How much water do you use? It feels like I use so much water now...

[canuckerr]

I got so caught up with wet shaving and DE blades/razors etc I just noticed today that I use a lot of water when I shave...

- soak brush in water
- fill scuttle up

- run brush under water again
- run razor under water
- after every few passes rinse razor with water
- I usually do three FULL shaves (wtg, xtg, atg) so within these 3 full shaves I rinse my razor a lot

- rinse out scuttle
- rinse out brush
- rinse out razor
- wash face
- use water to make sure all of the hair debris is not stuck to the basin

Anyone else have any thoughts of this?

I don't like to fill up the basin with water like Mantic does as I don't like the idea of rinsing my face with dirty water... I guess i'm just being a girl, but I would rather not do that.

*On another note, totally not related, but I didn't want to make another thread for just this... Does ASB expire? I have a bottle of Nivea After Shave balm (alcohol-free) back home. I only go home in the summer time and christmas so one bottle will probably last me awhile. Do after shave products usually expire? or is that just a dumb question?

 

[grogals]

It's true ... the wet in wetshaving means lots of (hot) water gets used over the course of a shave. I think about it often but don't see how it can be avoided. I'm glad we recently converted from a hot water tank to the instant / tankless system that's pretty efficient. Fortunately water bills in TO are also quite low.

I guess we can try offsetting that high water usage by being more efficient in other ways.

 

[Drubbing]

It's interesting to see different countries attitude to water. Here, we have to preserve it, there simply isn't enough to go around. The same situation will come to most western nations eventually, given the population growth. Then you'll see an exponential increase in its cost as recycling and desalination infrastructure becomes more necessary.

Saving water is easy when you take a different approach to its value.

fill the sink, soak the brush in that, then face wash in it
ditch the scuttle and face lather
rinse face under a bit of water between passes
rinse face, brush and razor in a bit of fresh water in the sink.

I use 2 sink's worth, which is probably a litre or so.

 

[GDCarrington]

Well, the one way I found to reduce the water use is to try to use heat efficiently. This is what has worked for me.

1. I use a hot pot to heat water to a boil.
2. I use two mugs. One for the water to rinse the razor. The other is for the lather.
3. I pour the hot water in the mug and when I am ready to rinse, I turn the faucet on cold and quickly rinse the large amount of soap off turning the water off. Then the razor head goes in the hot water to get the soap out completely. Three or four swishes removes the soap easy.
4. Quickly turn on the water to cool the blade and turn the water off again.
5. Shave.
6. Repeat 3-5 until complete.
7. Clean mugs and razor with hot water from hot pot.

I know this seems like a lot of steps, but I have found that by using filtered water and using hot water in the mug, I hardly use any water and I get the razor cleaner for each pass.

The hot water at the end helps reduce drain clogs as well.

 

[HoosierTrooper]

Small amount of cold water in mug to soak brush.
Approximately 2 tsps of cold water in mug to make lather.
A few quick rinses of razor with cold water during shave.
Cold water rinse of brush and mug when done.

All in all not much water, and since I've discovered how great the shaves are with cold water I'm saving a little bit on the gas bill.

 

[Pkrankow]

Small sink there Drubbing, I am sure my sink is close to a gallon (approx 4 liter)

I agree with the 2 maybe 3 sink full. I am sure I can do a whole lot less without much effort. I fill sink with hot water, soak bowls to heat (I want a scuttle) wet brush, use (still clean) sink water to wash face, fill lower bowl from tap, use sink water to build lather, I rinse my razor, and my face between passes with the (now slightly soapy) sink water. After my last pass and rinse, I pre-rinse my bowl and brush in the sink and drain.

I now rinse my face with warm tap water, then tepid tap water, rinse razor/brush/bowls out and done. I let a bowl catch the excess water with the brush while washing my face.

So 2-3 gallon of water. I don't feel particularly wasteful as a modern toilet flush is 1.5 gallon, and the antique toilet in my house is 5 gallon per flush. (When the master bath gets redone this will be replaced with a modern toilet.)

I hope my perspective is helpful. This house was on well water, but was switched to public water right before I bought it. I have a septic areator for sewer, and have concers about too much water use being used being hard on the septic.

Phil

 

[Hansel]

Well, typically I first soak my brush when warming up the water for my shower.

After the shower I put some hot water in the sink, maybe about 1/2 gallon, and use this for adding water while face lathering and for rinsing my razor. When I'm all done I swish the brush around in the sink to start cleaning it (I've already squeezed the lather out of it to use for my last pass), and then use a bit of hot to finish up.

I switch to cold and use a trickle of cold water to rinse off my face, and if I've used a block of soap in a container, I'll rinse off any stray lather from the outside of the container.

I honestly don't think I use more, especially given that I used to shave in the shower when I had disposables...

 

[dpm802]

In the last couple of months, I have found that the ideal amount of water for lather can be achieved by soaking a brush to hold as much water as it can, then turn the soap bowl UPSIDE DOWN when you load the brush. The excess water will simply fall off, and the soap/water ratio will adjust itself properly. This way, there is no guesswork. Works like a champ everytime.

Mantic59 discusses this ... maybe someone can find and post the link to that video?

 

[Jethro1984]

Mantic59 discusses this ... maybe someone can find and post the link to that video?

I believe this is the video you are referring to:

Upside Down Lathering Trick

 

[Sledgehammer39]

Well, the one way I found to reduce the water use is to try to use heat efficiently. This is what has worked for me.

