Thread: Hard Water

Does hard water really make it harder to get a good lather? If so, Should I use distilled water instead?

You could try adding some washing soda to your water ie sodium carbonate.

They say it does. Another thing you could try is putting some lemon juice concentrate in your shave water. Using the distilled water would be the easiest way to test if it makes a difference for you.

Bob

I find it a little more work with really hard water like out in New Mexico and west Texas. So I just use my bottled drinking water. Tc

Depends on the soap. Some are affected by it major league and some more minimally but it does affect all soaps.

Yeah really hard waters can make some soaps hard to build lather with. Back when I lived with really hard water I was much more fond of creams!

There's definitely a difference, although I'm not sure I would say it's "harder to get a lather" with hard water. Maybe just at first. It takes a bit more time, and you need to load the brush more. When I was starting out, I thought my problem with lathering was the hard water, but after I while it became obvious that it was just my technique (and patience).

I find hard water makes more of a difference when it comes to the upkeep of razors and paraphernalia - there's way more soap scum that sticks to everything, which is difficult to clean, and corrosion can happen faster. I don't lather with distilled water, but I always keep some around for when it's time to give my gear a thorough cleaning.

If you have really hard water getting a good lather from even hand soap can be a challenge. You need to use way more product. If you have water like that (I do) get some liquid, pure, green soap and see how much of the stuff you need to get it to lather and then try same with RO or softened water. The difference will be shocking.

I learned one lesson on why some soaps tend to be more temperamental with hard water than others by a chance conversation with a local soap producer. During this conversation we got onto the topic of hard water and he seemed largely ignorant of the fact that soaps can have issues with lathering in hard water. As we discussed this issue he realized that he probably hasn't had many complaints simply because he formulated his soaps with water from the St. Louis area, water that is notoriously hard due to the prevalence of limestone in the area. Essentially he minimized the hard water issue because he and his wife, unintentionally, tested their soaps with relatively hard water.

Originally Posted by joelkerr

There's definitely a difference, although I'm not sure I would say it's "harder to get a lather" with hard water. Maybe just at first. It takes a bit more time, and you need to load the brush more. When I was starting out, I thought my problem with lathering was the hard water, but after I while it became obvious that it was just my technique (and patience).

+1

Once you modify your technique, you shouldn't find any real significant difference.