Bathtubs, faucets and showers are magnets for mildew, soap scum, grime, scale, and stubborn stains. Hard water minerals such as calcium and magnesium can react negatively with ingredients in your bathroom hardware, so if you are living with hard water, you are probably being haunted by stubborn soap scum or scale in your bath tub and shower.

While there are great temporary fixes for this buildup, including vinegar, chemicals, and fabric softener sheets, you’ll spend less time and money on harsh chemicals and scrubbing scale away by solving the core problem with a more environmentally friendly water softener.

A water softener provides a permanent solution to hard water scale. Installing a water softener system in your home’s basement or garage removes hard water minerals from your water before it flows to your pipes and fixtures, reducing scale buildup. You can purchase a water softener at any big box store and install it yourself with a little plumbing know-how.

First, make sure you have hard water and aren’t just a victim of poor cleaning habits. Order your free test strip here and get the results instantly.

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Painful shave

Does your shaving cream fail to protect your delicate skin when shaving? Chances are that hard water is making this daily routine a painful chore. Hard water minerals such as calcium and magnesium react negatively with the ingredients in your products. As a result, you don’t get the rich lather you desire and may feel the need to use more product (which quickly becomes expensive). Additionally, hard water minerals prevent your razor from gliding easily over skin, leading to painful cuts and bumps, as well as quickly dulling the blade. By softening your water, you’ll go through your razors at a slower rate, saving you money.

Dry, tangled hair

Hard water causes difficult-to-manage, dry, and tangled hair after washing. The same minerals that build up on your shower doors build up on your hair shaft, making it rough and harder to rinse the soap from. This results in product buildup on your tresses, making them dull, lifeless and hard to style. Water with large amounts of iron can also cause orange, brassy or even a greenish tint to your hair, stripping it of its healthy properties. Some short-term remedies for these hair headaches include a clarifying rinse like apple cider vinegar (ACV) or a chelating shampoo, but they won’t permanently solve your hard water hair woes.

More time spent cleaning

Hard water problems go beyond the bathroom by also affecting the time it takes you to wash dishes and the effort it takes to scrub scale buildup from faucets and shower doors. Products don’t work as efficiently as they should, so you may notice a lack a soapsuds and a constant need to reapply soap to your sponge, increasing your cleaning time by up to 50%.

The softening solution

While there are short-term fixes to restore lather to your daily cleaning and grooming routine, you’ll never truly solve your hard water problems until you soften your water. Soft water will not only fix your lather troubles, but will work around the clock to prevent other hard water issues such as spotty dishes, embarrassing stains, scale buildup on your fixtures and scummy shower walls. Find out if you have hard water by taking our free test. Then, find the best water softener for your home with a Whirlpool Water Softener.

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