Climate Extremes

Immediately post shave we do our house cleaning, or shave den if you will. Razors receive a cursory rinse to detailing, brushes a rinse, shake and reshaped and either hung knotdown in a stand or knot up. Soaps, kit rearranged to face Mecca with logos aligned or whatever for our individual rituals. I was thinking about the different rates of brushes drying between rotations and if it is a measure itself of construction. Then I looked at my bathroom; a half century old apartment with squeezing in one more rental unit demanding I shut the door to open my drawer. The paint is peeling in the same spot with punky drywall and black mold yet another coat of paint resolves by a profit driven manager. I get periodic invasions of spiders and cockroaches followed by a pesticide tech who thinks my questions about what product family he's using of concern only to the vermin.
I dislike spending much time in there and wonder if my kit does. Sometimes I miss my years in Arizona; drying a washed shirt in minutes except for monsoon season although it's tougher on car batteries and tires.
So, just kicking this idea around and wondering your thoughts for different climes and how you deal with them.

I live in the high desert. Average relative humidity of about 4-10%. My brushes and razors are dry before I can become absorbed in whatever post-shave task has my attention for the evening, be it a night at the sewing machine, playing with steel on stones, reading, coloring, drawing, or just watching movies with the kid, or just vegetating with some PC games.

A quick shake and squeeze of the brush to stand it up on the shelf. A rub down of the razor handle and blade with a fresh square or three of toilet paper, ensuring to get all the moisture between the scales, especially at the hinge. Place razor in my home-made, wool felt and flannel razor rollup, ensuring that the packet of silicate desiccant is nearest the blade most recently used. Wipe down the counter and rinse the sink, and my evening is complete.

About once a month I pull out all of my razors, inspect all the blades and edges for water marks, to make sure I don't have any saturation issues, clean them, rub a small bit of mineral oil over the steel and scales, and re-insert into home-made felt and flannel rollup.

The San Diego climate usually affords no problems with the upkeep of my shaving gear. Like BadDad, I am pretty careful about the maintenance of that gear.  However, like you, KAV, I live in an old flat (about 90-91 years old) that, depending on the weather, can feel very damp or humid or bone dry.  That probably has more to do with maintenance of my shaving stuff than anything else.

I live in the Los Angeles area. For most of the year we have very low humidity. As stated above after I rinse my brush for a extended period of time I flick it several times until I see no more residual water exists. However, natural hair brushes still contain absorbed water. Generally within an hour my brush is substantially dry. And within another hour depending on the knot size my brush is completely dry. You may or may not believe this but a couple several years ago I was in my pool. The outside temperature was about 96˚ and the humidity was around 8%. When I got out of the pool the water on my body was evaporating so fast I began to shiver uncontrollably and had to run into the house to jump into a warm shower so I could stop shivering. Imagine that, 96˚ and I felt like I was freezing. Low humidity can dry or evaporate dampness extremely rapidly.

I live in Los Angeles but spend summers in Cambodia. Not only is it either raining or on the verge of most of the time, Cambodian bathrooms typically lack enclosed showers and are poorly ventilated so they remain wet.

In LA I have no problem with brushes drying and though I do often use dessicate packs I can keep carbon blades rust free seemingly forever in the bathroom. In Cambodia it's synthetic only and stainless blades, and the blades live in the bedroom.

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In the Seattle area, one might think that rain and humidity would impair brush drying, but it does not. My brushes are dry within 24-48 hours. My soaps, most of them hard and triple-milled, I leave out for 12 hours after use before closing them up, which seems to be a pretty good balance between drying vs. losing fragrance. And my blades are all stainless steel, so they do not suffer from any weathering at all in the razor sitting out during the 7-10 days I use each one.

Idaho. High Desert. Low humidity. Extremes in temperature. Rinse, wipe, and dry by noon. That said, I travel lots so it's synthetics and stainless on trips.

In the Seattle area, one might think that rain and humidity would impair brush drying, but it does not.  My brushes are dry within 24-48 hours.  My soaps, most of them hard and triple-milled, I leave out for 12 hours after use before closing them up, which seems to be a pretty good balance between drying vs. losing fragrance.  And my blades are all stainless steel, so they do not suffer from any weathering at all in the razor sitting out during the 7-10 days I use each one.

This post applies to me in the Portland, OR area. My bathroom is well ventilated with a floor vent for heat and a fan so everything is usually dry by the next morning (I shave at night).

Arizona /Mexico border for me. Drying is not an issue. Heat and uv exposure is. Plastic doesn't last long here. Food and other consumables melt in the heat. My "den" if you will, is a tucked away nook out of sunlight. Now, bugs...that's a problem which grosses me out. Lol


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Now, bugs...that's a problem which grosses me out. Lol


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Let's see, in Phnom Penh you would find (potentially in your house) giant poisonous centipedes, tarantulas, cobras and venemous watersnakes, scorpions,..but also tokay geckos as housemates to keep most of these in check... usually.



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