Water Quality (Lather)

TomG

TomG

Gentleman Shaver from WA ...
2020 Charity Auction Winner
Joined
May 22, 2016
Location
Perth
Thought I'd throw this out there for discussion.

I live in Perth. The scheme water has become progressively harder over the last several decades as rainfall has declined. The water now contains approximately 60% ground water. I've thought about using distilled water, but this didn't quite seem right for me.

Was discussing this subject with my Barber recently in relation to lather (i.e. more difficult and time-consuming to get a good one in hard water), and he suggested boiling the water. This removes some of the hardness (think scale formation on kettle elements). I normally run my drinking water through a jug filter, so I simply filtered a few batches and boiled them, then poured into a 5 litre container for multiple shaves.

My methodology is to heat up a cupful of this water just prior to shaving, and use it for pre-soaking my brush, lather water, and also to briefly soak my cleaned brush and razor post-shave.

Since making this change, I have noticed an improvement in both lathering efficiency and quality. It is dead easy to do and lowish cost. Of course, I'd use rain water if I had it available, but this method is working pretty well for me.

Anyone else had similar experiences?
 
I think some others around here use distilled water or rainwater especially to get a decent lather.
 
I've never had an issue with lather creation in Sydney but submersible water in India lead to a lot of frustration.
No matter what I did, the larger was thin and dissipated in seconds!

I switched to bottled water for shaving in areas that had submersible water only and lather production returned to its usual ease of production, rich and creamy consistency.
 
Most if not all filter don't do anything about the hardness - only chlorine, taste etc.

I use most of the time distilled water - but just for the loading/lather building process, not for the actual shave, rinse etc.

I get about 4 weeks out of 2l (so ~15 shaves) and can document my procedure in the next days.

Our water in Adelaide is considered one of the hardest in the capital cities - but I can still get good lather out of all my soaps with it. It just takes a longer loading time...
 
Our town water is from the river predominantly, and topped up from bores (sandy soils). It is soft I believe. At least I can't get much if any reading on my hardness test kit.

I've used distilled water before and it's cheap since you only use a small amount to wet the brush and build a lather. Maybe 150ml? Don't do the whole shave with it. I buy mine in 5L bottles from super cheap auto (for engine coolant replacement).

In the end for me there was no difference so didn't continue with it.

I agree jug filters won't help with hardness but they might do something. Don't you need RO for that?
 
I think water quality is one of the biggest overthinks on shave sites. Next to methods of drying brushes.

I'm in Perth and the water is so bad, it's stuffed up the taps and washers in my house. But it's still fine for making top notch lather with cheap soaps.

It's not the arrow...
 
Hahaha. Since receiving the chubby, and rain coming I've noticed it has not been drying completely. Since I have never hang a brush curiosity got the better of me. I tried different positions (hanging or standing) in different rooms and found no difference!
 
Sxot said:
Our town water is from the river predominantly, and topped up from bores (sandy soils). It is soft I believe. At least I can't get much if any reading on my hardness test kit.

I've used distilled water before and it's cheap since you only use a small amount to wet the brush and build a lather. Maybe 150ml? Don't do the whole shave with it. I buy mine in 5L bottles from super cheap auto (for engine coolant replacement).

In the end for me there was no difference so didn't continue with it.

I agree jug filters won't help with hardness but they might do something. Don't you need RO for that?
Click to expand...

Yes, ro water fixed the issue in one area of India where tap water was useless for shaving soaps.

Surprisingly, shaving creams lather up with any water, perhaps due to much higher glycerin content?

But I don't get close shaves with creams so used ro or bottled water depending what was available.
 
RO water lathers superbly, based on my experience at multiple mine sites. This is due to the efficiency of RO, which physically excludes dissolved salts (ions) via use of a semi-permeable membrane.

From a chemistry perspective, the two significant contributors to water hardness are dissolved calcium and magnesium cations.

Jug filters have a combination of activated carbon and ion exchange resin. The former has a minor impact on reduction/adsorption; the latter has a moderate impact. Boiling the water further reduces the hardness via precipitation of these alkali earth metal cations as carbonates (the white stuff you see inside kettles).

Hence, there is no doubt that the combination of these two steps significantly reduces the concentration of calcium and magnesium, resulting in softer water that produces superior lather in less time.

Is it worth doing? Well, this is a matter of opinion, as aggressive loading and good technique will mitigate the effect of hard water.

In addition, some soaps contain chemical additives that also mitigate water hardness, such as EDTA. Well respected soaps that employ this include Tabac, Speick, Proraso and Mitchell's Wool Fat.

