Using Volvic mineral water to make lather in hard water areas - good idea?

[WilsonLaidlaw]

In about three weeks I will be down at my French house for the summer. Shaving is never quite as good there because the water is extremely hard. It comes out of a bore hole about 1/2 mile from my house and although lovely tasting (no added chemicals at all), because the borehole is through 100% limestone, the water is very chalky and very high in Calcium. I do run all the water through a large fibreglass and charcoal filter, where it comes into the house, otherwise it comes out of the tap looking like milk.

I was just flicking through the copy of Leisureguy's guide to shaving, I am about to give to my son and one thing he mentions is shaving in distilled water. Now I know from when I first got the house and tried to buy distilled water for our steam generator iron, it is difficult to get in anything other than small containers and is expensive. Using my tap water would wreck quite an expensive iron in a few weeks, given what the inside of my kettle looks like and how often I have to descale the Philips coffee machine. I asked the shop where my wife bought the iron and they recommended Volvic mineral water, as being very low in calcium and good for irons (the iron has now worked well for 8 years so it must be OK). It is much cheaper than distilled water and I can get it in a 15 litre bottle with a dispensing tap on it. I also have a small travel kettle to heat it up for shaving. Luckily in France, we are allowed to have power points in bathrooms (not permitted in the UK other than an isolated low wattage shaving socket).

Has anyone else tried this? I am slightly kicking myself that I had not thought of trying this before in the 8 years I have had the house.

Wilson

[djh]

Buy a small bottle and try it. If your local water is sooo mineral-laden then the bottled water may be a very good alternative.

Enjoy the summer!

[Oblique Human]

Bottled water should work fine and you really don't need that much to lather well.

[turtle]

Mineral water may have too much solids in it just like your tap water does.

Distilled water would be a better go-to if it is available locally at a reasonable price.

Commercial dairies are a good source for distilled water