Printable View
As most of you would accept, all water is not created equally. I live in Washington, DC, a place with notoriously hard water. Will the hardness of this water have any extra adverse effects on my razor and/or Norton 4k/8k hone? If so, are there any special care instructions that anyone can offer? A buddy of mine suggested that when I eventually hone, I do so with distilled water...seems to make sense, but I wanted an expert opinion.
I Can't imagine how hard it must be that you'd need to hone with distilled water! Does it hurt to wash with?
haha sometimes. but I never drink it. If you're not aware, Washington DC water was only certified as drinkable about 12 years ago, so its pretty bad. it doesn't actually taste clean, it tastes minerally, and leaves a weird aftertaste in the mouth. but I'm more concerned with my razor than my insides lol
Hardness is about the amount of calciumcarbonate in the water. Hardness affects the way soaps work so you;ll need a bit more shaving soap or cream in an area of hard water. With honing your create so much swarf that will enter the pores that I do not think you have to worry about limescale in the pores.
If I recall, swarf is the metal that gets removed from the razor during honing?
Is there any special care for my razor that I'll need to do because of the hardness of the water?
Where we live, I am on a well and I find that the Distilled water works tons better for me than the tap water which goes through the softener, etc.
Lynn
Thanks Lynn! Any tips for blade care when I shave with water from the tap? Will the hard water affect the blade such that I'll need to employ extra care?
Hmm. The calcium is in solution. So if you wet your hones with it, absorbing the water. then dry them the calcium will be left behind. I'd use distilled water if the hard stuff was in the tap.
:OT:OT You guys reminded me of that 'The Ocean is the Ultimate Solution.'this
Softeners exchange H+ and Na+ for Ca++. Water with a higher salt content (e.g. sea water) accelerates rust.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lynn
So I'm imagining that a weekly rinse with distilled water should be fine to keep the damage from bad water at a minimum. Do you guys ever wash your razors from time to time? If so, what sort of wash do you use?
I do not wash my coticules nor my Escher because I leave the slurry on, the others I wash with water and dry with a towel.
Sorry if this is an obvious question, Kees, but why do you leave the slurry on? Does a layer of dried slurry make for a better finish?Quote:
Originally Posted by Kees
I'm assuming that leaving the slurry on simply eliminates the need for creating a new slurry in subsequent honings. Just add water, and BANG!... instant slurry :D
amiright? :shrug:
Wouldn't leaving the slurry on eventually "clog" (not sure that's the right word, but you get the idea) the grit on the hone?
I do it too. You cannot leave in on forever. eventually you need to lap, and or remove swarf. Also don't leave it sitting out where "stuff" can settle on its surface. I feel if I am using a slurry it becomes finer as it breaks down. When shave testing I don't want to restart with fresh grit- talking finish hones not foundation stones.
Hopefully Kees has more to add
Just make sure you get the razor totally dry, really dry, all the way dry, not a drop................ If you don't use it for a few days a light Camellia Oil coating won't hurt either.Quote:
Originally Posted by theworldover
Have fun,
Lynn
I have two coticules, the coarsest one I use with a slurry. My Y/G Escher I use with some slurry all the time, Tim Zowada showed that it made no difference to the edge and it seems a bit faster. My NOS Thuringen hone I use with slurry only so why remove it and raise a slurry again?Quote:
Originally Posted by AlanII
It won't and if it would it does not matter. With a slurry you hone the razor basically on a bed of very tiny sharpening particles.Iif you use a hone without slurry the pores might get gunged up and keep the sharpening particles away from the edge.Quote:
Originally Posted by theworldover
I know all about hard water. I grew up with well water on a lime ridge. There are/were lime quarries within a couple of miles in every direction. We had to keep replacing the dogs' water dishes at least once or twice a year, because the lime would crystallize on the sides and bottom of the bowl. If I was still living there, I would definitely use distilled water for honing.
As far as razor care....I drive a concrete mixer truck, and we add vinegar to our windshield washer fluid. The mildly acidic natural of the vinegar helps cut the lime film that will deposit on the windows. Vinegar is also recommended to run through your automatic drip coffee maker to clean out the mineral deposits. If you notice any build up of minerals on your razor, you may want to do a final rinse of 25% vinegar and 75% distilled water and dry throughly.
That should definitely not be the final rinse. If you want to use vinegar to remove mineral build-up, which I have a hard time imagining occurring in the first place, then you would need to follow that vinegar rinse with a plain water rinse to remove all vinegar residue. Failing to do that would likely lead to a rusty blade.Quote:
Originally Posted by ShotgunLuckey
Thanks for the tips! I'll definately use distilled water to hone, and then every once and a while give it a rinse with the distilled/vinegar combo, and then a final distilled rinse. In the meantime, I'll make sure everything is totally, totally dry.
Concerning the vinegar wash. There was somebody here recently that used vinegar to clean the razors blade and it turned black from the acids. My recommendation is not to use vinegar, diluted or not!:nono:
Ouch! That's upsetting! Then I suppose a nice, good rinse with distilled water every now and again will be all I'll do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nun2sharp
Sorry, I guess I spoke out of turn....I hadn't heard of that happening before
Interesting comments. I had thought about using distilled water for making foam, but a decent brush and shaving cream made that unnecessary. However, I never even considered the effect of hard water on the blade/hone.
Wouldn't alcohol be good for the final rinse of the blade? That would dispell any remaining water. I've seen people dip theirs in a glass of (rubbing?) alcohol. I was also wondering if aerosol isopropyl alcohol whould be a good idea, making sure it stayed off the scales of course.
Back in grad school, we used deionized / distilled water to give our glassware a final rinse. It kept the hard water spots away. You could do the same with a squeeze bottle of distiled water. Clean your blade in tap water then give it a rinse from the squeeze bottle. Wipe it dry and you're done.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rajagra
Dave
Great call. Ive actually got one of the squirt bottles filled with distilled water that I use for my humidor, so piece of cake.
About the alcohol thing: When I worked on jet-engines alcohol was not even permitted in the workshop because it contains a few % water and it is hygroscopic, so it will actually cause moisture from the surrounding air to settle on the surface. We only used isopropanol because it doesn't contain water.