Me? I need all the help I can get.
 
I think any attempts to soften water are a waste of time. I've no problem with the terrible water I have here. A synthetic brush makes the job even easier. Far less hassle and guesswork, and everyone needs one anyway...
 
Drubbing said:
I think any attempts to soften water are a waste of time. I've no problem with the terrible water I have here. A synthetic brush makes the job even easier. Far less hassle and guesswork, and everyone needs one anyway...
Click to expand...

Need? Hardly.
I point blank refuse to use a synthetic brush. I don't care how easily they lather or how soft they are. Might as well go and shave with a cart, of which plenty of people say are far less hassle and guesswork than a traditional razor. They are both attempts at improving the real thing.
 
Sxot said:
Need? Hardly.
I point blank refuse to use a synthetic brush. I don't care how easily they lather or how soft they are. Might as well go and shave with a cart, of which plenty of people say are far less hassle and guesswork than a traditional razor. They are both attempts at improving the real thing.
Click to expand...

@Sxot I don't think comparing a synthetic brush to a cart razor is a fair comparison, there is a big difference between a synth and a cart. It's widely accepted that a cart will not give as close or as irritation free shave compared to wet shaving, while it is also widely accepted that synth's work well straight out of the box and do a great job. Obviously not all synth's are created equal just the same as razors or brushes made from natural hairs for that matter but I think it is disingenuous to compare the two the way you have.

You point blank refusing to use a synth is a personal preference and there is nothing wrong with that, but it is a preference nonetheless.
 
Sxot said:
Need? Hardly.
I point blank refuse to use a synthetic brush. I don't care how easily they lather or how soft they are. Might as well go and shave with a cart, of which plenty of people say are far less hassle and guesswork than a traditional razor. They are both attempts at improving the real thing.
Click to expand...

That is a ridiculous comparison. You clearly don't like them for whatever reason, which sounds like traditionalism for its own sake - but that has nothing to do with how they perform and value for money they provide. Not only that, unlike carts they don't charge more for something that isn't an obvious improvement. The Body Shop version is a bit crude, but works well. The Jagger/Aesop is a excellent product. As is the Plisson and its copies.

Synths make a mockery of the idea that real hair, and tons of it for backbone are required to provide a great result. Expensive badgers are just expensive because of the material cost, not because they're inherently better. It's just that no one found a viable alternative until recently.

IMO the current fibre synths are not just an attempt to improve on the real thing,they're a successful one.
 
Sxot said:
Need? Hardly.
I point blank refuse to use a synthetic brush. I don't care how easily they lather or how soft they are. Might as well go and shave with a cart, of which plenty of people say are far less hassle and guesswork than a traditional razor. They are both attempts at improving the real thing.
Click to expand...
While i do agree that synths tend to be a bit more 'boring' and could take away from the wet shaving experience, I definitely wouldn't say that comparison is fair (I do see where you're coming from though, viewing synths as a convenience feature). Synths can make for fantastic brushes and are a great alternative to natural hair brushes with their own special properties. Just because some people decide to skip out on the 'challenge' of lather building with natural hair brushes or skip out on have myself experience the blooming of a badger knot, clearly doesn't mean that those people 'might as well go shave with carts'.
Even with a synth brush, you'll still be wet shaving.
 
Drubbing said:
That's pretty much it. But badger and boar are hardly a challenge to use. I find synths are just quicker and easier than natural fibre, whatever the soap or cream.
Click to expand...
I have to agree here. As much as I love my badgers and boars anyone of my synthetics produce an excellent lather quickly and efficiently. I also find that they rinse out a lot easier and are generally easier to maintain.
 
Sxot said:
Need? Hardly.
I point blank refuse to use a synthetic brush. I don't care how easily they lather or how soft they are. Might as well go and shave with a cart, of which plenty of people say are far less hassle and guesswork than a traditional razor. They are both attempts at improving the real thing.
Click to expand...

Thank you sir - you truly deserve the Chuby!

A synth is the perfect brush for a beginner, for all the reasons mentioned above.

After that - is is great for travelling - but some say so is your cart :D :D :D
 
alfredus said:
Thank you sir - you truly deserve the Chuby!

A synth is the perfect brush for a beginner, for all the reasons mentioned above.

After that - is is great for travelling - but some say so is your cart :D :D :D
Click to expand...

Okay... you blokes have convinced me... what (reasonably priced yet minimum quality) synthetic would you recommend? I currently have a pure badger and a boar (which I'm not all that enthused about.) Thanks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top