Pre Shave Methodology

[jbcohen]

I might do a hot towel treamtment on myself this week-end. How do you do a hot towel treatment before the shave? How do you heat the towel? Might be interesting to do.

[Mottern Man]

1. Helps to soften beard
2. Feels good
3. I just run a washcloth under piping hot water, let it cool off a bit so you can touch it, wring it out, put it on face and neck.
4. Enjoy!

[jbcohen]

Good idea will experiment with this. on the week-end.

[TraderJoe]

I typically will only have time to use a hot towel on the weekends. IT works wonders.

I also like to put a "pre-shave" on before applying the towel. Something with menthol can be nice, but any pre-shave oil or cream works well for me.

Man, put some pre-shave on, apply a hot towel.........the whiskers just melt away. Razor optional

[rick]

Fill your sink with hot water.
While you soak your brush, dunk the washcloth in.
Wring out and place on yo face for about 15-20 sec. Repeat. Repeat.
Usually 3x is good for me.
........saves some water, dont ya know

[qhsdoitall]

Originally Posted by rick

Fill your sink with hot water.
While you soak your brush, dunk the washcloth in.
Wring out and place on yo face for about 15-20 sec. Repeat. Repeat.
Usually 3x is good for me.
........saves some water, dont ya know

Dampen towel and nuke it in the microwave for 20-30 seconds (YMMV). Careful. Very hot. Saves water though.

[rick]

Originally Posted by qhsdoitall

Dampen towel and nuke it in the microwave for 20-30 seconds (YMMV). Careful. Very hot. Saves water though.

doin whats right for the CA !!
I use the same sink full O water for the entire process. Start to finish. Not much waste there at all.
I also try to conserve in the shower by wetting down and shutting off the H2O in between lathering.
but thats not important here.....

[jbcohen]

I like Mottern Man's method best, just my humble opinion. May try some pre-shave with this.

[qhsdoitall]

Originally Posted by rick

doin whats right for the CA !!
I use the same sink full O water for the entire process. Start to finish. Not much waste there at all.
I also try to conserve in the shower by wetting down and shutting off the H2O in between lathering.
but thats not important here.....

Santa Clara County is petitioning to expand the water treatment plant. Toilet water to drinking water. How's that for recycling?

[fritz]

My thoughts on hot towels, from trying them a lot...
If you have a really tough, wiry, and also dense beard, then hot towels (and other preps) can make an enormous difference in the quality of your shaves. If you've the kind of beard where you wash your face and shave one pass ATG, then replace your Dorco blade every Sunday whether it needs it or not, then you probably don't need this.

I find a washcloth is much too small, and use hand towels about 16x24 inches. If you use a thick, soft towel, and don't wring it out too dry, then it won't cool off so fast. Pass it under your nose, over your ears, and take the flap hanging down and pull it up close around the neck. Rub your hands over it to help transfer the heat.

Here's a prep that I have found to get my very tough beard almost down to peach fuzz. You might try the full thing, then subtract out parts of it to find the minimum things that YOU need to get YOUR beard as soft as it needs to be for a comfortable shave.

1. Wet face with warm water.
2. Smear on generous amount of Noxzema Deep Cleansing Cream (original). Include your forehead and nose if you wish. Massage into beard with fingers.
3. Shower, washing face last, scrubbing well with rough cloth and soap.
4. Onto wet face, apply about 1 teaspoon (5 ml) of the following mix: 2 parts extra virgin olive oil, 2 parts castor oil (USP) and one part glycerin (USP). Shake well before dispensing. Rub in well with hands.
5. Apply very damp hot towel for at least 2 minutes, refreshing with new hot water as needed.
6. Rinse face with fairly hot water, scrubbing with wet towel about 30-60 seconds or so.
7. Apply Proraso pre-shave.
8. Apply light coat of lather. Rub in with fingers or brush for 30-60 seconds. Let stand another 30 seconds.
9. Rinse with warm water, lather up and shave. Just before the ATG pass, rub a little of the oil mix on your face before applying the lather.

