Old timer told me to skip the hot towel, I should've listened

A retired barber who used to work out of a shop on Elm Street in Cincinnati told me hot towels were a gimmick that just steamed up my mirrors and softened the hair too much for clean lines. I ignored him for 6 months, kept doing it for every client, and my fades kept coming out patchy on the neckline. Soon as I dropped the towel and went straight to a cold splash and a sharp razor, my edge work got way cleaner. Anyone else get advice that sounded backwards but ended up being spot on?

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eva_ward889d ago

...and here I was thinking I was being fancy with the whole hot towel ritual. Turns out I was just giving my clients a fancy face sauna while my fade lines looked like a toddler drew them. I kept the towel for six months too, mostly because it made me feel like a real barber instead of a guy who just watched a lot of YouTube tutorials. The day I switched to a cold splash and a sharp razor, my necklines got so clean my regulars started asking if I'd been practicing. Now I just tell people the hot towel's for the spa, not for the shop. My own face still gets steamed every morning when I cry over my first few haircut attempts, so I guess that's still working out for me.