Water quality and lather.

[TheVez2]

I'm curious, as far as lather building goes, what in your water will affect your lather aside from hardness.

The reason I ask, is I recently moved from on base to off base, about 5 miles away. Ever since I moved I've been having a hard time lathering some of my soaps, including mama bears and vintage old spice. I figured my water from in town was harder than the water from the Air Force Base. So I checked the annual water quality reports and the hardness levels are about the same. Still both in the "very hard" category. So nothing has changed in my hardware, software, technique or anything. The only variable is the water. So what else could be in the water to affect the lather?

 

[Badgerfat]

This is a hard question to answer. There are so many variables involved, that unless I could try myself, it may have to be figured out on your own. It may be your pipes themselves having a calcium or lime build up in them. Thus adding more to your water making it a little harder to produce a good lather. But if you rent, landlords will usually not replace pipes because you can't shave good....Even though they should!!

 

[TheVez2]

Both the house I moved out of, and the house I moved into we're brand new. I was the first occupant of each.

 

[N2theBreech]

I don't know what particular chemicals are making it hard for you to lather. If you're reasonably certain it's not hardness, you could try a filter that removes several contaminants and see if it makes a difference. Something like a Brita or Pur portable or faucet mount.

 

[BIGFURM]

You could also just use distilled water. You probably only need a cup to shave with.

 

[SEnSE]

All your shave skills stayed at the old place. You must now relearn how to lather at the new place. Enjoy your 2nd chance.

Seriously, I'd say it could still be the water hardness as different chemicals contribute to the score. I'm no chemist so no idea which one is the culprit. pH differences can also have an effect.

 

[TheVez2]

I appreciate the suggestions but I'm not looking for a solution. I'm moving again soon anyway. I'm just curious what is causing the difference. It has to be something in the water aside from hardness.

 

[SEnSE]

Water qualities possibly involved: hardness (& specific ions), pH, TDS (total dissolved solids). Probably more factors, but as I said I'm no chemist.

 

[hedonist222]

Steal Distilled water from the base infirmary.

 

[rbfish]

I had a similar issue. When I visit the in-laws I get a better lather than when I shave at home. I had heard water hardness effects lather. I was curious so I checked, hardness was about the same. I live in an area with high amounts of iron in the water, not so much at the in-laws. I suspect it's the iron, but I don't know for sure. So many other variables with water. It's hard to say.

 

[TheVez2]

Water qualities possibly involved: hardness (& specific ions), pH, TDS (total dissolved solids). Probably more factors, but as I said I'm no chemist.

Well, that's kinda my point. There are a lot of factors in the water that affect lather other than hardness. But we always point the finger at water hardness. Granted, it is the most likely culprit, but not the only one.

I'll take a look at the two reports and see what any discrepancies are.

 

[Oscroft]

There are definitely other factors than just hardness, though I've never seen a proper analysis. I'm sure pH and the specific dissolved components in the water must make a difference.

 

[Nick Danger]

Well, that's kinda my point. There are a lot of factors in the water that affect lather other than hardness. But we always point the finger at water hardness. Granted, it is the most likely culprit, but not the only one.

I don't have any answers, but I can pass along the results of my own experiments.

I recently tried shaving soaps for the first time after using creams exclusively since I began DE shaving. I was having tons of trouble with my lather, and was quick to assume the problem was our hard water here in Chicago. I got a gallon of distilled water, thinking I would see dramatically different results. I didn't. The distilled water made almost no measurable difference to my lather.

Clearly, there are many variations on "hard water", and some minerals probably have more impact than others on the ability to lather. I'd be very curious for someone with a chemistry background to provide more details about this.

My problem with lathering soaps turned out to be more related to the brush I was using, and possibly to the humidity in my apartment. My attempts to learn how to lather soaps coincided exactly with the wave of extremely cold temperatures and low humidity in Chicago. When I greatly increased the humidity in my apartment (measured with a hygrometer) and used a brush with much more backbone, my soap lather improved right away.

So it's possible that there are more factors at play than just water quality.

Nick