Water Quality and how it affects Shaves

[willyb]

A bit of background first. I live in CA, typical housing tract. The water sucks, its hard, full of minerals and chlorine. Your standard west coast city water.

Well just this last week I had to fly to the deep south to attend a family members funeral. Shaved 3 times over the the course of the week. Used the same razor, soap, brush, aftershave I always use. Nothing different.

All I can say is HOW DO I GET SOFT WATER....LIKE NOW!?!?!?!?!

The soft water in the south I researched, isnt treated much. When you shower, after you rinse your skin it feels like soap was still on my skin. For the rest of the day my skin was incredibly soft and healthy. My shaves were incredible for lack of a better word. Super close, no irritation and not a single weeper. Literally the best shaves I have ever had. And the quality of the lather was remarkable. Super fluffy and top notch performance for as many passes as I wanted to go. What I kept remarking at was not having a single weeper, zero irritation, just the opposite of what I am used to. Only variable changed was the water.

Can I use epsom salts? I used to brew a lot of beer, and that calls for softening the water using powdered Gypsum.
Any ideas gents? I will also be researching this more.
I cant install a water softening system in my apartment. I guess I could used distilled, but then it would have to be heated.
hmmmmm......

[HoosierTrooper]

Sounds like distilled water is your best bet Willy. A few seconds in the microwave, or, now might be your chance to join us cold water shavers.

[willyb]

Thanks Tom, I will read the cold water threads, I know there is a few.haha

[Foyle]

I know what you mean. Up here in Wisconsin we have rock hard water. In our old apartment I learned to make due. Using more product and spending a little more time working the lather yielded good results. In our new place there is a water softening system. Man what a difference! I use much less product and the lather is richer, slicker, and more cushioning.

Like HoosierTrooper said, distilled water is probably your best bet. A minute or so in the microwave will get it hot but I tried that is it's just not the same as having soft water. Rinsing or softening your beard by wetting your face with water from the tap still seems to affect the lather even though you mixed up your lather with distilled water. It's better than using tap water all the way through, but not the same as using soft water all the way through. I found using distilled water too much of a hassle. Give it a shot and see how it works for you, but you will get good results from your tap water if you use more product.

Hardwater stinks, I know, I feel your pain.

[PugslyCat]

I have mentioned in some threads that I split my time between two places, one with a whole house water softener and one with hard water. I know what you are going through.

Buying and heating distilled water in quantities needed for shaving and a few other tasks is neither difficult nor expensive. It has the added benefit of being almost instant. If you have empty bottles you may be able to fill up at another location (office, family or friends house) at no charge.

I have looked into softening water in 5-10 gallon batches with supplies from a local aquarium shop. A filter and softener blanket to go inside it costs about $20 and should last about forever. Due mostly to the hassle factor you would need to be using a fair amount of softened water in a month for this to be a better option than buying distilled water at the store. You still have to store and heat the water, but it's an option.

The whole house water softener is about the best deal I have found. They cost several hundred dollars and need to be refilled with salt from time to time, but it's better water for the shower, ice maker, washing machine and dish washer as well due to reduced mineral deposits.

[BigBull]

I feel your pain brotha! I live in the South, and have hard water. Well, I live in Jax so it's more like South Georgia.

I don't know if it would be an option for you, but you can rent water softeners. Companies like Culligan will install them into your home and charge you a monthly fee. If you own, it would be more cost effective to buy it IMO. Your other option, and IMO your best option, is to move away from California

[Mandina]

I grew up in San Diego (1950s to early 70s), and we had a Culligan water softener in our house. I now live in South Florida--on top of limestone--and just this morning tried my first shave with distilled water. I can't know, of course, whether this morning's very nice Pre de Provence lather was due to the distilled water, but I'll do some experimenting in the coming months. I'm about to visit family in northern Calif (in an eastern suburb of Sacramento and then way north, near Mt. Shasta). My family near Mt. Shasta uses well water. Since Arko will lather rabidly no matter what the water conditions, I plan to bring some relatively hard-to-lather soaps like MWF, Edwin Jagger, and PdP in order to make some comparisons.

