So i didn't really want my neck anyway

[Go West Young Man]

how can you tell what hard water is? is there any tests you can take?


thanks for advice so far!!

Tough love time again ...... if you had hard water, you'd know. Your dishes would come out of the dishwasher coated in film, you'd have a hard time rinsing the soap and shampoo off after a shower, and your pipes would have rusty dirt coming out of them.

You don't have hard water, you don't have bad products, you're just impatient. Keep practicing, read the stickes, watch the Mantic videos, keep it to 2 WTG passes for now. Your shave will improve over time, let it happen.

 

[Xezmer]

I remember my first shave. Oh it was horrible.

Time is the best cure. I nearly gave up all my goodies and crawled back to my quattro-- and I actually did for a few weeks. A month or two later was when I tried again.

 

[prayformojo]

Tough love time again ...... if you had hard water, you'd know. Your dishes would come out of the dishwasher coated in film, you'd have a hard time rinsing the soap and shampoo off after a shower, and your pipes would have rusty dirt coming out of them.

You don't have hard water, you don't have bad products, you're just impatient. Keep practicing, read the stickes, watch the Mantic videos, keep it to 2 WTG passes for now. Your shave will improve over time, let it happen.

bit rash.. ive calmed down quite a bit now and looking forward to tonight when i will try again!

just about 10 people have mentioned hard water and i have no idea wth hard water is. In no way was i trying to use it as a excuse.

 

[Drubbing]

bit rash.. ive calmed down quite a bit now and looking forward to tonight when i will try again!

just about 10 people have mentioned hard water and i have no idea wth hard water is. In no way was i trying to use it as a excuse.

It doesn't really matter if you do have hard water, it's still not that hard to make a good lather with it. A bit of practice is all that's needed.

I know the suggestion was well meant, but rushing out to buy a water softener is like taking a sledgehammer to a nut. And it doesn't solve the real problem. Which can be fixed for no cost.

 

[Saturn]

One thing that helped me learn to build effective lather - and this will sound REALLY obvious to some of you - is to push down on the brush a bit (not too much, though) as you're mixing your lather up. That will allow the water from the bristles to really mix with the lather and hydrate it well.

When I was starting out, I was so paranoid about the possibility of damaging my brush that I used no pressure on it at all, and consequently just ended up pushing cream around ineffectually. Since then, I've learned that a well-made brush can stand up to a bit of pressure - at least, I hope so.

 

[okey]

mate i live in sydney and we dont have hard water that i have found. a hard water would be like water from a bore and even then i have not noticed a really poor water quality. A mate of mine goes out west shooting and he gets really hard water there but its a bush bore.

 

[prayformojo]

thought id update you with my 2nd shave.

THis time i soaked the brush while i showered.. emptied the tub squeezed the brush lightly 2 big shakes and 1 light shaked.

Swirled a bit of trumpers on the top of brushed and started lathering. WOW did it go really much happier with how it went.. so got it on.

Switched blade from a mekur to a dorco stainless..


Felt like the dorco dragged a bit was more happier with the merkur but i might try a differnet one tomorrow.

Got a similar shave as yesterday, feel good on face/moustache area but neck can definately feel it. Did two WTG passes and only 1 cut on the neck this time

felt much better about the shave this time and look forward to hopefully no cuts tomorrow with a better blade!!

 

[Muscles]

Good job, it's amazing the difference some lather can make. Stick with it and the whole thing will be second nature before long.

 

[James1971]

I can guarantee that your water is not too hard to build a good lather. Sydney's water supply is not particularly hard at all. I lather it everyday and get a good result with both Windsor and Proraso soaps in about a minute.

Are you shaving with the grain on your neck? Back in my dark cartridge razor days I had a bad habit of shaving downwards on my face and then upwards on my neck. I always had shaving rash on my neck. I now do two with the grain passes with a good sharp DE and then one across the grain and im as smooth as I need to be. No rash, no nicks.

(BTW - Im the scientist that manages your water quality so I can vouch for the hardness)

 

[lstorie1971]

Check the beard grain on your neck. I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't grow N-S. It probably grows in different directions around your neck. Once you figure that out, I'll bet you are not shaving with the grain in all areas.

 

[Luc]

thought id update you with my 2nd shave.

THis time i soaked the brush while i showered.. emptied the tub squeezed the brush lightly 2 big shakes and 1 light shaked.

Swirled a bit of trumpers on the top of brushed and started lathering. WOW did it go really much happier with how it went.. so got it on.

Switched blade from a mekur to a dorco stainless..


Felt like the dorco dragged a bit was more happier with the merkur but i might try a differnet one tomorrow.

Got a similar shave as yesterday, feel good on face/moustache area but neck can definately feel it. Did two WTG passes and only 1 cut on the neck this time

felt much better about the shave this time and look forward to hopefully no cuts tomorrow with a better blade!!

Good work! It might take a bit of practice but your lather will get better and that blade (or any blade) will just glide on your face without skipping!

 

[life2short1971]

If your feeling it dragging maybe use less angle on the blade. Hold the handle away from your face a little more. Might help.

 

[treewhale]

how can you tell what hard water is? is there any tests you can take?


thanks for advice so far!!

Hard water is water that has a lot of Minerals in it. You can find out about the mineral content of your water supply by looking at the website for your water service (or calling them if they don't provide that on their website) or you might contact local craft brewers or homebrewers to find out whether you have hard water.

If you tend to get lime scale on your taps or tile, chances are good you have hard water.