It just occurred to me that on this morning's shave, I did not shower, and did not use the hotel face towel routine. Washing my face with warm water and soap is all I did. It's a little early to draw any major conclusions, but it's possible that with a 24-hour beard, I do not need to soak it with the hot face towel beforehand to get a great shave. A 48-hour beard might be another animal entirely . . . but then I'm almost certainly going to shower before I tackle a 2-day beard.