Thread: Hard water!

Originally Posted by 32t

How about rain water or melted snow? ...snip...
How far are you off the river or lake?

Far enough that the smell is not overpowering.
~Richard

You much have a much better nose than I or have a dirtier lake.

As far as making a good lather with our hard water goes, it does require extra effort.

For soaps, I add water to the soap container...just enough to cover the soap...and let it
soak while I'm in the shower. When ready to shave, just dip the brush in water, shake out
the excess, and use the water in the soap dish to make a thin lather. Spread the thin
lather on your beard and go back to the soap dish for more. Lather up the beard, adding
more soap or water as needed, until you get what you like.

For a cream, I take a finger-full and try to dissolve it in the lather bowl with about a
tablespoon of water. When its all dissolved, pick up the soapy water with the brush and
swirl the brush around the sidewall of the bowl. Push the thin lather down to the bottom
and repeat the swirl until the lather starts to thicken. Then squeeze everything out of
the brush, pick up the resulting thin lather, and again swirl the brush around again.
You may have to do this 2 or 3 times until you finally get some decent lather.

I never had this much trouble when using rain water...even with cold rain water.

Thanks folks!
Work around established.
Brita water, steam heated by espresso machine added to the puck. Brush soaked in the hot water of the container. Lather as usual.
Good shave accomplished.
~Richard

And people always scoffed at my comment of "proraso is my baseline", that's because it works in any water I have ever exposed it to in my travels throughout the U.S. Some creams and soaps just don't work with some waters no matter how good a "whip/lather master" you are. Distilled water is the answer, but you got that many posts ago.

We just installed a water softener here. Made a difference in the lathering for sure. Richard I can say creams work better in hard/mineral water. I used to go through at least 2 coffee pots a year. Watch your espresso machine my friend, things can get bad much quicker than you realize

Glad you got a good shave today though

Espresso has been Brita only for years.
I did have soft water at the house. Still used the Brita. ~Richard

Depending on the water, a Brita or even a Zero water didn't lengthen the life of my coffee pots by much.
We have a lot of lime in our water here. And I figured why buy all the filters for the jugs when a new coffee pot was only $20.
The filters cost more than that, so it was a no brainer here. But I also live on well water, so it could be very different.
It might not be a bad idea to have your water tested by a softner company just to find out where you're at

Originally Posted by Dieseld

We just installed a water softener here. Made a difference in the lathering for sure. Richard I can say creams work better in hard/mineral water. I used to go through at least 2 coffee pots a year. Watch your espresso machine my friend, things can get bad much quicker than you realize

Glad you got a good shave today though

My Bunn is 10 years old All I use is RO water Never had to clean the pot

Scott you can make a lather with the Lease water that comes out of an oil well ! that proraso is some lathering animal,,i used that stuff for years before the internet ruined me on soaps. other than the acids peeling the skin off your face I could lather with our drilling fluids! Tc