Thread: Recommended soaps/creams for hard water

Off the top of my head, MdC, Castle Forbes, PannaCrema, Esbjerg, Baum.be, Eufros, Penhaligon's, and Alverez Gomez come to mind and all perform decently in hard water--some take a bit more trial and error but aren't impossible or too fussy with dialing in. I find a brush with good flow-through also helps.

My water is so hard, ya gotta chew it before ya swallow it.
I don't have much trouble creating a lather, with any soap, but these are my go too soaps of now, for easy lathering.

Creams/Croaps
Castle Forbes
Baume Be
Tabac
TOBS
Proraso
MdC

Soaps:

Fine
Handmade soap Co.
Vintage Williams Mug
Derby, stick
LaToja, stick
Arko, stick
VDH Luxury
Mama Bears
Dr. Jon's
SRD
And as said, a brush with good release/ flow through.
The right brush for the soap/ cream in use, made a big difference for me, but I'd have to try bottled water or such, to make a better presumption on all this, but all these work easily for me. YMMV

I've told the story about the chance conversation with the owner of Sudsy Soapery and he says that he hasn't had any complaints. While I live in an area with rather hard water I can't give first-hand testimony simply because I have a water softener. What I can say is that I get excellent lather production out of each Sudsy product that I own and that its legitimately good soap. I place it in the second tier simply because it could use a touch more glide.

I should also note that my favorite scent, Delor de Treget has recently been causing some burn from skin sensitivity. If you have had some skin sensitivity issues you may want to steer away from this limited run soap and instead try one of his other offerings. I also own tubs of Jonathan's Twice Mint and Lavender & Peppermint and have had absolutely no issues with either of them or his aftershaves and shave balms.

In rural Montana we have very hard water. I could only get a decent lather if I used distilled water until I tried a Fine Accoutrements soap. I happened to buy Fine's lathering bowl at the same time I purchased the soap, and I can attest that the bowl makes all the difference. My other soaps, mostly tallow with one vegetarian, all produce amazing lather with hard tap water and the Fine bowl. Better and faster than when using distilled water and an apothecary mug. The bowl is rather large but very easy to use and allows the brush to be laid horizontal on the handle so it does not slip into the suds. Highly recommend both Fine products.

Tim , really any well made soap will work with hard water. Some better than others it just takes getting the water ratio right and in my experience a great soap just makes hard water a non issue. The area in southeast New Mexico has some of the worst water I've ever dealt with, even some of the crap we had in the Middle East. I used bottled water in the beginning but I just threw all my soaps out and started using MDC. And Castle Forbes face lathered, no issues whatsoever. It's all in the soap. Tc

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

Tim , really any well made soap will work with hard water. Some better than others it just takes getting the water ratio right and in my experience a great soap just makes hard water a non issue. The area in southeast New Mexico has some of the worst water I've ever dealt with, even some of the crap we had in the Middle East. I used bottled water in the beginning but I just threw all my soaps out and started using MDC. And Castle Forbes face lathered, no issues whatsoever. It's all in the soap. Tc

+1
This is my view as well.
I have conducted approximately five experiments with hard water from a few different areas of the world and I have found no issues loading my soap once I simply modified my technique of loading and working the soap for a bit longer.

Most soaps are formulated to work in all water conditions. Generally, the closer you get to pure soap the more issues you will have with hard water. Most grocers sell a "natural" type soap for laundry and it's really meant for folks who have water softeners in hard water areas. Otherwise that soap doesn't work with hard water.

If you try using a "pure" soap with hard water the result ain't pretty.

For our purposes in shaving applications I think most soaps are general purpose and has been said it may make things more challenging not impossible.