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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There are 3 easy and cost-effective ways you can test for hard water in your home. We explain the methods so you know if you have hard water.

1. Check Your City’s Website

The first method is to go online and check with your city. They provide an annual Water Quality Report that is available for anybody to read. They tell you where your water comes from and what’s in it. They also include your area’s hard water number so you know what water softening solution you need.

2. In-Home Water Test

You can test for hard water in your home by taking a clean and clear bottle. Fill one-third of the bottle with tap water. Then, pour a few drops of pure Castile liquid soap into the bottle and shake. Make sure you use pure liquid soap because it doesn’t contain additives that will create suds in hard water.

If you have soft water, your bottle should still be filled a third of the way with water and two-thirds filled with bubbles from the soap.

If you have hard water, the water in the bottle will be cloudy and there will be a thin layer of bubbles.

3. Free Hard Water Test Kit

To find how hard your water is, you’ll need a test kit. You can get a free hard water test kit here and find the right softener for your home.

Fill a glass with cold water and then dip your test strip in the glass for 3-5 seconds before removing. Compare the color on your test strip with the hard water color chart, and that will give you your home’s hard water number in grains per gallon.

This chart ranges from 0 to 60. 60 will be a dark red color.

Knowing your specific number will help you find the right softener for your home. You can shop for water softeners by going to EcoPureHome and find the solution that’s best for you.

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If you’re ready to eliminate your hard water problem, the best place to start is by testing your water. Knowing your water’s hardness and composition will help you find the best solution for your home. Here are the ways you can learn more about your water:

Check with your city

1. Review your yearly consumer confidence report. This is usually sent by July 1 from your water supplier and it details where your water comes from and what’s in it. If you don’t receive your report by this time, call your water supplier and have it sent to you.
   • Contact your local water municipality if the water hardness level is not indicated in the annual report.

In-home test

1. Fill a clean water bottle one-third full with cool water from your bathroom tap. Add a few drops of a basic soap, like Castile, which
   is free of dyes, perfumes and detergents.
2. Shake the bottle vigorously for a few seconds. Cloudy and/or milky water that lacks fluffy bubbles indicates a hard water problem (soft water should be clear and have an abundance of bubbles).
   • Most soaps are formulated with detergents to make them lather despite the presence of hard water. A basic soap gives a more accurate in-home test result.

Advanced options

1. You can purchase hard water test strips and/or comprehensive hard water test kits from any major home improvement store or through an online retailer. The test kits cost between $5 and $20. The types of tests can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, and in addition to hardness, they may test for alkalinity, chlorine, iron, nitrates and/or pH.
   • Instead of heading to the store, you can also request a free hard water test strip and learn your hard water number.
2. Alternatively, you can send a water sample to a third-party lab for the most thorough water analysis.
   • This is often unnecessary, as in-home tests provide instant information and results for most water issues.

Put your number to work
If you’ve tested your water with a strip or kit, the next step is to use your number to find the right softener for your home. To receive a water softener recommendation, use our easy, step-by-step tool. After answering a few basic questions about your home water use along with your hard water number, you’ll see which water treatment solution is ideal for you.

The post Suspect hard water? There’s a test for that. appeared first on HomeWater 101.