Hard Water and blades

[DrumDawg]

Does hard water have any effect on blades?

I am trying to find the variable to give me the shaves I got when i lived in Louisiana.

It could just be that I have run into a bad batch of Derby blades (I have a large amount of those).

 

[DE Shaver]

I doubt that hard water will have any significant effect on your shave. I moved from a house with softened water to an area that has very hard water and saw no difference. However, I do clean and disinfect my blade with alcohol after each shave. In addition, I do notice that all my silver and chrome implements do get much more water stained.

 

[sodajerk]

My experience is that water does make a difference. You can do a test and find out pretty quick, though.

Try using one of the following; bottled water, distilled water, water with baking soda added or install a water softener system. ) My daughter (who lives in another state) has a system and I had the best shaves of my life at her house. It was a totally new shaving experience and I can't wait to visit her again!

Also, make your lather a little wetter than normal and see if that helps any. I think (for what that's worth!) that hard water needs more water in the lather than when your using soft water.

Doubt seriously it's a blade batch problem, however, another brand may perform better with your new water. Good luck and hope you find the answer soon!

 

[DE Shaver]

Well, hard water will have an effect on soaping but again I doubt blades will be much affected. However, I think sodajerk's suggestion is an excellent one. Lathering and cleaning your blade with distilled water will certainly tell you if your blades are affected being affected by hard water. It's also possible that the hard minerals in the water may degrade the blade but that damage would happen over a period of time. If you are using your blade for 3 to 4 shaves and then discarding then I don't think you'll notice blade degradation from water damage. Let us know if you notice an impact.

 

[tido]

Also, make your lather a little wetter than normal and see if that helps any. I think (for what that's worth!) that hard water needs more water in the lather than when your using soft water.

In my experience, the counter-intuitive answer to dry, foamy lather made with hard water is not to use more water, but to use more soap. Recalling my chemistry classes in school, I came up with simple explanation (which is probably oversimplified or plain wrong, so anybody with more knowledge on the subject, feel free to correct me ).
Chemically speaking, hard water contains a lot of cations (mainly Ca2+ and Mg2+), which react with the anions from the alkali salts that make the soap, forming insoluble compounds (that brittle stuff floating on the water and forming a dull layer on your razor). So, not only do you get insoluble stuff in your lather, there is also less soap to build the lather with. Adding more water will remove even more soap molecules and produce additional soap scum. If, on the other hand, you start out with a lot of soap, there will be enough to bind the ions and still be plenty left to form the lather.

However, I think sodajerk's suggestion is an excellent one. Lathering and cleaning your blade with distilled water will certainly tell you if your blades are affected being affected by hard water. It's also possible that the hard minerals in the water may degrade the blade but that damage would happen over a period of time.

I used to have immense problems with rust on my blades. Feathers would start rusting after just a day, even Iridiums started to show spots on the third or fourth shave. A few months ago I began dunking the razor's head in distilled water for a minute or two after shaving, which seems to have slowed down the rusting quite a bit. I can get through a whole week of shaving with an Iridium or Super Silver, without a single spot on the blade. Granted, this might simply be attributed to lower temperatures and humidity during winter, so I won't tout it as the solution to rusty blades right now. But at least it keeps the soap scum build up on the razor down.

Tido