[T-Dog]

I live in Pasadena, CA where the water is so hard, I had to duck every time I turned on the shower! My wife and I installed a water softener last year. We bought it at Lowe's for around $500, and paid our plumber around $400 to install it. It uses salt to extract the hard water elements from the water. The salt runs $5 a bag, and it takes six-to-seven bags to fill it. It takes about two-months for the salt level to drop just two-to-three bags. My water is now as soft as it gets, and my lather is better than ever!

[pdillon]

Look on the bright side, hard water uses up more product so it is easier to justify AD.

[sempra]

A bit of background first. I live in CA, typical housing tract. The water sucks, its hard, full of minerals and chlorine. Your standard west coast city water.
-----------clip

Talking to a chemist friend the other day, he said the reason we use chlorine in our water is because after WW1, there were literally tons of chlorine gas that had to be disposed of. Water treatment was just starting, we needed to get rid of the poison gas!!! He said there are much better ways to purify water than by using chlorine.

Mitch

[Kentos]

Talking to a chemist friend the other day, he said the reason we use chlorine in our water is because after WW1, there were literally tons of chlorine gas that had to be disposed of. Water treatment was just starting, we needed to get rid of the poison gas!!! He said there are much better ways to purify water than by using chlorine.

Mitch

Is that a fact? Very interesting, although practically speaking I wonder what cheaper more effective methods exist?

[PugslyCat]

I can't know, of course, whether this morning's very nice Pre de Provence lather was due to the distilled water, but I'll do some experimenting in the coming months. I'm about to visit family in northern Calif (in an eastern suburb of Sacramento and then way north, near Mt. Shasta). My family near Mt. Shasta uses well water. Since Arko will lather rabidly no matter what the water conditions, I plan to bring some relatively hard-to-lather soaps like MWF, Edwin Jagger, and PdP in order to make some comparisons.

I used to use Williams at my house with a water softener and at my apartment with the hard water. Using the same puck at both places I could easily get fantastic lather at the house, but not at the apartment. VDH did OK at both places, but does decidedly better in soft water. I think that the quest for better soaps it what started my SSAD last year.

[misterelie]

I run off of well water which is naturally hard. We have a water softner and on the night before the softner goes off, the badger brush takes a little longer to work up a good lather than the night immediately after the softner cycles. My experience is the type of soap matters for this. Admittedly, I haven't done nearly as much experimentation as others have, but I have had the best luck with Castle Forbes and Mitchells /w/ Lanolin. I think the badger brush plays a part as well, but I've been pretty lucky so far with whatever I've been given.

[memoryleak]

$0.99 for a gallon of DW at the grocery will end your hard water lather troubles. I microwave it in a heavy "navy" style mug for 30 seconds then soak brush for 5 minutes or so.

[TheSC]

We have good soft water here. Maybe that's why I never had and problem with later building for the beginning. Who knew.

[SEnSE]

Hard water won't affect your lather if you load enough soap. If the water is that hard then distilled will certainly make things a bit quicker and easier, but I prefer to just overload and get great lather each time.

[cb91710]

Talking to a chemist friend the other day, he said the reason we use chlorine in our water is because after WW1, there were literally tons of chlorine gas that had to be disposed of. Water treatment was just starting, we needed to get rid of the poison gas!!! He said there are much better ways to purify water than by using chlorine.

Mitch

Is that a fact? Very interesting, although practically speaking I wonder what cheaper more effective methods exist?

It's not a fact.

Chlorination of water predates the Great War by 10-20 years in practice and closer to 30 years as technologically possible:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorination

The use of chlorine gas began prior to the war in 1913, and it wasn't until 1941 that it had completely replaced older methods.

[Monkeyboy]

I tried distilled water today nuked in the microwave and was astounded at the amount of lather I whipped up. Had a great shave, looks like I'm not going back to the tap.

[blademen]

Have you tried to add a filter to your tap?

[fijiblue]

Have you tried to add a filter to your tap?

Will a filter do anything to change "hardness"? I thought that only a dedicated softener unit would do the trick. I'm from So Cal as well and I kind of like the hard water. The only downside for me is I have to descale my coffee maker a lot.