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Post by wchnu on Feb 26, 2012 22:27:54 GMT -6
Anyone else prefer white towels for your shaves? I prefer just plain white.. I even use bluing regularly to keep them bright white.
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Possum
Master Shaver
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Post by Possum on Feb 27, 2012 14:31:06 GMT -6
Okay Fuzzy here goes. I use dark brown terry barber towels. Now I had been using white ones that I got through my old barber (no need to go to him anymore since I grew the ponytail! and the barber supply place he deals with. Got a total of 12 of them fairly cheap. About 18 months ago, the white ones got a bit ragged and yellow, no bluing for me or should I say the wife. The white ones I wanted were more expensive than the brown ones so I went the cheap route and voila the brown ones are mine and working well. What I like is that they don't get yellow like the white ones did. So they will last longer in my opinion. But if you insist on the white ones and the bluing you are just fine. Me I may get white again when the brown ones get ragged. By the way, I use two towels each time I shave. Don't actually change them out but once a week. One towel goes into the shower with me for my prep soak and then is rinsed and used during the shave to wipe my face when I am done. The second towel sits on the bathroom sink cabinet and is used to dry the brush after each shave. Also a nice soft place for me to rest my cream or soap container and my razor of the day while I am in the shower.
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RocketMan
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Post by RocketMan on Feb 27, 2012 18:55:34 GMT -6
I have really developed a hankering for the white terry cloth barber type of towel. I have not had a problem with them yellowing as just a regular laundering procedure takes care of them nicely. I will keep in mind the blueing notion if they ever become other than white (use oxyclean powder along with regular liquid tide and hot water - works like a darn) I also use two towels - one for me, and the other, like Possum, is for drying my brush. I hang it from a towel bar with a clip and after twenty or so good shakes of the brush, I almost 'strop' the brush on the nice clean white terry towel to take off whatever excess moisture is left while leaving a lovely bloom on the brush so it can dry effectively - standing up of course . NIRVANNA BABY!!! Boy, we are sure creatures of habit us wet shavers eh??
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ShadowsDad
Gem Star
None boring shaver!!
"It's not the bow, it's the Indian"
Posts: 4,534
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Post by ShadowsDad on Feb 27, 2012 21:14:57 GMT -6
I'm presently searching for proper shaving towels. What I was using were shop towels from Home Depot and they are the right size IMO, but they are woefully lacking in quality. They were whitish. I won't use bleach in our septic system. But soaking and discarding the water on the lawn is OK. It's a PITA though.
Anyway, I don't know if I want white because of the need for bleach. If a towel is clean that's OK by me. I like white, but bleaching is for the birds, at least for us. I'm thinking of a dark towel at this point.
If anyone has an internet available favorite shave towel, please clue me in.
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RocketMan
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Post by RocketMan on Feb 29, 2012 9:32:15 GMT -6
ShadowsDad - I don't know how remote you are, but I just got some perfect, and very affordable, terry towels at Walmart. The size was great, the thickness was ideal, so I just grabbed a schwack of them. Best thing I ever did. Well, one of.. not really the best.....yeah ok they're towels - but I love em!!!
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Post by wchnu on Feb 29, 2012 9:38:55 GMT -6
ShadowsDad - I don't know how remote you are, but I just got some perfect, and very affordable, terry towels at Walmart. The size was great, the thickness was ideal, so I just grabbed a schwack of them. Best thing I ever did. Well, one of.. not really the best.....yeah ok they're towels - but I love em!!! I think that is where mine came from
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ShadowsDad
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"It's not the bow, it's the Indian"
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Post by ShadowsDad on Feb 29, 2012 15:25:34 GMT -6
Thanks gents! We have a Wal-Mart not far away, but it's one of their super sized stores... Everytime I go in I feel like I should have packed a lunch, drinks, and maybe a tent just to get around the thing. It'd be great if they'd let me drive through, but they won't. We'll suffer and check out what they have. They also have the best price on VDH, so I'll buy a few as I long march through the store.
Right now the (very low quality) shop towels I'm using are ~14x14 (measured them today) and are sized perfectly for the way I face prep and use the towel. The last experiment shrank into a size very close to too small. BTW, that started out as a washcloth, not a towel. A washcloth for the size, but what might have worked shrank too much.
