Using water before and during shave

[Fred D]

During the first pass ,the blade edge except cutting the facial hair ,it scrapes the skin .A soft peeling action indeed.

Small particles of whiskers ,dead skin cells ,dust and atmospheric debris ,a variety of bacteria including staphylococcus species ,various fungus spores,skin acari ,etc are left to the shaved skin .
It is a wise practice to rinse the skin with plenty of water ,before applying lather for a second pass( or third ,or fourth ! )
Otherwise ,the blade edge can
potentially push them inside the skin and inflammation or even worse ,an infection can occur .

Do not forget : We shave using a really sharp blade.
A rather excellent way for skin tissue to go septic...

Always clean thoroughly the
area that is going to be shaved.Before,during and after the shave.

It's simply a matter of hygiene.

This is why I always rinse between each pass.

 

[dan86]

Water before the shave is a must for me. 9 times out of 10 I shave after a shower but on that rare time I don’t I fill the sink with water and submerge my face and neck in it. I tend to use a facial scrub before I shave too so I wet the face before applying the scrub and then wash the scrub residue off before lathering up.

I don’t bother with water during the shave now. I just re-lather between passes but I always, always, always have a rinse after the shave.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

I once had a barber in Hong Kong shave me with a straight razor, no water or lather, but he did use oil. I didn’t want a shave but the barber didn’t speak English and I didn’t speak Cantonese, so I can only assume he had asked me if I wanted it and he was guessing that I said “yes, please”.

Anyway it was just an awful shave. Maybe the Chinese have different stubble to Europeans and it works ok for them. For me he gave up after his first attempt at a stroke on my neck and realised it wasn’t going to cut. I’m not sure his razor was entirely sharp either. If it had been it certainly wasn’t any more after he had half shaved my dry beard.

He still charged me for it.

 

[Mr D. Caff]

I mostly always take a hot shower before shaving, but I always splash on very warm water prior to initial lathering and between passes. This is the way I was taught decades ago and it's worked for me. And I found that if I don't warm and hydrate enough before shaving it's noticeably uncomfortable so I wouldn't even try the dry route. If you're old enough to remember going to the barber shop in years past, or watching an old movie and seeing men in the barber shop getting a shave, the barber always wrapped a steaming hot towel over the mans face prior to shaving. There's a reason for that.....hot moisture does soften the beard. All that said, dry obviously works for some, just nothing I'm going to try.

Hot moisture does help but I have been cold water shaving for years and have found it to be just as good.

 

[Mr D. Caff]

Water before the shave is a must for me. 9 times out of 10 I shave after a shower but on that rare time I don’t I fill the sink with water and submerge my face and neck in it. I tend to use a facial scrub before I shave too so I wet the face before applying the scrub and then wash the scrub residue off before lathering up.

I don’t bother with water during the shave now. I just re-lather between passes but I always, always, always have a rinse after the shave.

Is it ok to wash my face with a glycerin soap after shaving? I use a preshave oil with lather.

 

[Dapper Gent]

Hot moisture does help but I have been cold water shaving for years and have found it to be just as good.

The old saying comes into play again.....YMMV.
You've found what works for you and that's what it's all about. (BTW, lots of folks like cold better.)

 

[Possum092]

Add water as needed to keep everything slick. Add soap/cream as needed. The blade feel will give the feedback when to apply more. Cheers.

 

[macintoshBR]

There is no right or wrong way, as long as you don’t leave the faucet running while shaving. That’s wrong. Don’t be that kind of person.

 

[Dave himself]

Hot moisture does help but I have been cold water shaving for years and have found it to be just as good.

I'm a newbie and I've been cold water shaving for a couple of months and I've found it to be better for me than warm watter. It's like the gents have said on this thread what ever works for you. Also if I'm using a soap with good residual slickness I'll just damp my face with a handful of water instead of rinsing I'm probably wrong but I don't see the sense in rinsing all the slickness of your face before starting another pass. Like we all agree it's what ever works best for us as individuals