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Tuesday, February 13, 2018

New Hot-Water, Warm-Lather Shave Process

I've been enjoying warm-lather shaves for quite a while now. I find this particularly useful with my Omega Syntex brush because the hot water nicely softens the synthetic bristles of the brush making them as pliable and comfortable as any badger brush.

The process that I use for this efficient and ecologically-friendly process starts with a re-purposed Greek yogurt cup. I fill that about 3/4 full with cool tap water and pop it in the kitchen microwave for a minute.

This is the type of re-purposed Greek yogurt cup that I use to hold pucks and some soap samples.
I load my shave brush from this type of cup, but actually make the lather using face-lathering technique.
It is also the type of cup that I fill with water and nuke to get hot water for my morning shave.
(It's made of #5 plastic, which is microwave safe.)


Then I walk the hot water to the bathroom where I shave. I set the cup beside the edge of the sink to minimize water on the counter, and just dip my shave brush into the water, remove it, let the excess water drain out for a second or two, then give it a final single downward shake to remove more water. Then I take the warm, wet brush and swirl it onto the day's puck of shave soap. I swirl until I feel a slight resistance from the accumulated soap in the brush.

Then I face lather, part one, on my previously unprepared face. After I've built up an appropriate warm lather on my face, I set the brush into the soap-puck bowl, and set out the rest of my shaving gear for the morning. That gear is usually comprised of a dry washcloth, the razor and blade (of course), and the blade wrapper and pencil (to keep track of the number of shaves on the blade).

Then I dip the tips of the brush once again into the warm water, and re-lather.

After that, I shave using my normal process. Oh, I should mention that when the razor accumulates excess lather (it never clogs as is so often suggested; it just gets too messy), I briefly rinse it under cool tap water and then dip it in the warm-water cup to warm the razor head.

That's my current lathering method. Happy lathering!


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