Soaps with effective chelating ingredients?

My water is very high in limestone (calcium carbonate). Most soaps that shave well also form a lot of sticky waterproof scum (calcium soap).

Using citric acid helped for sink basin shaving, but the water got cold quickly, and I mostly shave in the shower anyway (face lathering with a synthetic brush, jar upside down to avoid ruining the soap).

I’ve found vague references to soaps with chelating agents to reduce the gunk, but … are there any soaps that unambiguously include such agents in the current formula?

My water is very high in limestone (calcium carbonate). Most soaps that shave well also form a lot of sticky waterproof scum (calcium soap).

Using citric acid helped for sink basin shaving, but the water got cold quickly, and I mostly shave in the shower anyway (face lathering with a synthetic brush, jar upside down to avoid ruining the soap).

I’ve found vague references to soaps with chelating agents to reduce the gunk, but … are there any soaps that unambiguously include such agents in the current formula?

I can make you a custom Shave Soap with a Chelating agent in it that would help your issue of Limestone in your water. I don't know of any shave soap that is specifically developed for your situation but it can be custom made. There are alternatives to choose from as there are a couple naturals out there and good amount of synthetic Chelating agents out there which some don't have a great reputation as they have been shown to emit Formaldehyde vapors for one thing. If I were doing one I'd go with the natural.

Anyway it can be done an if your interested pm me.

Hope that helps.

Message sent.

We use EDTA, which is a chelating agent, in our soap.  I suspect other artisans do as well - just an easy check of ingredients labels needed.  We don't use it for the purpose you stated, thus I don't know if it would help.  

Happy give you a couple of samples if you'll pay for shipping.  Please pm me if interested.

Barrister and Mann Omnibus contains Tetrasodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate which is a chelating agent. It should make it easier to deal with a hard water situation.

The Nobel Otter most recent formula contains both citric acid and Tetrasodium EDTA.

You might try using water purified by distillation or reverse osmosis for lathering you soap. You might still get some buildup of calcium soaps in your pipes, but it will help.