Printable View
Recently we upgraded our water softener. HUGE difference in shave. It feels like the blade glides sooo easy in comparison of what I had been use to. Lather builds up very fast too. Looking back at some discussions with some people having more success with a given brand of soap than others makes me wonder if the water quality had been considered?
Water quality is a common thread.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kingfish
It is easy to test, buy an jug of lathering water in
any market. Try water for steam irons, distilled water
and also try the least expensive 'jug' drinking water. If you
want it hot, microwave it in a heat safe kitchen
measuring cup. Microwave with a tooth pick or
clean chop stick in it so it does not super heat,
boil over and scald you.
Skip the expensive drinking waters they contain a lot
of dissolved solids. Mineral water contains even
more so skip them too. Unless you want to experiment.....
Some day I may even try some left over warm beer :)
Boddingtons foams up nicely I wonder if it would help a lather.
Quote:
Originally Posted by niftyshaving
ROFLOL, What is "left over" beer?:beer2:
My water use to be just under 500 ppm before upgrade. All I can say is the new water system (RO) definately took my shave to a whole new level. Thank you so much for your "kitchen style" experimental suggestions, it put a big grin on this old Chemistry teacher's face:)
My lather and all has drastically improved since I got a water softener installed in my house. The only danger lies in the slippery part. Softened water with sodium chloride gives water that slippery feel. A RO doesn't soften your water but it filters and purifies the water making it drinkable.
I followed a tip my G-Brother gave me while shaving and that's to touch and rub your fingers over the alum block. It dries out your fingers and gives an excellent dry grip to A. hold the tang of your razor and B. pull your skin taut without your fingers feeling slippery at all. It does work perfect.
I actually tried some bottled (distilled) water to lather with a couple of weeks ago. Every year the local water company purges the system with large doses of chlorine for 30 days. They send out a heads up with the bill to forewarn customers. When the tap goes on you can smell it readily.
So I'm drinking bottled water for a month. Anyhow, my lather was far more easily whipped up and much nicer using the bottled water. I've only done it the one time and I'm back to the tap for shaving purposes heavy chlorine or not but if a person is having lather troubles bottled water may be a viable option.
An RO system absolutely softens the water by taking out almost all of the ions and tds' and not simply replacing them with more soluble ones like sodium.Quote:
Originally Posted by Maximilian
R.O. water is softened through the reverse osmosis purification process; however hard water (above 7 grains of hardness) will shorten the life of the membrane. The harder the water, the shorter the life. If you incoming water is 15 grains hard, you may only get 2-3 years of life from your membrane.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kingfish
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maximilian
If you are talking about grains/gal (about double of the high side you mentioned), 500 ppm is way higher than that. Good thing I have it under a maintanance agreement!
Interesting. Usually hard water, as it relates to water softening is expressed as grains per gallon and that's how my water softener is set for recharge. Reverse Osmosis units though go by PPM of solids in the water. My RO has a sensor attached and when the PPM reaches a certain point it turns a red light on.
Yes I'm very fond of soft water. better for appliances, pipes, showering and shaving. I use KCl insterad of NaCl
Left over beer .... so far it is only a rumor, never seen in the wild.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kingfish
The rumor is that it also works as slug and snail bait.
Based on these posts, it looks like I'll be looking to have some maintenance performed on my existing water sofener to make certsinthat it is operating at 100% efficiency.
They do need maint. maybe every 7 or 8 years or so. Evertually the resin has to be replaced (you can tell because it becomes mushy) and if the unit uses electrical solenoids the switches can deteriorate.
Neighbors have a small filter also linked to a flash heater
in their kitchen. Makes it easy to get table water,
tea, cooking, coffee or a jug for the shave den.
I very much like how hot the hot is and cold is normal
tap cool. Worth a look if you are doing a small remodel
of the shave den or kitchen.
So how many folk shave in the kitchen... big sink
lots of elbow room.
Would those small water filters you attach to a sink made by companies like PUR help with hard water? Or do these filters serve another purpose? Thanks for any help.
Read the label they are different.Quote:
Originally Posted by altshaver
Some add minerals for a clear natural taste.
Mostly they are activated carbon filters and remove
metals and smelly organics and sulfer minerals.
The first step is to have your water tested so you know
how much and what kind of water conditioner you need.
In the mean time a jug of distilled water from the
market is a fine touchstone to see if minerals in
your water are in the way of a good shave.
Hard water is a good thing up to a point ....
Most of your home stores like Lowes carry test kits and if you know someone who has an aquarium setup he would have testing chemicals to test the water for hardness and PH and all kinds of stuff. Most water treatment dealers will test for free or can tell you what the local water is like if you obtain your supply from municipal sources. Don't call a softener salesman unless you want the hard sell.