To pre-shave or not to pre-shave

As far as pre-shave goes, the most I bother with is a hot shower, if that. Tried a pre-shave oil once, and it did nothing but gunk up my razor, but I know there are many more options on the market these days. For those who use a pre-shave regularly, what tangible benefits do you get from it? Does anyone have recommendations as far as brands or types (gels, creams, etc.)? Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

I have used (and made) pre-shave oils in the past without seeing much benefit. Nowadays I wet my face and rub in a little Cantu Shea Butter Pre-Shave Scrub or Noxzema Face Cleanser, then rinse it off before applying my lather. I sometimes think it might help to soften my beard just a bit, but I'm not certain.

I've been using a couple of drops of beard oil for years. If oil was gunking up your razor, then you were using far too much. 2-3 drops is all you need. The purpose is not to be some sort of lather aid. The purpose is to make sure the skin is moisturized, which will help prevent nicks and irritation. If you don't struggle with those issues and you don't have dehydrated skin, then you probably won't notice much improvement from a pre-shave oil.

I'm planning on picking up The Cube soon. I'm just curious about it.

I'm not a fan of pre-shave oils or shaving oils in general. as you noted, they tend to gum up my razors so I just can't be bothered with any of them.

pre-shave soaps and creams...I'm still on the fence with them.

I've been using a small amount of Cremo cream or Proraso pre-shave for added slickness. Helps a bit.

I normally shave after taking a shower. I use a conditioning shampoo to clean my hair and my beard and prepare my skin for the shave. I like using shaving soaps that are so good that a preshave product is not needed. However, there have been occasions when using an inferior shave soap that I have found a preshave to be of some benefit. I did try a preshave oils a few times and found that there were lather killers.

The various oils I have tried do nothing for me, but the paste-like Preshave product from Grooming Dept definitely makes a difference for me, even with (or maybe I should say especially with) soap bases that normally don’t provide good glide or protection.

Edit: I have now tried the First Lather product from ETHOS, and I can now add that to the GD Preshave as another preshave product that makes a difference for me.

A cheapy alternative to preshave is old style Noxema with eucalyptus.  It as least as good as Proraso (although has a scent requiring patience) but not as good as GD and others

I tried pre-shave oils, but never felt like there was any benefit, now...nothing. Nice, hot shower and my face is good to go.