1. I use a hot pot to heat water to a boil.
2. I use two mugs. One for the water to rinse the razor. The other is for the lather.
3. I pour the hot water in the mug and when I am ready to rinse, I turn the faucet on cold and quickly rinse the large amount of soap off turning the water off. Then the razor head goes in the hot water to get the soap out completely. Three or four swishes removes the soap easy.
4. Quickly turn on the water to cool the blade and turn the water off again.
5. Shave.
6. Repeat 3-5 until complete.
7. Clean mugs and razor with hot water from hot pot.

I know this seems like a lot of steps, but I have found that by using filtered water and using hot water in the mug, I hardly use any water and I get the razor cleaner for each pass.

The hot water at the end helps reduce drain clogs as well.

+ 1 This is very similar to what I do but I use a 1.0 Litre electric kettle.

 

[Jim]

When I visit relatives who have hard water I shave with a 12 ounce coffee cup full of hot distilled water. So it is possible to use less.

 

[Crixus]

4. Quickly turn on the water to cool the blade and turn the water off again.


I know this seems like a lot of steps

Do you find step #4 to be necessary?

 

[global_dev]

i thought the scuttle was easily the worst offender of water waste by far.

My sink is usually pretty clean, since i started shaving i clean it regularly due to how i use the sink. I fill it halfway with water and use that to

• soak brush
• rinse off razor
• same swirl the water in a circle and use that to clean off my face between passes.
• i leave a tiny trickle to help the water:soap/cream ratio if needed

then some fresh water to clean off face and some to clean off the brush. not much at all.

 

[djh]

Growing up in Australia, one quickly learns how valuable water is. Even though I am surrounded by it now, I certainly make a point of never wasting the stuff. My brush soaks in a cup of water whilst I shower (and prep) and then I flip the water on briefly when I need it to shave.

 

[njpaddy]

The amount of water I use shaving is a pittance compared to my wife and daughter's shower, so I don't even think about it. I fill the sink up halfway to rinse the razor between passes, but use water from the faucet to rinse my face.

 

[Buford T. Justice]

I don't worry too much about my water usage. Here's why...

Out of ALL 100% of the water on Earth, ~97% of it is in the oceans and ~1% is frozen in glaciers. The remaining ~2% is the water man has drank since he climbed out of the trees thousands of years ago.

My local municipal water comes from a river about 10 miles away. It is pumped into a pumping station where I believe chlorine is added to it before it is pumped into my town. From there it goes through the processes to become drinking water. I use the water, it goes down the drain, and through the pipes to the sewage plant which makes it safe enough to enter a waterway which goes back to the river where other communities do the same thing with it as mine.

Water evaporates and eventually returns to the Earth.

If you have enough hot and enough cold, you can even make water from the air. I use a small air conditioner in the summer and when I change the air filter in it, I always see condensation from the cold gas in the copper pipes and the hot air outside of the pipes.

But there is a growing scare going on which does worry me. As the world population continues to grow due to those that breed who feel they need to fart out as many children as possible, there will be less water to go around. Here is an interesting link about world population...

http://www.digitalsurvivors.com/archives/worldpopulation.php

Anyway, population can be safely controlled by limiting offspring. Do people who are married really need to produce more than two children?

And there are jagoffs like T. Boone Pickens and other billionaires who are now getting into the water storage business. They figure they will make even more billions selling water as people over-populate the Earth.

People still think that wars may be fought over oil as it runs out. You don't have to have oil to live, but BY GOD you HAVE TO HAVE WATER.

Wow, that was long-winded, lol. I guess I could have summed that up by saying we are all screwed anyway. Maybe the Earth will get lucky and be hit by a meteor the size of Texas.

 

[gixxer]

I really do not use that much water. Only enough to fill my bowl to soak the brush (cold water) I crack the faucet to add water to the lather, and then it stays off till I have to rinse the razor during passes. Then the faucet goes on and off to rinse and clean up.

I am blessed with a faucet that produces hot water instantly so I do not waste that much for the hot water rinse.

Adding to the comments about how the water gets recycled either by evaporation or going through the treatment plant, one thing to think about is the cost of treating the water. I agree that there will always be running water short of a nuclear holocaust, but it's all about the money.

And I 100% agree about overpopulation. There are thousands of families out there that are baby factories that cannot support themselves financially. When you do not have a job it is easy to sit around and get high and make babies. I know that not everybody that is unemployed does this, but it is a fact that some do. "Man I can't wait till that welfare check on the 15th!" I have heard that from folks before standing in line while they buy beer and cigs.

 

[Klopstick]

I use a hotpot and a mug myself. The mug holds water for adding water to the brush for face lathering and for rinsing the razor (I do run it under the sink sometimes when I'm not thinking).

Even with a towel for Kyle's Prep, I don't use more than a liter or two, including rinsing. I'll shave before showering.

For those worried about water in the coming years, you might find this pasteurization rig interesting. It's solar, but could be converted for use with regular fuel too. A cunning design that any DIY kind of guy could make and it has a lot of efficiencies from the look of it. Not much help if the water simply isn't there, but great if you have a source of untreated water that you could use.

 

[hometownhero]

I use less water now that I use a de. I would say 2-3 cups or water. When I was using a fusion I needed lots of high pressure water to unclog it after every stroke and then there was the water needed to rinse my face.

 

[binowatch]

I used to shave with a Fusion Power while standing in the shower with the water running. Now I just take a cup of hot water off the shower stream to soak my brush; after showering fill the sink 1/4 way with tap water that is already hot, thanks to the shower, to rinse the razor; shave; drain and flush the sink with the left over cup of hot water; run the water warm to rinse my face and brush, then cold rinse and done. Overall, I suspect this uses alot less water overall. When I use a straight I wipe it on a tissue and don't even fill the sink.