Thread: Water Hardness determines EVERYTHING

I have recently made an observation on lather-making that I think is worth sharing. I have recently moved from Boston, Massachusetts to Brooklyn, New York and the water quality is vastly different. Water in Massachusetts has such a high mineral content that you can actually see clouds form when you fill up a cup of water from the tap. I used to struggle quite a bit to make good lather. I noticed that I needed more water than what fellow SRP and BNB members reported using. Often times, I would overestimate the amount of water I needed and would have to start over. Aside from that, even the lather that had no bubbles and shined in the light was not the best quality. Sometimes my razors (if they weren't freshly honed or brand new) used to drag across my face and I couldn't explain why. High quality soaps, such as Trumper's, fell short of expectations. I resorted to using Colonel Conk's Amber scented shaving soap since that stuff seemed to be the easiest to lather.

Here in New York, the water quality is so good that it's not unreasonable for one to drink straight from the tap. After several shaves, I can confidently say that it is also better for my lather. I use less water and I instantly get my brush gushing out rich, thick lather (even Williams Soap produces better lather than my old Trumper's back in Boston). It seems that I have to actively try to ruin the lather myself before I get something that's unusable. Not only that, I noticed that some of my blades that I thought were previously dull shave off whiskers with no resistance.

Overall, my suggestion is this: If you are having trouble lathering or shaving without irritation try boiling your water to reduce the mineral content. My guess is that it will make a world of difference.

Good observation. If I remember right from chemistry class the term hard water originated from high mineral content water that was "hard" to form suds and required more soap when washing cloths. I hadn't thought about it until your post but I am on well water. Maybe a touch of bottled water or some such would improve the lather.

Boiling the water will only concentrate the minerals and exacerbate the issue.


Regards

You've hit on a really key point; boiling until the minerals precipitate out or (my favorite because it is less work!) a 70-cent gallon of distilled water will be a big help to anyone. It's the first thing I recommend trying when someone is having trouble with their lather.

I know it's not on topic with the original post, but how does boiling cause mineral precipitation? In my limited understanding, I've always thought that, in general, increased temperature caused increased solubility.

I do industrial water treatment for power plants, refineries and chemical plants so I may be able to help with this. In general heating does increase solubility of most minerals.

Unfortunately some hardness salts are inversely soluble with temperature and can precipitate when heated, calcium carbonate is a good example, however there are other factors that come into play such as pH, alkalinity and total concentration of ions. These calcium and magnesium salts (hardness) are the ones that cause problems in your water heater, coffee pot, industrial boilers, process coolers and the like.

Generally speaking boiling the water on the stove or in the microwave would tend to evaporate water vapor and only concentrate the minerals (and make the lather worse). This is unless the water is boiled enough that the concentration of ions exceed saturation for the given conditions(pH, temperature, alkalinity) and precipitates. I may take quite a bit of boiling and foul your cookware.

I think I will try a little bottled water to see if the lather improves. The purified drinking waters have 98% or more of the minerals removed from Reverse Osmosis and as suggested in a previous post distilled water will have no dissolved minerals.

Just my $0.02. Take care.

NYC is famous for having very soft water and pretty darn good water quality in general.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

NYC is famous for having very soft water and pretty darn good water quality in general.

For years I've heard it said that the reason the best tasting pizza, Italian bread, and bagels come from NY/NJ is the water. Also that the breweries, Budweiser, Pabst Blue Ribbon and Ballantine, years ago, were in Newark. There were many others in and around there in NJ because of the high quality of the water.

i have noticed that i get my best lather in the shortest amount of time here in iraq, maybe it has something to do with the water being nondrinkable. i believe it has bleach in it so you cant drink it but it makes awesome lather.

-dan-

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

For years I've heard it said that the reason the best tasting pizza, Italian bread, and bagels come from NY/NJ is the water. Also that the breweries, Budweiser, Pabst Blue Ribbon and Ballantine, years ago, were in Newark. There were many others in and around there in NJ because of the high quality of the water.

Old bakers tales.

Most of the stuff you mention just either uses differing prep techniques or the ingredients are different. It has been said Coors has the best possible water for beer brewing.

having attended college in new york.. i do say the dough tastes better there.. not sure why though.. and where does stella get it's water from?