If I can't find what I want we have a friend who's a genius with her sewing machine. I have no doubt I can buy something too large, cut it down and have her work her magic.
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RocketMan
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Post by RocketMan on Feb 29, 2012 19:59:37 GMT -6
ShadowsDad - that is FUNNY STUFF about Walmart!! I am with you on that brother! Our Walmart up here just converted to one of these 24 hour super monstrosities, and when I first walked in I thought WOW! And then, after walking around for about twenty minutes, and then kinda getting lost, all I could think was *&&^^%#@@*(*((!!! So.... online for you dood!! I know you said your towel preference is 14x14, but I am going to argue you around to almost the same width but twice the length. A good steaming towel is usually around 16 x 26 - give or take an inch or two here and there. The ones I am using are 16x26 and I love em. I don't use them too often for steaming though, but they are just perfect for a shaving towel - at least in my opinion. (It is also the standard barber towel size for years in the old days) The next thing is what style/grade to use. I know there are some people who get caught up in the fancy part of life and many of those folk will want the herringbone lintless with a blue or green stripe. Yeah they look great. But they suck in my opinion. The modest quality plain old terry towel - lint and all!! Not too heavy and plush either. If you want to do a hot steam wrap - which is awfully nice sometimes, the economy grades are lighter and therefore use less water so they don't weigh a hundred friggin pounds. So, go for 16x26 or so, avoid the fancy striped ones if you can cuz they suck at suckin water, and get modest quality (not the cheapest) and low to modest weight (24 or 26 ounce cotton works for me, 32 gets too heavy - the 24/26 translates also to about 2.0-2.2 lbs per dozen) terry towel. That whole darn lint free issue is goofy anyway! Here are two sites I have not ordered from but have heard good things about. The HYSupplies business has been around for some time and you should do well with them. I added the other because some people like color and towelemporium got da color!! (Although, white is best - you can bleach to keep it clean without fading. They last three times longer without looking like cr*p. www.hysupplies.com/Webforms/Barber_Towels.aspxwww.towelemporium.com/index.php?cPath=27
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sargon
Shave Master
Vendor
Posts: 157
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Post by sargon on Mar 3, 2012 7:06:26 GMT -6
I just use one towel, when I use one, but one of my customers ordered two, and I was curious what some one would do with two. I figured it was for a friend or as a spare, but now I know!
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ShadowsDad
Gem Star
None boring shaver!!
"It's not the bow, it's the Indian"
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Post by ShadowsDad on Mar 4, 2012 13:05:14 GMT -6
Thanks RocketMan. I went with the barber towels at Towel Emporium. Even with their very expensive shipping it was still less than $2/towel for the dozen. I should have enough shave towels now. BTW, Since I put the towel into my basin of hot water for my hot towel face prep, I use one towel per day. I'll probably keep 6 towels out and put 6 towels in my stash. Yes, they're white.
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RocketMan
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Post by RocketMan on Mar 4, 2012 20:14:50 GMT -6
No problem!! Glad it was helpful. You will have to report back once you have a chance to give em a 'test drive'!
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Post by stljeff on Mar 4, 2012 20:52:39 GMT -6
I used to use white towels exclusively. The most economical ones I got were the ones I picked up at the Lucky Bag at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May. These were ones that the USCG reclaimed from washed out recruits. I could pick them up for something like 50 cents a towel. I haven't been out to Cape May for quite a while and all of the ones I had have long since worn out. Too bad; they were great towels - nice and absorbent and not too big.
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RocketMan
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Post by RocketMan on Mar 5, 2012 9:28:16 GMT -6
.50cents - now that is a nice price!!
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ShadowsDad
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"It's not the bow, it's the Indian"
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Post by ShadowsDad on Mar 9, 2012 16:52:33 GMT -6
The towels came in today. Made in India; better than made in China IMO.
Not what I expected though. I expected an inexpensive terry cloth, but I probably misunderstood the ad. It's not terry cloth, I don't know how to describe what I got. I'm still going to try them for shaving since keeping them is less expensive than shipping them back. They're in the washer and first try will be in the morning. I plan on a hot towel face prep to really try them.
BTW, no washing/drying instructions, so I plan to put them in the dryer to take the shrinkage hit and see where they wind up.
I'll get back.
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Post by wchnu on Mar 9, 2012 19:51:40 GMT -6
Keep us posted. I was looking at them too
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