Hard water vs. Soft

[PomfretSteve]

So... I have really hard water. I live in New England and have well water that leaves a sediment ring when I give the kids a bath. I have been waiting to try distilled water when lathering for a couple of years and finally decided to give it a try. I was expecting to have instantaneous gobs of lather be produced on my soaps (spontaneous lather combustion?) and giddily loaded up my brush to discover...no difference at all with the amount, quality, or time it took to lather. In fact the lather started to disappear a little on my third pass compared to my normal routine (face lathering hard soaps). I tried this for 4 days with the same outcome, no discernible difference outside of the ease of clean up from the brush. I think all of my earlier complaining about making lather with hard water was pretty overblown. Going forward I will not use hard water as a disclaimer when trying new soaps ( or traditionally difficult ones to lather) glad I tried it though...

 

[Macbreezy]

I have hard water also. My water leaves mineral rings on my porcelin sinks and nickel faucets. I travel a lot too and have had the luxury of softer water when I travel and I think it makes a world of difference.

 

[aihpcfl]

What's the soap(s)?

Just thinking there are other variables. Seems hard water isn't always a problem, or not for everyone.

 

[xxvaleria]

I have two homes and split my time between them. The one in New Mexico has very hard water from the City's deep well, and the Missouri property has soft water from the Missouri River. I find the soft water makes lathering easier, but both make a good lather with the right software. My main problem is that the dry New Mexico climate makes the lather dry out faster.

 

[SantoSubito]

I have a well, and here in Oklahoma well water usually has a large amount of calcium in it. I've never had any problem with lather compared to the soft city water that my parents have, but the calcium does make it impossible to keep a razor clean and shiny.

 

[The Dean]

I have never lived anywhere with really soft water. The water here in NE Florida is considered to be quite hard. I'm happy to say I don't have trouble making very nice lather, though I never really go for the lather porn you see in some pictures. I actually prefer a thicker more yogurt-like lather.

I used distilled water for awhile, but stopped as it didn't make that much of a difference for me.

 

[August West]

I have found that if you approach lathering with a sense of reckless abandon you can get a decent lather from just about any product regardless of water conditions. Let it fly...Gather knowledge from others but don't overthink...experiment...Throw caution to the wind.

 

[Croulebarbe]

Our water is so hard that you have to chew it before you can take a drink, and I've never had any problems building a lather. Just alter the variables a bit - more soap to the same amount of water, or use a different soap. I find a combination that works eventually.

 

[Trek2100]

I have found that if you approach lathering with a sense of reckless abandon you can get a decent lather from just about any product regardless of water conditions. Let it fly...Gather knowledge from others but don't overthink...experiment...Throw caution to the wind.

Yeah, that just about hits the nail on the head. Go at it for all it's worth and all should be good.

 

[Mick]

I am on city water and the city annual WQR (water quality report) shows us as having 27 ppl of dissolved solids (mostly calcium and magnesium). Perfect water (according to those who seem to know) is 20 ppl so I am almost at that perfect/magic level of soft/hard water for everything from espresso to lather making.

Depending on what your main desolved solids are, you can get treatment options to cure just about any defect. If you rent you can find something that can be attached to a supply line between a cold faucet using hoses so that you can take it with you when you move.

 

[StubbleTrouble]

Intentionally starting out too dry has worked well for me. From there, it's only a matter of how many more drops of water / passes will get me to where I want to be. NYC water is quite good water, too.

 

[lowflier03]

I initially blamed hard water for the lack of lather that I was able to get out of several of the soaps I tried. However I found that those same soaps lathered up nicely if I added a few drops of glycerine. Then my wife made me some shaving soap and suddenly, poof, instantaneous billowy lather.

Sometimes some soaps just dont lather well. Or require a specific technique, Like how there always seems to be specific how-to's for MWF.

 

[Skeezixx]

Somehow this thread reminded me of a passage I had read in a book years ago:

When I went up to my room, I found there the young man called Rogers, crying. He said--
'What is a person to do here when he wants a drink of water?-- drink this slush?'
'Can't you drink it?'
'I could if I had some other water to wash it with.'
Here was a thing which had not changed; a score of years had not affected this water's mulatto complexion in the least; a score of centuries would succeed no better, perhaps. It comes out of the turbulent, bank-caving Missouri, and every tumblerful of it holds nearly an acre of land in solution. I got this fact from the bishop of the diocese. If you will let your glass stand half an hour, you can separate the land from the water as easy as Genesis; and then you will find them both good: the one good to eat, the other good to drink. The land is very nourishing, the water is thoroughly wholesome. The one appeases hunger; the other, thirst. But the natives do not take them separately, but together, as nature mixed them. When they find an inch of mud in the bottom of a glass, they stir it up, and then take the draught as they would gruel. It is difficult for a stranger to get used to this batter, but once used to it he will prefer it to water. This is really the case. It is good for steamboating, and good to drink; but it is worthless for all other purposes, except baptizing.

Mark Twain..............................Life on the Mississippi

 

[Blueskye09]

I have tried distiller water in the past without a noticeable difference from tap.

 

[PugslyCat]

I have a whole house water softener at the farm and extremely hard water that leaves deposits on everything at my apartment near work. I can make good lather in either, but it takes a lot less product and effort in the soft water.

 

[f86sabjf]

been on soft water 16yrs . This last year our house water system tank broke. We went 3months before repairs could be afforded and I will never go without it again. I could smell the chlorine in the water, disgusting. does seem to make a difference in my lathering as well as cleaning of the house.