Doesn’t the term “sparkling clean” give you a nice clean feeling? You can imagine freshness, purity, whiteness, and perhaps clean sheets blowing gently in the breeze on the clothesline. When you Google “sparkling clean,” the thousands of results include ads for soap companies claiming their product will leave you sparkling clean and fresh. From World War II laundry soap ads to today’s shampoos, dish detergents, and body washes, what these companies aren’t telling you is that the “sparkling clean” feeling isn’t really it’s nothing clean. In fact, that squeaky feeling can be pretty gross and dirty. For people with hard water, that feeling may actually be nothing more than grime, dirt, soap scum, and dead skin particles clinging to your hands after washing.

Other soap and shampoo companies boast that they leave your skin smelling fresh. Over the years, we’ve been programmed to associate the smell of fresh with cleanliness. Instead, the fresh smell should be associated with the perfume of your soap. In fact, if you smell soap on your skin, it doesn’t mean your hands are clean, it means you haven’t rinsed all the soap off your hands. Again, hard water is to blame, which causes scented soap to stick to your skin. Here’s an interesting test if you ever get a chance to try it: Wash your hands with soap in hard water. Rinse and then smell and notice the scent of the soap clinging to your hands. Now, wash your hands with the same soap in soft water. Once again, rinse and smell your hands. You will notice significantly less odor sticking to your hands this time. This is because there is no residual soap, or “scented soap scum,” attached to your hands.

Hard water refers to water that is high in minerals such as calcium and magnesium. Magnesium and calcium are useful to us, but often at lower levels than we get from groundwater. So while this may not turn into health issues, it doesn’t allow your soap and detergents to work properly. You may be wondering what water has to do with soap, so let’s consider this simple explanation: The cleansing action of soap is determined by polar and nonpolar structures and solubility principles. Well, that doesn’t sound so simple. Let’s just say that the presence of calcium and magnesium in your water, when combined with your soap, creates insoluble compounds that interfere with the soap’s cleaning properties and abilities. Basically, hard water makes your soap not work as effectively or efficiently.

Perhaps you live in an area with hard water. You know precisely how much shampoo to use, how much dish soap to pour down the sink. Have you ever traveled to another place that has soft water? He probably noticed that if you use the same amount of shower gel in the soft water that you use at home, it had too much and you got suds all over the place. Also, when you finally rinsed everything off, did your skin feel slippery? That slippery feeling is because you’re used to having soap scum stuck to your skin after you shower, and since you washed with soft water, there’s no soap scum! Plus, you’ll notice you need fewer moisturizers and skin lotions when you wash with soft water. Hard water soap scum sticking to your body causes skin dryness and irritation, resulting in the need to use lotions.

However, it doesn’t stop there because hair is also affected by hard water. Just like soap, your shampoo is affected by hard water. Since it doesn’t rinse out completely with hard water, you’re left with shampoo and conditioner residue in your hair after you shower. Eventually, your hair can become dry and difficult to style due to shampoo products left behind.

Good water means good cleaning and good hygiene. When soap doesn’t work properly, it doesn’t effectively clean dirt and germs from your hands and body. Poor hygiene, while certainly frowned upon in most places in the United States, can make it easier to catch and spread disease and illness. Hard water, while it may not add up to this level of poor hygiene, still may not allow your soaps and cleaners to do their job 100%. Maybe this is part of the reason we’ve fallen so hard for antibacterial soaps, because at some point someone realized that germs weren’t being killed. So now we wash with antibacterial soaps that promise to kill germs. Great, now we have dead germs instead of live germs trapped in the soap scum stuck to our hands. This gets better all the time!

