Thread: Hard water? Slickness killer?

Your observations are spot on the big spender--totally agree--and yep, NM and CO has some really hard water--sounds like yours can break glass! Have had some soaps that just wouldn't work no matter what I tried. Where it gets really annoying is the cost of some of those dogs--Floris 89 soap was a recent example...straight to the trash, didn't even want to use it as shower soap.

when I,m in New Mexico like now, I have found that here you have to chew the water for a bit before you drink it , so yes its kinda hard. after being here for a few weeks or months, my skin is dry and itchy, after a couple of showers at home it all goes away.. also out here I use bottled water to make my lather, I gave up on using local a long time ago. by the way I guess I,m going to have to disagree with you Jay, I think a DE has about the same surface area contacting the face maybe even more. on a straight the only thing on your face is the edge, on a De the edge and a good portion of the cap are in contact with your face.
but the main thing is with hard water its more work to get a decent glide with your soaps Tc

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

when I,m in New Mexico like now, I have found that here you have to chew the water for a bit before you drink it , so yes its kinda hard. after being here for a few weeks or months, my skin is dry and itchy, after a couple of showers at home it all goes away.. also out here I use bottled water to make my lather, I gave up on using local a long time ago. by the way I guess I,m going to have to disagree with you Jay, I think a DE has about the same surface area contacting the face maybe even more. on a straight the only thing on your face is the edge, on a De the edge and a good portion of the cap are in contact with your face.
but the main thing is with hard water its more work to get a decent glide with your soaps Tc

That's the dust (adobe) in water you be thinking of. It's just adds body.

What part of the state you be in?

Nelson I,m in the southeast corner where all the drilling is going on now. to be exact I,m 52 miles due southwest of Carlsbad looking at the end of the Gaudalupes.

and it could be adobe, I know this much after you fill up your water tank on your rv a few times,, it wont come out the drain till you unclog the grit and caliche dust and dirt from the drain tube. if you shot someone with a water gun with this water you would go to jail for assault with intent to kill Tc

I've got hard water, so have gravitated to soaps that work well in hard water. I'd buy a soap that everybody loves (MWF) and it just wouldn't work for me. I spent 3 years DE shaving and finding my hard water soaps.

When I moved to SRs, I posted this questions about soaps for DEs vs SRs. LINK The consensus was that it didn't matter.

However, I am more in agreement of those on this thread that say it does or might. One aspect mentioned above that parallels my experience, is lather duration. It takes me 30+ min to shave as a new guy. Many of my soaps won't make it or will dry out too fast. Sure I can add water, but I'd rather not have to constantly.

I have shaved two times since I posted this. Using another type of preshave oil and also the other time using wipped shea butter. Both again allowed me to have a stupendous shave, and again with razors that were deemed dull and not shave ready.

I never knew how much the actual skin needs to hold moisture even with lather on it. During and after shaving for a while the lather still does stay wet and slick but at skin level the moisture is gone, I have no idea how this can be (maybe the heat of my skin is vaporizing the moisture out of my pores drying the moisture barrier in between the lather and the skin?) but I have proven with the barrier of oil or butter that the skin now retains the slickness and cushion for the razor.

I tried pre shave jelly and cream but they didn't have the staying power as the oil and butter did. Just thought I would through that in there.

I also wanted to point out if someone is have a rough shave it may not be the razor is could be the shave prep as I have found out. Hope this may help someone who may stumble upon this thread.

Thank you to all who posted, and I am thankful I don't have water as hard as Arizona lol...

Originally Posted by MrHouston

I've got hard water, so have gravitated to soaps that work well in hard water. I'd buy a soap that everybody loves (MWF) and it just wouldn't work for me. I spent 3 years DE shaving and finding my hard water soaps.

When I moved to SRs, I posted this questions about soaps for DEs vs SRs. LINK The consensus was that it didn't matter.

However, I am more in agreement of those on this thread that say it does or might. One aspect mentioned above that parallels my experience, is lather duration. It takes me 30+ min to shave as a new guy. Many of my soaps won't make it or will dry out too fast. Sure I can add water, but I'd rather not have to constantly.

Any soap that doesn't last is a defective product. Whether you DE or Straight Shave all the same qualities you need for one you need for the other. I don't buy the notion DE shaving takes less time so it doesn't matter if the soap barely lasts for the shave while a straight soap needs to last longer.

Honestly I know of no soap that truly lasts 30 minutes. Maybe shaving in a steamy bath but where I am with single digit humidity even the best soaps are taxed to not start to dry on the face after around 10-15 minutes.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I don't buy the notion DE shaving takes less time so it doesn't matter if the soap barely lasts for the shave while a straight soap needs to last longer.

This is good to hear. I think our differences come from expert vs. novice, honorable senior moderator with 12 years on this site.

I've mastered the DE, but have not hit my 100 shaves yet. I look forward to the time when I can choose DE or SR without having to choose DE because of lack of time. In the mean time, I need lather that is stable and slick for 8-10 minutes, for each of 3 passes.

Originally Posted by MrHouston

This is good to hear. I think our differences come from expert vs. novice, honorable senior moderator with 12 years on this site.

I've mastered the DE, but have not hit my 100 shaves yet. I look forward to the time when I can choose DE or SR without having to choose DE because of lack of time. In the mean time, I need lather that is stable and slick for 8-10 minutes, for each of 3 passes.

A very large contingent here (myself included) use a DE when we are in a hurry or are not in a concentrating mood. Very few can shave with a straight in the same time you can shave with most DEs and come out unscathed.

Hard water can definitely affect performance. Most artisan stuff out there is not suitable for straight razor shaving.