Is Hard Water an Issue for You?

Thoughts and input on anything related to wet shaving or men's grooming.
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Is Hard Water an Issue for you?

No... um.. what's hard water?
0
No votes
No, don't have hard water.
2
18%
Yes, but I use filtered or distilled water.
2
18%
Yes, but I just keep lathering.
7
64%
 
Total votes: 11

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Is Hard Water an Issue for You?

Post by MensSoapCo »

Hi Everyone!

I'm writing an article on this subject and would like to know if hard water is or was an issue for you in your wet shaving routine. Please respond to the poll and share your experience.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.
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brothers
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Re: Is Hard Water an Issue for You?

Post by brothers »

My vote is the last scenario on the list. I am told our water is hard, and there have been a small handful of soaps that seem to be weak, but I have no evidence it was the fault of either the water or the soap. Example: Mitchell's Wool Fat. In the beginning I was livid and avidly blamed both the water and the soap. Used up about a half of the puck convincing myself the soap was terrible when used with my hard water. Stubbornly kept drifting back over a period of several months. Then one day it worked for some reason and that was the end of my war with MWF. Who knows why, but I decided it was all in my instinctive subconscious lathering that has served me well ever since. I ignore my water and have all the lather anyone could ask for. =D>
Gary

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CMur12
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Re: Is Hard Water an Issue for You?

Post by CMur12 »

I have a water softener and have never had an any difficulty making lather.

- Murray
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Re: Is Hard Water an Issue for You?

Post by MensSoapCo »

The town probably changed the way they processed water. It happened in my town. At one point the water was hard we could smell strong iron. After enough complaints from residents, they later admitted a fault in the processing. My water is still hard, but nowhere near as it was once. That hard water did make a big difference in the quality of the lather for me. I'm planning to add a softener to my house soon.
brothers wrote: Fri Apr 26, 2019 1:42 pm My vote is the last scenario on the list. I am told our water is hard, and there have been a small handful of soaps that seem to be weak, but I have no evidence it was the fault of either the water or the soap. Example: Mitchell's Wool Fat. In the beginning I was livid and avidly blamed both the water and the soap. Used up about a half of the puck convincing myself the soap was terrible when used with my hard water. Stubbornly kept drifting back over a period of several months. Then one day it worked for some reason and that was the end of my war with MWF. Who knows why, but I decided it was all in my instinctive subconscious lathering that has served me well ever since. I ignore my water and have all the lather anyone could ask for. =D>
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Re: Is Hard Water an Issue for You?

Post by MensSoapCo »

CMur12 wrote: Fri Apr 26, 2019 2:10 pm I have a water softener and have never had an any difficulty making lather.

- Murray
That's exactly what I've been recommended to do.
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drmoss_ca
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Re: Is Hard Water an Issue for You?

Post by drmoss_ca »

I grew up on the Marlborough Downs where the water comes from chalk boreholes, and is extremely hard. Kettles died furry deaths after a short span and bathtubs inevitably had scum floating around after the soap met the water. Cleaning off the tidemark was necessary after every bath. A razor was covered in a fine layer of this calcium stearate scum after each use and had to be wiped to see the metal shine again: it wouldn't rinse off. Bonus trivia: hard water areas have higher rates of heart disease.

Later, in west Wales, the water was as soft as soft could be, tasted horrid, and made you feel you couldn't rinse soap off no matter how hard you tried. Bonus trivia: very soft water is associated with higher rates of stomach cancer, a disease that has almost disappeared elsewhere.

Now I live where the water is just a little on the hard side. If a soap don't lather it ain't the water's fault. It's because it's one of those dreadful French soaps that cost the earth and are no use to man or beast.
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fallingwickets
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Re: Is Hard Water an Issue for You?

Post by fallingwickets »

It's because it's one of those dreadful French soaps that cost the earth and are no use to man or beast
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!

clive
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EL Alamein
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Re: Is Hard Water an Issue for You?

Post by EL Alamein »

We have hard water here, how hard I don't really know, but I know it is.

How I know is because we have relatives that have a softener and when we would visit I merely had to present the wet brush to the soap and it lathered like crazy and the resulting lather was as slick as goose snot.

I've tried distilled water and it made a great difference in lather but it's too cumbersome a routine. I now just wash my face with a detergent bar and lather with tap water with a lot of soap and I use the soapy water drippings from the brush lathering to continue to build my lather. It works the same as soft water to provide a slick protective lather.

Chris
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Re: Is Hard Water an Issue for You?

Post by Bill_K »

In my city our water averages 12.6 gpg (between 9.5 and 14 gpg if I recall correctly).

I've discovered that face lathering produces a better lather with MWF than bowl lathering, so I've quit grumbling.
Bill
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Re: Is Hard Water an Issue for You?

Post by slackskin »

We live in an apartment building. The landlord has a softener on the hot water only, not on the cold water. When I shave with hot water, the soap behaves better than when I shave with cold.
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jww
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Re: Is Hard Water an Issue for You?

Post by jww »

Ottawa water is actually quite soft. We lived in an area before moving here 30+ years ago where we needed a water softener and when I said to my cousin's husband we needed one he just smiled and said quietly "This is Ottawa, save your money"

When we travel, I often find the water much harder than ours is here at home. I have found that the best / easiest latherer when traveling is either Palmolive Classic cream or Body Shop Macca Root cream. Both very reliable under even the hardest of water conditions.
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churchilllafemme
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Re: Is Hard Water an Issue for You?

Post by churchilllafemme »

The water here in my area of Western Washington is relatively soft, so I have never had a problem lathering soaps.
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Re: Is Hard Water an Issue for You?

Post by MensSoapCo »

Thanks to everyone for participating.

Here is the post on Hard Water, Skin and Shaving.
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