Let’s talk for a moment about the ingredients in your soap. Soap makers realize that a large percentage of our country has hard water. They also know that the basic ingredients of their soap don’t lather or clean well when combined with calcium and magnesium in hard water, so they add special water softening agents to the soap to counteract the water their customers will use when washing with their soap. product. Of course, every ingredient added to a soap product increases the price of that product and decreases the amount of actual soap you buy in a bottle. Pure, natural soaps have fewer ingredients, keeping cost to a minimum. Companies put many ingredients into soaps, including these softeners, oils, perfumes, and much more to keep your soap feeling sparkling clean and smelling great. But do you really know what you are putting into your body? Pure, natural soaps are not only more cost-effective, but dermatologists recommend pure soap over popular brands. When you use a soap that has pure and natural ingredients, you don’t have to worry about your skin becoming dry mainly because soaps that are pure and natural contain more glycerin and fewer other ingredients than regular store brands. People who are prone to skin conditions of any kind, including eczema, will often find that soaps that are pure and natural do not cause any skin irritation like other brands do. The American Association of Dermatologists also recognizes the effects of oily and perfumed soaps on the skin. They define those effects as dry, irritated, itchy and perfumed skin. So overall, fragrance doesn’t necessarily mean clean.

Hard water does not only affect the cleanliness of the skin. Imagine that same soap scum clinging to your dishwasher, washing machine, shower doors, and sinks. Unfortunately, your appliances and accessories can’t remove excess layers the way our skin ultimately does. It just keeps piling up and eventually decreases the lifespan of those items. The costs add up in every way. Consider this: Clothes washed in hard water will look dirty and lose their softness. According to Hardwater.org, continuous washing of garments in hard water can damage the fibers and possibly even shorten the life of the clothing by forty percent. It has been estimated that limescale buildup in pipes increases energy bills by approximately 25%.

So let’s take a look at some estimated math. Let’s say you spend $20 a week on soaps and detergents for your family. But soaps and detergents last half as long as they should because hard water and residue make it hard to use, so your family members are doing more scrubbing, thus you lose about 25% of the soaps value. Then, she spends about $100 on clothes per month for her family. However, as the data shows, about 40% or $40.00 of that value is lost due to the effects of hard water. You’re also spending about $10.00 each week on products to help you clean the soap scum off something that’s supposed to clean you! Eventually, you will need to repair plumbing and appliances that are no longer working, at an estimated cost of $500.00 over several years. Oh, and don’t forget that the taste of your water may not be great, which is why you spend about $20.00 a week on bottled water for your family. If you add up what you’re spending to “upgrade” your current drinking water, tap water no longer seems like a cheap commodity.

Fortunately, you don’t have to continue down this path. First, find out if there is hard water in your home. According to Hardwater.org, if you’re on a municipal water system, the water supplier can tell you the hardness level of your water. If you have a private supply, you can have your water tested for hardness. Then, with a bit of research, you’ll find that there are several solutions within your reach. Treatment can be most effectively and economically treated with a water softener, which replaces the calcium and magnesium ions in the water with sodium ions. Sodium ions do not cause buildup in pipes, on shower doors, or as soap scum. The water softening process has proven so successful that many types of utility and manufacturing companies also choose to use water softeners to ensure their products are working properly. For example, plating processes, circuit board manufacturing, laboratory analysis, water-based coolant developers, printing, car washing, film processing, window washing, and glass manufacturing. aerospace components use water softeners. If soft water is so vital for inanimate objects, shouldn’t your body benefit from it too?

Of course, untreated water seems like the least expensive option, but you also have to take into account the financial losses you incur by continuing to use your hard water. Soft water requires the initial investment of purchasing a water softener unit and a small maintenance cost for salt, but there are many savings. Soft water does not mix poorly with soaps and detergents. This means that there is no “soap scum” that cannot be washed off, bathing is more effective, and soap lathers better. Your hair and skin are softer. The washing machine cleans your clothes better and since mineral deposits are removed, your clothes last longer and are shinier. Spend less on laundry and dish detergents, shampoos and soaps, and household cleaning products designed to remove limescale and soap scum. The electricity savings from less washing, fewer costly appliance repairs, and a peace of mind for safe, clean water far outweighs the one-time expense of purchasing a water softener. A water softener can pay for itself and maintenance quickly, and still save you money.

Between taste, safety, hygiene, and upkeep of your appliances, a water softener is your best bet. The one-time cost associated with this product, or similar products, will save you money in the long run and also save you the headache of scrubbing up your and your family’s soap scum and shower residue. Get your water tested today, find pure soaps, eliminate soap scum and save some money.