Cold water shaving

Hello,
 I just tried my first cold water shave.  Ouch! I also prepared mild facial soap with cold water. I experienced a lot of tugging, and in some places it ripped the hairs out and i had small bleeding are. My mustache area is is red and irritated.The reason i tried cold water is because my face gets sensitive after a warm/hot shave. What am i doing wrong? Should i do a hot water prep first, then shave with cold water?

Hi Slim. It sounds like you're not prepping enough.

I'm a cold water shaver, too. Although I shower in the morning, I mostly shave at night, and my beard is always soft and ready to be mowed down. First I wash my face with soap and cold water, then rinse thoroughly with cold water. Next I apply Proraso Red pre-shave balm to my wet face. With my face still wet I load the brush - heavily. Then I begin working the soap into my beard. This part (face lathering) takes about 5 minutes.

If you've been a bowl latherer, try face lathering instead. The time you spend building a good lather on your face is what will soften your whiskers. Add a few drops of water at a time to your brush and continue working the lather. Then add a few more drops. You want the lather to be as full of water as possible - without being runny, obviously. If you've loaded enough product, with enough water in the mix you should have (I hate saying this) gobs of rich, thick, moist lather.

It takes waaaay longer to build my lather than it does to do one pass. Try it. The longer you prep, the better your shaves will be. Use lots of water. Prep, prep, prep. Then shave. If necessary do one less pass on your problem areas. Rinse with cold water. Apply alum. Rinse with cold water. Apply a little more of the P-Red balm as a post shave, then rinse again.

Good luck. Let us know how things work out.

I'm a cold water shaver as well. I wet my face with cold water and apply pre shave oil. I let that speak in while I build my lather in a bowl. Once my lather is ready, I wet my face and apply my soap. As mentioned above, face lathering would work as well, but I get irritation from face lathering so I have to use a bowl.

More prep and maybe a sharper blade. What's your setup?

Cold water shaver here too. I actualy prefer it over the conventional way, I find my skin to be more sensitive and prone to irritation if I didn't shave with cold water.

Does this happen with the same setup if you hot water shave? 

You might want to check out other blade and razor configurations if this is the case.

(10-17-2016, 05:19 PM)david1201 Wrote: More prep and maybe a sharper blade. What's your setup?

My setup is gillette tech, gillette 7 0clock yellow, stirling almond soap, Vulfix 2236s.I think next shave ill try to prep with hot water, and then shave with cold. my shave that ended in disaster was a prep with cold water.

(10-17-2016, 09:42 PM)Slim Wrote:

(10-17-2016, 05:19 PM)david1201 Wrote: More prep and maybe a sharper blade. What's your setup?

My setup is gillette tech, gillette 7 0clock yellow, stirling almond soap, Vulfix 2236s.I think next shave ill try to prep with hot water, and then shave with cold. my shave that ended in disaster was a prep with cold water.

Whatever works for you, but I get much better shaves prepping with cold water (ice water in fact).  Might try a Kai blade or even a Feather as they are a little sharper than the yellows IMO.

I have been cold water shaving for about 3 years now and have had none of your issues. I just wet my face with cold water, face lather up and shave. Your gear sounds good so maybe it is a lather and/or angle on the razor issue? You have to experiment to see what works for you.

Bob

Right, gillette tech's are already very mild.. hmm..

 Have you tried other blades with cold water shaving?

I'm thinking more prep may help.  For most, taking a bath, including washing your face before shaving will cover good prep. Good facial prep without a shower takes three minutes for most.

Also, you might try water that is a little warmer, but not hot.

Never realized that a lot of us like cold water shaving. I find that my post shave is far more comfortable with cold water. The ironic part is that I always take a hot shower first.

There was a time when tracking down hot water meant heating it over an open fire. Waaay too much trouble, so having done it the hard way for a year, I just go for hot water nowadays. I'm sure it works well though, because there are a great many guys doing it cold.

When I was using cartridges like Mach 3, there were times I used cold water to shave with. But now, I don't prefer it. I like using my scuttle, the warm lather is a luxury. In my opinion, hot water is a must, especially in winter months. I can understand why some gentlemen prefer the cold water though. It can reduce the irritation and redness, but then again that could be a prep problem. Another YMMV thing.

(10-17-2016, 09:42 PM)Slim Wrote:

(10-17-2016, 05:19 PM)david1201 Wrote: More prep and maybe a sharper blade. What's your setup?

My setup is gillette tech, gillette 7 0clock yellow, stirling almond soap, Vulfix 2236s.I think next shave ill try to prep with hot water, and then shave with cold. my shave that ended in disaster was a prep with cold water.

Do you only use Stirling Almond soap? Almond is a pretty common ingredient that reacts poorly to skin. That may be whats causing irritation during cold or hot water shaves

I'm a happy C.W. shaver and have to believe you need to re-think your prep and/or maybe consider a new shave soap.

I shave with warm water.  But I do occasionally shave, rinsing my razor under cold water.  I heard about that tip from one of Con Kazanzitis' videos.
It's a different experience that rinsing under warm or hot water.  I've tried cold water lathering/shaving, but cold water razor rinsing is all I can handle.

When I used to use warm or hot water, my shave gear always had a soap film all over. Cold water does not do this. It's as if the heat causes the soap to separate, I think.

I prep my cold water shave with a cold water shower first.

Kidding. In all seriousness, I started cold water shaves a few weeks ago and I am having great results. I have even come to enjoy the feeling of cold Steel on my face. I will be keeping this up.

Interesting thread. 
I find that I get a lousy shave even when I use even lukewarm water. I have never tired cold though. I may have to give it a shot.

(11-08-2016, 11:25 AM)JesusShaves Wrote: Interesting thread. 
I find that I get a lousy shave even when I use even lukewarm water. I have never tired cold though. I may have to give it a shot.

The colder the better!  Cold tap water doesn't make much of a difference for me.  Best shaves are when I add a glass of ice to my basin - results in a closer shave, less irritation, fewer weepers.