Lather and Hard Water

Hello Everyone,

I'm new here and was hoping that I could ask a question.

I have my first Straight Razor (from SRD) on order - and I am now working to get used to the brush/cream/lather part of the equation. I am using tub cream from The Art of Shaving, and I am having a pretty much impossible time getting a decent lather. I've tried all the techniques I've found on the wiki and I just cant get good results. Just about the only result I get worth shaving with is to apply the cream to brush, and apply directly to my face.

I live in an area with very hard water. I believe that this is a factor.

With my razor on the way, does anyone have any suggestions? Is there a cream better for use with hard water? Am I barking up the wrong tree?

Any advice would be greatly appricated! Thanks.

-Michael

use distilled water, its the softest you can find.

If your water really is that hard, then yes, maybe you'd be best off going for distilled. If you haven't done so already, try another soap or cream just to make sure it isn't the AOS stuff which is the problem, though I'd have thought that was unlikely.

Bad luck, Michael, hard water is a curse.

We have hard water here in London and I find soaking the brush in hot water, and putting a teaspoon of hot water on the soap to soften it helps alot. Using this method I dont have any problems getting a good lather.

Distilled water is one way to go, or get yourself one of those water softeners and use that water for your shave. I believe there are other people on the site who have gone down that route and have reported good results..!

Good luck!

Hard water is a ton of fun..

I have well water that you could boil into nails, and yes different soaps and creams react differently to it...

Two tips,,,

Hot, Hot, Hot if you can barely put yer hands in it that is about right, the heat helps with hard water... DO NOT boil it that is too hot..

Uberlather ahhhhh what a wonderful thing it is...

Some soaps/creams that work very well with my well water..

SRD
Honey Bee spas
Ogallala
Al-Raz's Da Bomb
Kiss My Face

Prairie Creations (If she has all her problems worked out finally)

The huge plus here is you really learn how to make lather, wait until you go on Vacation and have softer water LOL :)

Add a couple of drops of vinegar to the soap bowl.

It really helps.

Without knowing all that is going on the quickest diagnostic tool
is a jug of distilled water (often used for ironing clothes).

If you can build a great lather with distilled water then half
a cup (or less) heated up but not boiling in the microwave
each morning should do the job for shaving.

Sometimes hard water responds to extra shaving soap so soak
the surface of the puck to soften the surface and make picking
up additional soap easy. Try an inexpensive boar brush they
pick up a lot of soap quickly in my experience.

You can also try some inexpensive shaving creams like Proraso.

You might find that hard shave soap plus a small bit of shaving cream lathers
better than either does by itself.

I saw drops of vinegar as one solution which might help if the water is
very alkaline. Vinegar is normally a foam killer and can kill foam overflow
from a dishwasher when auntie adds the wrong dish soap to a dishwasher.
It is worth a try after distilled water.

If you want the cheapest and best method I'll tell you what it is. Air O Swiss sells Ultra Sonic Humidifiers and to eliminate White Dust from hard water they have a cartridge which contains resin like a water softener does. You can buy just the cartridge and get refills for it for about $12 for a complete cartridge and a box of 3 refills is about $20. All you need do is put the cartrige in a gallon or so of water and leave it there 24hours and you'll have the softest water in the world and you can reuse it quite a few times.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mainaman

use distilled water, its the softest you can find.

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This is a good suggestion. Besides you only need a couple of tablespoons of water to create a lather, so a gallon should last a very long time. If you want to soak your brush you can leave a cup of distilled water you reuse.

Rather than gallopns of pure distilled water, try adding some distilled water to your tap water to see if that helps. :gl:

I'm fighting the same problem right now, Michael. I've actually had to stop using my straights for the moment until I get all the variables dialed in. The water at my new apartment complex is not only hard, but heavily chlorinated, with a powerful chlorine smell straight from the tap.

I used to use creams almost exclusively, but I find with this water I just can't get a lather from them. I had to use a ton of cream to get a barely passable lather. I found that by using Tabac or MWF soaps I was able to control the lather making process a lot better. I filter the tap water I'm using through a Pur water filter. This removes the chlorine residue and helps a little with the hardness. I was using distilled water, but I found the filtered water gave me almost identical results.

I'm hoping to get everything worked out, so that I can go back to the straights. Good luck with your problem!

Don

I have hard water allso and I had to repair washers on the sink a lot.I put a softner in 15 yrs ago and I have not had to fix a washer in the sink yet and I only use half the soap doing the laundry and a better shower and shave both...it was worth it.
the pay back is a lot of other stuff + a better shave.

i have the same trouble the area of london i live in very hard water + clorinated + plus what ever else makes it taste terrible personaly i use a britta waterfiler jug and use the water cold to make my lather seems to work great i fill a cup from it and just let my brush soak in that for a while

and this is why I love this forum. I googled "shaving soap hard water" and this thread showed up.

one question for the chemistry minded: My roommate is a Chem major, and has access to a crapload of De-Ionized water. Would this work as well as distilled water? I'm not a total dunce with chemistry, but I'm not exactly a whiz-kid with it either. I'm just wondering if I should go to kroger for a jug of distilled water or send him to the DI tap with an empty milk jug.

Try adding some baking soda. It will soften the water up.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SupaFad

Try adding some baking soda. It will soften the water up.

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how do you mean adding? like sprinkle a pinch in the bowl when I lather or melt the puck of soap and mix it in or put a pinch in the water when I soak the brush?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 96firephoenix

how do you mean adding? like sprinkle a pinch in the bowl when I lather or melt the puck of soap and mix it in or put a pinch in the water when I soak the brush?

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Sorry, didnt give you detail. Use about 1/2 a tsp to a full tsp in a cup of water. Stir till it dissolves. I actually drink this when I feel a cold coming on. A tsp in a glass of water. When you drink it, it feels soft and almost silky. Let me know if this helps.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 96firephoenix

and this is why I love this forum. I googled "shaving soap hard water" and this thread showed up.

one question for the chemistry minded: My roommate is a Chem major, and has access to a crapload of De-Ionized water. Would this work as well as distilled water? I'm not a total dunce with chemistry, but I'm not exactly a whiz-kid with it either. I'm just wondering if I should go to kroger for a jug of distilled water or send him to the DI tap with an empty milk jug.

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De-ionized water from a chem lab is good stuff.
In some ways it is better than distilled water.

One caution ... some labs have serious nasty stuff
on the benches and nothing should not be taken home because
of the risk of contamination. Mostly some organic
solvents would give me pause. If this is a lab tat
it is safe to eat lunch in you are good to go, IMO.

But de-ionized water is used to clean...
and will do a fine job.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l-522jNz6k

Give this guy's method a try
the Glycerin can be found on riteaid and walgreen's website but not in the store.