NOTES:

* Noxzema is dirt cheap and seems to work well.
* In step 3, the shower is optional if you wish to shower after shaving. But the Noxzema needs to sit for a few minutes, and be scrubbed off with soap.
* Steps 4-6 are the major softening parts. The scrubbing part is important, to wash away most of the applied oil, along with the oil/dirt it has removed from your face and beard.
* For step 7, some other pre-shaves can be substituted for the Proraso. It may be possible to eliminate it, or to use a little Noxzema instead. I just like Proraso.
* For step 8, It's handy to just stroke a little Arko shave stick over the Proraso, lather with a wet brush for about a minute, then let it sit while you build more lather in a bowl with cream or another soap.
* For step 9, for the ATG and/or touch-up passes, I usually squeeze the brush out and get all the leftover lather in my left hand, then apply with my fingers. Some have expressed concern that the oil will load up the brush-- this way, the brush never touches any of the oil. Even when I lathered on an oiled face with the brush, I didn't notice any problems. I think the glycerin is key here, as it emulsifies the oils so they rinse out easily with water. But, I've got hard water so I soak my brushes every 6 weeks or so anyway.

Yes, it takes a little time (but you can shave a little quicker). Don't do it unless you need to do it. Modify it to fit your beard. But if you have a really tough beard, don't knock it until you've tried it!

[TraderJoe]

I hereby nominate you for President!

Well done

[rick]

Most excellent.
Should be good news for those with really tough beards.

[qhsdoitall]

Nice job. I added it to my "How to" reference material. Which reminds me. I should probably come up with/solicit a bunch of "How to" questions. Need to beef up reference material.

[fritz]

Well, gawsh, gentlemen, for the nice words. Much appreciated.

I just stumbled around until I ran into it. The Oil Cleansing Method (Google for it) was quite enlightening. The thing that makes your beard tough is the hardened shell of sebaceous oils mixed with dust that forms around each whisker shaft. That's why most pre-pubescent boys that start some facial hair have "peach fuzz" because they don't produce much of this sebaceous oil until after puberty. Some lucky individuals never do produce much, and thus have "light" beards that can be prepped with a little soap and water rinse.

Once you remove this oil shell, you still have to apply some soapy water (lather) and let it soak in to soften the whiskers. But now it has a chance to soak in.

It adds 6 to 8 minutes to your shave time, but it's worth much more than that for the rest of the day! The only thing you'll miss is that the razor doesn't "sing" much any more. Because the whiskers are so soft they don't make that "ping" sound when cut.

[TraderJoe]

Using the Fritz-method the last three days, I have consistently gotten the best 3 shaves of my life.

After the first one, in which I basically did an exact replica of his posted routine, I have made a few tweaks.

1. In the shower, Wet face with warm water.
2. Smear on generous amount of Lucky Tiger Lemon PreShave Cleanser (I'm getting even better results with this than the Noxzema)
3. Shower, washing face last, gently rinsing only non-bearded area
4. Step four is to add oil/glycerin mix......but I cut this out and am able to because the Lucky Tiger lemon lotion is very heavy in oil. Its basically a tub of grease with lemon scent It does a fantastic job as pre-shave, as it does an oil-cleanse and it also contains LANOLIN to soften the whisker
5. At the end of the shower, soak hot towel, DO NOT wring it out. Apply to face fully soaked with hot water. Repeat 6 or more times (do this for a couple minutes)
6. Before exiting shower, rub face gently with hot/soaked towel to remove any excess preshave. Face is as slippery as dog snot at this point.
7. Apply Proraso/3P/Prep presahve cream (choose one, or use all - knock yourself out)
8. Apply proto-lather to face, with brush.....then rub in with fingertips. Rinse with hot water
9. Re-apply and fully lather face. Then shave.
10. BBS

I showered at the usual time, and actually finished my shave faster than I usually do. The whiskers melted away, it was a thing of beauty

If you try the Fritz method, or any variation of it........ and any whisker is left standing.......see the doctor quick 'cause it ain't hair, but something else....mutant

[Mottern Man]

Dog Snot!

[Baloosh]

Gonna try this over the next few days. Gonna be sweet if it takes my shaves to the next level!

[TraderJoe]

I think that aside from some changes here and there in methodology and pre-shave technique......a big difference has come from:

----------------> the "timing" of the use of hot towels and the resultant increase in flexibility and ease of use.

