Hard Water

When I started, I blamed hard water on my poor lathers. I was envious of the pictures of lather on SOTD. After a while, I realised:

1. Those pictures are party tricks. Having lather the size of a football is not the point;
2. Hard water wasn't a major problem. Just load the bejeezus out of your soaps or add more cream, and get on with it (a bit more water may be needed as well).

There's almost no-one on this forum who doesn't have more soaps/creams than they need, so using heaps of it each day is not a material issue.
 
Thanks Supermangs. That makes perfect sense
It's a very good point - it's sometimes said that 80-90% of lather problems can be solved by using or loading more product and adding the requisite amount of water needed to achieve the correct lather consistency. What you're essentially doing is sacrificing some of the product to react with the ions within the hard water, leaving the rest of the soap or cream to actually lather, whereas with soft water the amount that isn't available to form lather is reduced as there are many fewer ions present in the first place.
 
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I live in hard water area, and i've never had this problem, just soak my Boar brushes in warm water (tap water) for 10-15 minutes,with my synthetic brushes a quick soaking, couple of shakes, then straight in to the shave puck, or mxing bowl if i'm using shave cream.. then a good vigorous mix until i've got the lather to the consistency i want it this normally take me around 3-4 minutes...however if it lacks "slickness" i add a few drops of boots glycerin, this help to create a good slickness.
http://www.boots.com/value-health-glycerin-b-p-200ml-10021858
I hope this is some help..most of the time i find if i add too much water this can hinder the lather.Regards.:)
 
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I have read elsewhere that some people put a pinch of citric acid in the basin when they fill it to soften the water. My water is on the softer side so I haven't tried it myself but perhaps it is worth having a go of. You can get it from Wilkinsons for £1 in the home brewing section.
It may be Soda Crystals (Sodium Carbonate) you're thinking of; very cheap from the supermarket. It acts as a water softener. I've tried adding a fraction of a teaspoon to the water in my sink and it does make the water feel softer but doesn't seem to make much of difference to the lather. I agree with the others that using more soap overcomes lather issues.

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It may be Soda Crystals (Sodium Carbonate) you're thinking of; very cheap from the supermarket. It acts as a water softener. I've tried adding a fraction of a teaspoon to the water in my sink and it does make the water feel softer but doesn't seem to make much of difference to the lather. I agree with the others that using more soap overcomes lather issues.

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Definitely citric acid which is mentioned, I remember it's mostly said by the bloke who wrote that guide to shaving. A quick search shows both are good at softening water and in a search 'citric acid hard water' brings up two threads discussing it on.

Never tried myself so can't comment on their effectiveness, hopefully OP finds a solution that works for them
 
I live in the Midlands which is a very hard water area and MWF is one of if not my favourite soaps.
I dip my brush in hot/warm water shake a bit on the MWF return the brush to soak and nip off for a shower, result, a lovely lather.
Hi Boru62. I have used a few soaps now, including MWF and I'm delighted with the lather I'm getting. Thanks for your input.
 
I live in a hard water area and I used to have the same concerns but reading about other people experiences I have no doubt that you can use pretty much any soap with hard water..... it might take a few more seconds to build a lather but that's not a big deal.

Just make sure you load your brush enough and with some soaps like PAA you only need 12 - 15 seconds load for a 3 passes shave.

Very hard soaps need a lot longer before you get enough on your brush.

Yesterday, I used Loccitane Cade soap and I loaded the soap for 20 seconds and I just couldn't build a good lather. The lather quickly dissipated from my face. This is the first time it has happened and also the first time I loaded the soap for only 20 seconds.
 
I live in a hard water area and I used to have the same concerns but reading about other people experiences I have no doubt that you can use pretty much any soap with hard water..... it might take a few more seconds to build a lather but that's not a big deal.

Just make sure you load your brush enough and with some soaps like PAA you only need 12 - 15 seconds load for a 3 passes shave.

Very hard soaps need a lot longer before you get enough on your brush.

Yesterday, I used Loccitane Cade soap and I loaded the soap for 20 seconds and I just couldn't build a good lather. The lather quickly dissipated from my face. This is the first time it has happened and also the first time I loaded the soap for only 20 seconds.
Hello Merkurologist. Yes I concur with your thoughts, and part of the fun for me now is learning which soaps respond best to the various factors involved. I get a good lather from MWF, but I do have to work at it a bit. This morning, I tried an OSP soap for the first time. Goodness me! Within about 20 seconds I had lather all over my bathroom! But one thing is for sure. I needn't have avoided soaps because of my hard water.
Barry
 
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