Thread: Hard water!

I live in a hard water area - total hardness is about 400ppm - and I read this and other threads on this matter with great interest. I have to say that I much prefer soaps to creams, and I really was looking for one I wouldn't need to reload my brush with in-between passes.
My go-to soap is D.R. Harris' one (currently almond). It's tallow-based, has a supreme glide, but unfortunately I usually need to reload my brush at least once.
I did try to use Brita solution, or even using resin-filtered water from my espresso machine. It did worked, but it was too much of a fuss for me.
A few weeks ago I happened to be in Berlin, and wandered to The Different Scent shop (the shop itself worth another thread!) - which of course I've left with much slimmer wallet. One of the soaps I've bought was (unusually for me) a herbal one: Taylor of Old Bond Street sandalwood - which I loved for its incredible and strong classic smell. To my surprise this soap performs much better in the hard water than anything I've tried before. To be honest, its glide is not as good as D.R. Harris' one (although almost there), but the lather it produces just refuses to die - hard water or not! I can heartily recommend this soap to anyone living in hard water area.

Many of the veggie-based soaps do very well in hard water. Some of the artisanal ones are quite good, such as Sapone Di Paolo, Catie's Bubbles, Martin de Candre, etc..

To be frank, I have used many artisanal tallow-based soaps (Mystic Water, Mike's, Cold River, Jabonman, etc.) in very hard water ranging from 400-800 ppm in Ontario when visiting and I haven't had too much trouble. I just load much longer than what I am used to as our water, here, in Vancouver is only 5 ppm.

Best of luck.

I'm happy to report another hard water friendly solution: I've recently bought some Jabonman's Eufros tallow-based soaps (it's a pity I haven't discovered him much earlier), and they result in rich, smooth, and extremely steady and long-lasting lather - hard water or not! The heavenly scents are not to disregard also

Originally Posted by dimab

I'm happy to report another hard water friendly solution: I've recently bought some Jabonman's Eufros tallow-based soaps (it's a pity I haven't discovered him much earlier), and they result in rich, smooth, and extremely steady and long-lasting lather - hard water or not! The heavenly scents are not to disregard also

It is one of the best soaps there is. Just superb.

I'm using Geo. F. Trumpers ALMOND Shaving Cream with great results and we have calcium and iron in our water. I bring home water from the winery that has been through a water conditioner to remove calcium and tannins, but only use that for the coffee and some cooking, and for the Soda Stream water. Else we (I) use the regular tap water for shaving. Some parts of Western Nebraska and SW South Dakota from my neck of the woods, has some of the hardest water anywhere, yet I don't think that they worry much about the shaving. Like others said, use distilled water from store in your shaving scuttle and you'll be fine.

Using distilled water is not too crazy of an idea. I use triple milled soaps, and distilled water is what I have to use to get a real lather, otherwise my hard water will not allow a thick rich lather to develop. I also am in the habit of adding a small amount of shaving cream to the mix. Uber lather" is what it is called when mixed together. Luxurious!!

What is triple milled soap?

Originally Posted by Gibbs

What is triple milled soap?

The excerpt below, from Shaving 101 at shaving101.com, is the best explanation I know. Hope this helps.

"Triple milling is a manufacturing process that soap makers use to make their products dense and uniform so that they lather better and last longer. A manufacturer uses a special machine to shred and roll the soap until it becomes a smooth paste-like substance. This milling process is repeated three times before the soap is finally molded and allowed to finish the curing process. By doing this, the manufacturer is able to ensure that every puck of soap from the batch is uniform in texture, and that the lather created with its first use is consistent until its last use."

Originally Posted by mtwoodwrkr

The excerpt below, from Shaving 101 at shaving101.com, is the best explanation I know. Hope this helps.

"Triple milling is a manufacturing process that soap makers use to make their products dense and uniform so that they lather better and last longer. A manufacturer uses a special machine to shred and roll the soap until it becomes a smooth paste-like substance. This milling process is repeated three times before the soap is finally molded and allowed to finish the curing process. By doing this, the manufacturer is able to ensure that every puck of soap from the batch is uniform in texture, and that the lather created with its first use is consistent until its last use."

Yes.
Soap making use a fat and a caustic to saponify the fat. They work hard to get the chemistry correct
and have all the caustic react and have just the smallest amount of fat/oil left. Each fatty acid reacts
and makes a slightly different soap. Some lather, some not, some clean ... a shave soap will have
nice and stable lathering properties and more.

Milling multiple times remixes the chemistry and eliminates the tiny pockets of caustic that might have
been retained. Often fragrance and special oils are added in the milling process. I am a minimalist on the
late stage additions with an exception Mitchell's Wool Fat adds lanolin in these steps. I should note that lanolin
is not a fat in the context of making soap.

Soap also likes to age and dry.
https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/olive-...oil-soap/42868

For good reasons a puck of a good soap is even better a year or two later... If you find a soap you love
get some extra once a year so you have a stash of many year old prizes.

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

Soap also likes to age and dry.
https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/olive-...oil-soap/42868
For good reasons a puck of a good soap is even better a year or two later... If you find a soap you love
get some extra once a year so you have a stash of many year old prizes.

So; perhaps the reason that old "William's Soap" and some other vintage soaps are sought after?? Hmmmm!
~Richard