Before, I was using a hot towel at the sink, and it became a time-consuming project of heating under hot water, ringing it out so it doesn't drip everwhere and anywhere, repeat a couple times. This becomes a process, and takes too much time.

Now that I'm using the hot towel in the shower, I have the liberty of leaving the towel Soaking, Sopping wet.....and I think it makes a huge difference, and I know for a fact it takes a lot less time.

[Scorpio]

I propose a name designation:

Fritz Preshave Procedure or FPP

This way we can easily reference this outstanding preshave process. I might even propose a sticky as I think new and establish members will benefit from this post.

Raf

[TraderJoe]

Originally Posted by Scorpio

I propose a name designation:

Fritz Preshave Procedure or FPP

This way we can easily reference this outstanding preshave process. I might even propose a sticky as I think new and establish members will benefit from this post.

Raf

I agree! This should definitely be considered as a sticky!

I consider this a complete breakthrough in the world of wetshaving

[Mottern Man]

I could not wait, so I went and did it.

Everything was going good, until I put the oil mix on.

It soaked in and I could not get it off. Made my beard tough.

Guess its just wash face and Hot towel for me.

BTW, I had to change my SoS to a Wadsworth 5/8, the DE was not cutting it for the monster growth.

[TraderJoe]

Originally Posted by Mottern Man

Everything was going good, until I put the oil mix on.

It soaked in and I could not get it off. Made my beard tough.

Not enough time with the hot towel.

[Mottern Man]

Originally Posted by TraderJoe

Not enough time with the hot towel.

5 min?

[fritz]

Originally Posted by TraderJoe

Face is as slippery as dog snot at this point.

The Texas translation for that is "slicker than greased owl feathers".

[fritz]

Originally Posted by TraderJoe

2. Smear on generous amount of Lucky Tiger Lemon PreShave Cleanser (I'm getting even better results with this than the Noxzema)

Great discovery, Joe! Fortunately, the King Barber shop is just a few blocks from my house and they carry it ($9). I'll get some today and try it out tomorrow.

I had been thinking about adding a little scent to the mix. I love olive oil, but the castor oil smell brings back bad childhood memories...

And doing the hot towel in the shower... like the guy in the Guinness commercial "BRILLIANT!".

[fritz]

Originally Posted by Mottern Man

I could not wait, so I went and did it.
Everything was going good, until I put the oil mix on.
It soaked in and I could not get it off. Made my beard tough.
Guess its just wash face and Hot towel for me.
BTW, I had to change my SoS to a Wadsworth 5/8, the DE was not cutting it for the monster growth.

I'd really like to understand the cases where this technique doesn't work; they may give us some insight into how to make it work better.

1. Did you use Extra Virgin olive oil, or just plain? The Oil Cleansing Method is pretty emphatic about the difference being important.

2. Did you add the castor oil and glycerin? The castor oil is essential, I know that olive oil won't do the trick by itself. The glycerin should be 100% or nearly so, not a dilution. It helps in rinsing the oils off.

3. You said it "made" your beard tough. Is your beard normally pretty soft without doing this?

4. You mention a "monster growth". 2-3 days? I would guess that would give more time for more oil to accumulate and harden. I've not tried this technique on anything more than a 36-hour growth, since that's usually as long as I can go without shaving before I just can't stand it...

5. The scrubbing with a hot towel is essential too, for removing the surface oil. Perhaps a little bath soap would help here, if you can't seem to get it removed.

If your beard softens up nicely enough without this, then it's probably a waste of time and effort (and good olive oil). If it really makes things worse in some cases, that would be good to understand.

[Mottern Man]

Originally Posted by fritz

I'd really like to understand the cases where this technique doesn't work; they may give us some insight into how to make it work better.

1. Did you use Extra Virgin olive oil, or just plain? The Oil Cleansing Method is pretty emphatic about the difference being important.

2. Did you add the castor oil and glycerin? The castor oil is essential, I know that olive oil won't do the trick by itself. The glycerin should be 100% or nearly so, not a dilution. It helps in rinsing the oils off.

3. You said it "made" your beard tough. Is your beard normally pretty soft without doing this?

4. You mention a "monster growth". 2-3 days? I would guess that would give more time for more oil to accumulate and harden. I've not tried this technique on anything more than a 36-hour growth, since that's usually as long as I can go without shaving before I just can't stand it...

