The old barber on 9th told me to stop using hot towels on every client

I apprenticed under a guy named Sal in Queens for two years and he swore hot towels before every cut were wasting time. I thought he was just old and set in his ways. But I watched him do 18 heads one Saturday without a single towel and every fade came out cleaner than mine. He said the steam swells the skin, so you cut a line that looks sharp then looks wrong an hour later when the skin settles. I tested it for a month on my regulars and the necklines held up way better. Now I only break out the towels for shave work. The one time I went back to steaming a kid's taper, his mom came in the next day saying it looked uneven at the back. Sal never even said I told you so, he just handed me his comb. Any of you running into this with clients who expect the full spa treatment?

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wendy_bell831mo ago

Watched a guy named Marcus at my old shop do this and I brushed it off for months. I always did the hot towel thing because clients love it and it feels fancy, you know? Then I started paying attention to how my fades looked the next day versus right after. Little hairs poking out at the neckline, lines that looked off. Started skipping the towel on skin fades and the difference was night and day. Clients still ask for the towel sometimes and I just tell them I do it for shaves now. Half of them don't even notice. The ones who do usually come back happy the cut still looks good a week later.

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