I thought the hot towel thing was just for show, then a guy with 20 years at a shop in Dayton proved me wrong

Patricia Schmidt · 2026-10-08T08:50:03.497022+00:00

I used to skip the hot towel before a shave because I figured it was just theater, something to make guys feel fancy before the razor came out. Then a barber with 20 years behind the chair in Dayton walked me through it, said cold skin makes the hair stand up and you end up scraping instead of cutting. I tried it on my next three shaves, letting the towel sit a full 90 seconds, and the razor glided like butter with almost no irritation. Callbacks for razor burn dropped to zero that month, which I did not expect from a towel. Any of you running a warmer or steamer setup, or is the microwave towel still good enough for you?

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I thought the hot towel thing was just for show, then a guy with 20 years at a shop in Dayton proved me wrong | Barbers - SMM Buzz