts will always have two democratic senators." That's what I get for trying to be a smarty pants.

 

[DonOhio]

Hey, don't sweat it; I forgot it too until the wife pointed out there's two.

As for dry shaving, I've tried it enough to not try again and not recommend it to anyone with any more beard than a 12 year old's peach fuzz, or Leonardo DiCaprio.

 

[Topgumby]

Sir Bedevere: ...and that, my liege, is how we know the Earth to be banana shaped.
King Arthur: This new learning amazes me, Sir Bedevere. Explain again how sheep's bladders may be employed to prevent earthquakes.

 

[spremino]

Hi all,

The general concensus seems to be that one uses hot water & lather to soften the beard hairs.

However [...]

So what do you guys think about this passage? Could it be correct? Are we doing it all wrong?

It makes sense to me. Soap does make hair brittle, try washing your hair with regular soap.

I think your goal is making your hair brittle (with soap) and soft (with water and moisturizers).

 

[SiBurning]

How do they know the hair gets hard, stiff, and brittle? Did they measure it? Even today, if anyone's sure about what's going on, they're not telling. The only things there's some consistency about is that hair takes on water and swells by about 15%, and there's something happening with friction. The friction studies suggest that skin and hair both have more friction when wet. Beyond that, it's probably all speculation. The only published studies that even have a claim to accuracy are about elongation stress and strain, which probably has nothing to do with shaving. It's not like shaving pulls the hair to make it break.

I think they made it up, like everyone else is still doing 100 years later.

There are proprietary labs doing tests, and they all seem to agree that hair softens when wet, and they claim a few things that are based on their unpublished studies. Maybe they know something, and maybe they just ask their test subjects how different things feel.

 

[Mohillian]

What was the movie where the kid was learning shaving and the mafia guy told him to run the blade in cold water, not hot to keep it sharp?

 

[Sharpj74]

Awesome find & interesting read. Makes great sense. Thanks for sharing.