Thanks Paul. I do either or. If tge water is super cold in the winter I wait till warm water is coming out. In the summer I just get my brush wet and start the process. So I got my motorcycle together and ready to ride. Had a few minutes so I changed the oil in the car too. All before 1100. Ready to rock. If I got some tome I'll give a shave report. all Enjoy tp
Been thinkin'... A while back I thought I might save some time (wow! an entire 30-40 seconds of the shave!! ) by not splashing my face with water between passes. Epiphany - there's a reason it's called, "Wet Shaving", the face must be wet. A face wetted before lathering made for a slicker surface for the razor to glide over, thus a more comfortable shave. Well, DUH!!
But isn't that what you use lather for? [edit: It dawned on me that this could seem a bit snarky. I certainly didn't mean it that way. A between pass rinse is very common. I do it myself sometimes, but not always. I just lather up for the next pass. So maybe there's a question there: where does the necessary slickness (lubrication) for shaving come from? The interim rinse or from the next application of lather? Surely it ALL contributes to the lubrication of the next pass, but I've always taken it as an opportunity to clean the deck as it were, and conduct a hands-on appraisal of the just finished pass.] I'll often do touchups applying just water to activate the residual slickness. It's amazing just how much there is.
I think I understand why you’re having a difficult time with folks’ replies. In an effort to eliminate unnecessary words and concepts that you don’t want or need I can boil my WOW moments to these ideas: Cold water Face lathering A fresh, sharp blade Negative pressure Aftershave Shea butter
The water and the lather complement each for even more lubrication. Each one on its own is slick, together they are "slicker-er"! And see? You answered your own question - water added to the lather increases the slickeryness! That's why if I had to choose, I'd take a thinner lather (more water) than a thicker lather that may be dryer (read - less lubrication). Fortunately I can whip my own lather and get it the way I want it.
Suit yourself. Sorry to have wasted everybody's time. I didn't think that getting a great shave needed to be such a drawn out and complicated process. I should have known better. Anyway, it's much more interesting to learn what brush, blade, razor and soap people are using everyday.
At first I said, decide to have fun. That is still first. Nobody needs another chore. then… sharp steel wet slippery suds low angle light touch stretch the skin take care.
Boy, it's not a waste of time. Things just got off on the wrong foot, and I am responsible for that to some degree. I hesitate to modify the question because I do not want to hijack the thread. At the risk of doing that I will say that the one concept that improved my shave was accepting the fact that multiple passes are necessary thus allowing for use of minimal pressure. Now that realization goes back more years than I care to admit.
I’m a relatively recent straight shaver (about 2yrs), but I do shave daily using the same soap, MWF, for the most part, and after shaving my face with the straight, do my head with a safety razor. A revelation for me was that my shaves proceeded more positively when I use a thinner, more watery lather for my mug shave, and a thicker, more protective lather for my dome shaves. I bowl lather, as it fits my process better (i.e. mug shave first, followed by a noggin shave. Thus I first build the thinner lather for the mug, and when it’s time for the noggin, return to the lather and beat it like it owes me money until it is appropriately thick. The straight razor revelation for me was recognizing it’s all about the edge and continuous movement. I do spend every evening preparing the straight razor for the next day’s shave unless I will be shaving with one of my two shavettes. Using a Feather Super in my shavettes also provides the benchmark for my straight edges. The shave itself is just the best part of my day, takes place in the early morning, and sets the tone for the rest of the day for me. It’s a meditative experience that is truly the highlight of my day. My safety razor shaves are always good. I spent 50 yrs shaving with the same Schick Krona until it gave up the ghost. My only experience with carts was the Omnishaver, which my oldest son bought me for my head shaves. I used it three times, but developed ingrown hairs on the back of my head, so returned to my known and trusted SEs and DEs for my dome shaves.
I'm sure I've had many shaving "wow" moments, but the ones I remember the most are hardware moments. When I started wet shaving, everyone talked about how luxurious silvertip badger was. I got one. It was floppy. I hated it instantly. About five or six years after that, Fido decided he was going to retire, and clearanced his remaining stock of New Forest brushes and do free worldwide shipping. I decided to get one for £25, and the dollar was really strong against the pound. That brush was a two band badger knot with a hand turned handle. That was when I realized just because a brush was floppy, didn't mean they all were. The second brush moment was when I used a Shavemac D01 two band for the first time, and again after it was broken in. The first use was like rubbing a velvet covered eraser on my face. After it was broken in, which took about a month of daily use, it's the only badger knot I've used that has the backbone of a boar brush, and the stiffness of the hairs in the densely packed knot has continued to be sturdy and springy, despite near daily use. I remember the first times I used a Rolls Razor, straight razor, DE razor, injector razor, Gillette adjustable, a Weck medical prep shavette, a modern DE razor (Blackland Blackbird), a Valencia Slant, a shake sharp, a Gillette red tip, a Cooper MonoBilt, @twhite 's TAR, a Gem Micromatic, a Bigalow & Parkins travel razor, a Gillette Tech Slant, a 1936 British open comb Aristocrat, a No. 52 Aristocrat Junior, and most recently, the Tedalus Essence. Each razor in the above list stood out in a way that was memorable either due to the superb shave it gave, or because the razor shaved well and also was a genuinely unique and well made design. First time using Feather blades of any type (except single edged carbon blades) is always an eye opening experience and will forever be found under the definition of the word "sharpest."
As much as I would like to give credit to the modern advances that science has made in neon-colored goopy canned gells, the real credit goes to the invention of plastic cartridges having lots and lots and lots of blades. Now anyone can get consistently great shaves, and we can look back in pity on those poor souls of yesteryear who had to make due with clumsy DE blades, foul smelling soaps, and poorly designed razors that few men were ever able to master.