Getting your skin clean is important every time you shower, bathe, or wash your hands. However, if you recently purchased a whole home water softener, the process will feel very different to your skin compared to when you had hard water. Once you understand the reasons behind the differences in cleaning with hard and soft water, you will be able to make changes to ensure that you feel just as clean after a shower with soft water as you did when you used hard water.

Why Does Soft Water Make Washing Off Soap Harder?

Water hardness comes from the amount of dissolved calcium and magnesium in the water. The more of these minerals the water has, the harder it is. Soft water replaces these solids with salts, which reduces the number of minerals in the water, making it softer.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Water Science School, the reason that soap doesn’t rinse off as well with soft water comes down to the salt ions used to replace the dissolved solids. When washing with soft water, the soap does not bind with these ions as well. Therefore, it takes more effort to rinse it off. The problem worsens if you use the same amount of soap that you used when you had hard water.

However, soft water makes creating suds from soap easier. Therefore, you need less soap to clean because it lathers up better. You may use up to 50% less soap with softened water compared to hard water.

Is Hard Water Better for Cleaning?

While hard water rinses off soap better, it is not better for cleaning. To get soap to lather with hard water, you need much more of it. Therefore, you waste money on soap, laundry detergent, dishwashing soap, and shampoo because you need to use more of these products to get the same lather creation capabilities that you would with softer water.

Hard water also creates a new problem that softer water doesn’t have – soap scum creation. The minerals in the hard water can deposit onto the sides of the shower or tub, creating a slimy layer of soap scum. Softened water doesn’t produce this scum because it lacks the minerals to produce it.

How to Improve Cleaning with Soft Water

To improve cleaning with softened water, use less soap. Start by cutting back to half the amount of soap or other cleaning products that you used with hard water. If this amount does not provide enough lather, increase it slightly until you find a good balance between lathering and clean rinsing.

Make the Change to Softer Water with a Whole-Home Water Softening System from Best Home Water Treatment Systems

Having a water softener for your home means making some changes to how you clean your clothes, dishes, and yourself. However, once you learn to adapt to using soft water, you will begin to appreciate its benefits of requiring less soap and protecting your pipes from scale. For a whole-home water softener system installed, contact us at Best Home Water Treatment Systems.

We have water softeners that also filter the water for showers and bathing that have fewer chemicals and contaminants compared to untreated water. To schedule a consultation to find the best solutions for your home’s water treatment, contact us by phone at 951.737.1500 or online on our website.