5. The scrubbing with a hot towel is essential too, for removing the surface oil. Perhaps a little bath soap would help here, if you can't seem to get it removed.

If your beard softens up nicely enough without this, then it's probably a waste of time and effort (and good olive oil). If it really makes things worse in some cases, that would be good to understand.

1. It was the EV
2. Yes
3. My beard is pretty tought to begin with, the oils seemed to make it stronger
4. about 4 days of growth
5. I did do some heavy scrubbin

On a side note, today I just used the Noxzema face wash and hot towel and it worked out pretty good.

[TraderJoe]

Originally Posted by fritz

Great discovery, Joe! Fortunately, the King Barber shop is just a few blocks from my house and they carry it ($9). I'll get some today and try it out tomorrow.

I had been thinking about adding a little scent to the mix. I love olive oil, but the castor oil smell brings back bad childhood memories...

And doing the hot towel in the shower... like the guy in the Guinness commercial "BRILLIANT!".

This stuff works great with a hot towel, perfectly. Without a hot towel, I wouldn't get this stuff anywhere near my skin. It is very heavy, but the combo of the oils in there and the lanolin, combined with the hot towel.........BOOYAH

[fritz]

Originally Posted by Mottern Man

1. It was the EV
2. Yes
3. My beard is pretty tought to begin with, the oils seemed to make it stronger
4. about 4 days of growth
5. I did do some heavy scrubbin

On a side note, today I just used the Noxzema face wash and hot towel and it worked out pretty good.

I agree if the oils soaked in and didn't get out, then they would make things worse, or at least no better.

Really curiouser and curiouser, as Alice said (or was it the white rabbit?). I'd almost say it was the Russian Gillettes, except you say Joe likes them and this works for him...

The only thing that comes to mind is the 4 days of heavy growth. Perhaps there's a need for 4 times as much of the oil mix??? This technique depends on the idea that the oil you apply dissolves the sebaceous oils in your whiskers, so if there's not enough solvent, it won't be able to do that. If sometime you could try it on a 1-day growth, that would be good info. OTOH, if today's 1-day growth softened well enough with Noxzema and hot towels, then perhaps you don't really need the 800-pound gorilla technique.

In the meantime, I've just obtained a (probably lifetime!) supply of the Lucky Tiger Lemon Scent Pre-shave and will try that in the morning. Trader Joe is right, the first ingredient listed is mineral oil, and there are several other oils in there as well.

[TraderJoe]

I will add that I did have a "tough" feeling to the beard at one point, while in the shower.......but I kept applying the sopping wet towel, gently massaging the beard, and before I knew it.........my face reached the "dog snot"/'greased owl feathers" stage.

Did Not take 5 minutes though.......at least it didn't seem like that long

Keep up with the experimentation, you'll get there

[Mottern Man]

I should check out the Lucky Tiger store too.

[Baloosh]

Originally Posted by Mottern Man

I should check out the Lucky Tiger store too.

+1. I've not dabbled in their pre-shave stuff, but I do have both versions of their Menthol Aftershave cream (Vanishing and Disappearing I believe they're called). Great stuffs, both of them.

[fritz]

I wanted to change only one thing at a time, so I didn't switch to Joe's shower scheme. Instead, I simply substituted the Lucky Tiger Lemon Scent skin cleanser for the olive oil/castor oil/glycerin mix.

I'm happy to report that I could not tell any substantial difference in the beard softening effects using the Lucky Tiger instead of the homemade mix.

Pros & Cons: At first I thought price might be a con, but the castor oil costs me $3 for 6 oz. and the glycerin about $4 for 6 oz. So add the cost of the EV olive oil and $9 for the Lucky Tiger 13 oz. (weight) is probably break even or even better. In any case, what either of these does for my shave is priceless.

The Lucky Tiger smells quite a bit better, more like orange than lemon to me, because of the beeswax smell mixed in. It has a lot of other good things in it, too. Overall, I will use it, knowing that I can always mix up the homemade if I have to. I'll probably put a few drops of sweet orange EO into the olive oil mix, to make it smell better. It may have a slight advantage for travel, in that it can be poured into one of those little flip-top squirt bottles (which is how I use it anyway).

