The bottom line is to use what works for you and what is enjoyable to you. Personally, I'm in a state of transition between cold and hot. About a year ago, I joined the cold water camp and genuinely felt I was getting better results. Recently, though, I've switched from soaps to creams and find I need to have hotter water in order to rinse out the razor, etc. Right now, I'd say that I'm warm water shave, cold water rinse.
I soak the brush in hot water. I fill the sink with hot water and put my shave bowl in the hot water to heat up. I bloom the soap with hot water. I apply a hot wet towel to my face for a couple minutes in preparation. I apply the hot bloom water to my face. I load the brush and lather in the hot bowl adding hot water as needed. Dip the razor in the sink filled with hot water. I rinse with hot water between passes. I do a final rinse with hot water. Clean all equipment with hot water. Then go sit by the hot fire in the wood stove.
Prep, lather, shave, wash off soap residue> HOT water...Final rinse> COLD water, I find it helps soothe my face and close my pours, before I apply the Nivea after shave balm..
Expansion and contraction, doesnt need muscle lol I take a hot shower then shave with cold water. Sometimes I will use hot but I have no real preference. Usually by the time I take a shower, everyone else in my family has taken all the hot water and I get a cool shower. Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk
Only half right. The pores don't do anything. The skin around the pores is what expands and contracts. Hot water vs. cold actually works opposite of what most people think. Hot water makes the skin swell, reducing access to the pores. I'm still not sure why pores are such a common topic of discussion in shaving. Hair grows from follicles, not pores.
As my son(1st Lt. Infantry) says, "The Army makes you miserable enough while you're working. Absolutely no reason to be miserable when you're not. Warm water for me, shower or shave." Haven't been able to get him to give up his carts and goo.
"Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he, will not depart from it." Prov. 22:6 Problem is, we don't know how old "old" is!
I've always just turned the faucet on medium and got started with my shave wether the water was cool or medium warm. As a kid I was always told to conserve water. So I guess that is the reason why. I seem to recall using warm water once to see if it made a difference. Didn't notice one. So I just stuck with what I had been doing.
@Ksblazer you mean you've sitting on the toilet for too bloody long and you still can't squeeze out it hard enough, and then you end up having a cold water shave to cool your face down from blood rushing out of your head too soon.
I use luke warm water year round. I drop the brush in the sink and turn on the hot water while getting out my kit. By the time I turn off the water and pull the brush out, it doesn't really have time to get all that hot. I do this year round.
It depends, sometimes I use cold water and other times warm water. The water from the tap is cold as hell so sometimes I have to mix a little bit of hot water so its not completely unbearable. For the most part I would consider myself a cold water shaver. Experiment with both and see which works best for you.
Mostly this for me. But it also depends on the soap I am using, and my soaps tend to be lighter and citrusy in the summer, and earthy cologne tobacco in the winter. It's a mood/feel thing. If I am using Glacial Lemon soap, even in the winter it's a cold water thing. It just feels right. By that same token, if I am using a darker leather scent even in the summer, I like hot water.
