Hard H2O blues?

We have very hard water here on the SW side of Austin and I have found that if I get a good load that lathering anything, even the reputed difficult soaps is a piece of cake. YMMV...

Same here in Virginia.  My area is limestone central.  Our municipality stores our water in old limestone quarries.  It's some of the hardest water in the country and wreaks havoc on pipes and water heaters.  I haven't had the pleasure of lathering with softened water yet on a regular basis to know the potential difference.  When I first started wet shaving I thought I was in for it after reading so many hard water posts on the forums.  I have to say, even with more (reputed) challenging soaps I have yet to have any issues getting a great lather.  Maybe its a case of not knowing what I'm missing but I don't find the lather created with hard water to be inferior during my shave.  I have read about citric acid and I have distilled water in the house but have yet to feel the need to reach for it.  A water softener is on the list of potential upgrades because of the non-shaving issues caused by hard water and I'll be interested to see the difference in my shave and bath soap/shampoo lathers.

I just tried distilled water for the first time two days ago just for fun and wow what a difference. I mean I knew I had hard water but never had any real problem making a lather. I will be staying with the distilled water from now on.

Hard water only increases the amount of soap product necessary to achieve the same amount of bubbles. It's just "harder" to lather. Hence the name.

I just tried distilled water for the first time two days ago just for fun and wow what a difference. I mean I knew I had hard water but never had any real problem making a lather. I will be staying with the distilled water from now on.

That's what worked for me.

I hear this complaint a lot on the various forum and groups to which I belong, that their hard water makes lathering difficult. WHen I lived in Indiana and had a water softener soaps just performed like champons. Now I live in suburban Houston and my water is rock hard. Some of my soaps are impervious to the minerals. I'd like to hear if others share the experience and what soaps work for them. My latest expirament has been to take my worst performers and lather them by soaking my brush in a mug of warm distilled water. Wow, what a difference! This is a very  inexpensive solution to boost your poor  performers.

Here in Central NJ, my water is ridiculously hard. Catie's Bubbles & P.A.A. are 2 soaps that work great>