Hard water and Citric Acid

I had been reading about Citric Acid being used with hard water to help lather. I forgot to fill my water softener and now my water is hard. I finally found some citric acid and tried it for the first time yesterday. No lather whatsoever :shrug:

I wonder what I did wrong. I placed my brush into soak into my scuttle with hot water and citric acid. After my shower, I dumped my scuttle, put the normal amount of water into the scuttle, added citric acid and tried to make a lather - not one bubble. I ended up grabbing my shower brush and using some more Arko to do my shave. I dumped the water out of the scuttle and just used the bare scuttle to keep my brush warm for a second pass. The left over (not visible) Citric Acid killed the lather on that brush. And when I tried to place lather on my face ---- what burn ---- almost like alum burn.

How much Citric acid do you use? The stuff I found is used for canning and it looks like it is pure citric acid, nothing else.

Any ideas?

Simple solution just use bottled water

Or you can add glycerine.

I have both!!! I had heard about the citric acid before so wanted some on hand for when I use hard water. I typically microwave some bottled water. However, I am still interested if anyone has any information about how much to add.

Next time try some vinegar. You have to experiment with amounts. It won't soften the water but will act like a buffer to make the water act soft.

My water is very hard (over 300mg/l calcium carbonate)
and have never needed to do anything with it except add a table spoon of water to soaps for 10mins or load a bit more product. Saying that I do notice the difference when any lathering product when in areas with softer water.

Same as Mark. I have to chew mine before swallowing.

Letting some water set on a puck while showering, helps.
And yes, it will take a bit more product to produce a good lather.

As for glycerin, just a few drops will richen your lather

My water is so soft my kettle looks the same as the day it bought it 6 years ago and when I shower I feel like i can't get the body wash off.

I usually face lather and a 10 second swirl in the soap loads my brush for a 4 pass shave and i still feel like I'm wasting some when I wash my brush out.