[fritz]

Originally Posted by fritz

....I'll probably put a few drops of sweet orange EO into the olive oil mix, to make it smell better.

Yes, that did the trick, smells really nice now.
Even though I now use the Lucky Tiger for the prep, this oil mix is much better for the undercoat before lathering up for the ATG and touch-up pass.

[TraderJoe]

Originally Posted by fritz

Yes, that did the trick, smells really nice now.
Even though I now use the Lucky Tiger for the prep, this oil mix is much better for the undercoat before lathering up for the ATG and touch-up pass.

Did you drop the noxzema, or are you still using that as well?

[fritz]

Originally Posted by TraderJoe

Did you drop the noxzema, or are you still using that as well?

No, I still use the Noxzema. It's not worth it to me to experiment to see if it makes any difference in the beard softening or not. I think it's useful as a general face cleaner anyway; for instance, I put it over my entire face and forehead, not just the beard area. One of the things that often goes with a tough beard is lots of facial oil.

[Mottern Man]

It is in Noxzema Medicated Shave Foam (yes I said foam).


1. Wet Face with Warm Water (too hot will dry you out).
2. Towel Warmed with water (again not too hot), apply for a few min re-wetting.
3. Smear Noxzema Medicated Shave Foam on throughly and let set for a min.
4. Lather in bowl (skip this if you a lather on the face guy).
5. Wash of Foam with Warm Water.
6. Lather you regularly scheduled cream or soap (or both for you superlather dudes).
6. Shave.
7. Have cleaning rag ready for when the whiskers come flying of your face.


Also try this. Leave the zima on face and lather on top with Williams Mug and have a great shave.

Please note, I once said make towel hot. I was wrong, works better warm then hot.

[Mottern Man]

To add on, do the Noxzema Face wash the normal way before step one.

[Echo_Four]

I'm new to the wet shave world. In fact, I am waiting on my new DE razor to show up in the mail. For the last several days I have been applying the techniques while using my ultra-modern monstrosity with five blades. (Even before I found the many wet shaving forums I knew that was a bad idea.) Beard prep seems to be the one area that I was most overlooking. I'd love to follow these ideas, but I have a problem.

She who must be obeyed is allergic to Noxzema. That means the clenser and the foam. Since having a woman with red, itchy, irritated skin giving the evil eye is a bad idea, is there anything that could be substituted for Noxzema with similar results?

[Queen of Blades]

Originally Posted by Echo_Four

is there anything that could be substituted for Noxzema with similar results?

Welcome to The Shave Den, Echo_Four!

Here is a different variation. Joe knows a thing or two about shaving, pre-shave and all. Here he uses Lucky Tiger Lemon PreShave Cleanser, but there are lots of options out there for preshave or prep purposes.

Originally Posted by TraderJoe

Using the Fritz-method the last three days, I have consistently gotten the best 3 shaves of my life.

After the first one, in which I basically did an exact replica of his posted routine, I have made a few tweaks.

1. In the shower, Wet face with warm water.
2. Smear on generous amount of Lucky Tiger Lemon PreShave Cleanser (I'm getting even better results with this than the Noxzema)
3. Shower, washing face last, gently rinsing only non-bearded area
4. Step four is to add oil/glycerin mix......but I cut this out and am able to because the Lucky Tiger lemon lotion is very heavy in oil. Its basically a tub of grease with lemon scent It does a fantastic job as pre-shave, as it does an oil-cleanse and it also contains LANOLIN to soften the whisker
5. At the end of the shower, soak hot towel, DO NOT wring it out. Apply to face fully soaked with hot water. Repeat 6 or more times (do this for a couple minutes)
6. Before exiting shower, rub face gently with hot/soaked towel to remove any excess preshave. Face is as slippery as dog snot at this point.
7. Apply Proraso/3P/Prep presahve cream (choose one, or use all - knock yourself out)
8. Apply proto-lather to face, with brush.....then rub in with fingertips. Rinse with hot water
9. Re-apply and fully lather face. Then shave.
10. BBS

I showered at the usual time, and actually finished my shave faster than I usually do. The whiskers melted away, it was a thing of beauty

If you try the Fritz method, or any variation of it........ and any whisker is left standing.......see the doctor quick 'cause it ain't hair, but something else....mutant