Formulate recipe for hard or soft water?

[MommaSoaper]

I live in the west and the water is very hard. Some folks have a water softener, some don't.

Do you formulate for hard water or soft?

Do you specify that your soap is made for use with soft water if you aren't using a chelator?

Or do you always use a chelator since there's a 50/50 chance they might have hard?

Your suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[DeeAnna]

I have soft water and I still use a chelator. I don't see a good reason to adjust the % of chelator based on a guess about the water hardness.

The main benefit of using a chelator in soap is to prevent rancidity and lengthen the shelf life of the soap. People tend to forget about this function of a chelator.

The secondary reason I use a chelator is, as you noted, to reduce the amount of soap scum in the shower and at the sink. Soap scum still forms even when soap is used with soft water, since soft water still has some amount of dissolved minerals. The amount of chelator that's practical to use in bar soap still isn't enough to entirely prevent soap scum even if the soap is only used with soft water.

 

[Megan]

It sounds like you plan for other people to use your soap since you want to put a disclaimer. If this is the case you would ideally want to have a soap that works in most if not all conditions. A google search also says that 85% of the USA uses hard water...so a chelator is your best bet.

 

[MommaSoaper]

I have soft water and I still use a chelator. I don't see a good reason to adjust the % of chelator based on a guess about the water hardness.

The main benefit of using a chelator in soap is to prevent rancidity and lengthen the shelf life of the soap. People tend to forget about this function of a chelator.

The secondary reason I use a chelator is, as you noted, to reduce the amount of soap scum in the shower and at the sink. Soap scum still forms even when soap is used with soft water, since soft water still has some amount of dissolved minerals. The amount of chelator that's practical to use in bar soap still isn't enough to entirely prevent soap scum even if the soap is only used with soft water.

Thank you so much for your response. Very helpful.