Hard water

[batty]

Hi everyone. I have a question that I have not found in previous discussions. I live in an area with just about the hardest water there is. We have a water softener service, but the soft water runs out before the end of the month, so it gets hard again for a week or 2. There is a huge difference in how real soap reacts in hard water (I am just talking about washing with it, I use distilled water to make soap)- it suds much less, it leaves your skin tight and drier and shampoo bars turn your hair into a waxy ball of thorns.
So I am wondering how soaping is for others with hard water. Do you find your handmade soap is still nourishing to your skin? Are you able to sell soap successfully and have repeat customers in areas with hard water? Do you avoid shampoo bars? Thanks!!

 

[batty]

No one else has hard water?

 

[Genny]

Sorry, we don't have hard water.

 

[IrishLass]

I have hard water. Although I don't know how hard on a scale of 1 to 10, all I can tell you is that it's definitely harder than it was when our softener was still working. It broke a few years before I began soaping and we never got it fixed or replaced, so unfortunately, I can't rightly say how differently my soap would lather/perform with it as compared to without it. It sure would be nice to test it out and compare, though.

Because I've only ever had hard water to bathe/shower in from Day 1 of my soaping venture, all of my recipes have always been formulated and tweaked from Day 1 with the goal to lather well without drying me out in it, which it does wonderfully to our satisfaction, by the way ('our' = hubby, son and myself).

I don't sell, but I do have my own exclusive 'customer base' of loyal family and friends who use my soap on a regular basis. I'll have to ask around and see if any have soft water.

Regarding shampoo bars- I'm no help there either since don't make them and I've never used them.


IrishLass

 

[dryalligator]

I use a Brita pitcher and my soap has been ok--so far

 

[ericllucas]

I'm not sure if you're asking about using hard water to make soap or using soap in hard water.

I like the idea of using the Brita water filter to make your water a litter less hard for making soap.

The challenge with soap and hard water, I would think, is getting a lather. I make soap for family where there is hard sulfur water. I use about 10% coconut oil and 5% castor oil. I also superfat with jojoba oil. I get a delightful milky lather in hard water and lots of conditioning.

On a different note, a water softener is a big plastic filter. You filter so much water through it, then regenerate/recycle/flush the filter, then the filter is ready to go for more gallons. I don't understand why you run out of soft water mid-month and have to wait a few weeks. Most softeners need to be set to recycle/regenerate/flush every few days. I can't imagine a water softener only working once a month. Have you considered checking to see how often your water softener recycles/regenerates/flushes?

 

[ericllucas]

Duh, I just reread your message. You were talking about using soap in hard water. Sorry about that. Still, I'd look at using more coconut oil and superfatting with some really nice skin conditioning oil.

Also, your water softener service needs adjustment so you can get soft water all month. That is not an unreasonable request, to have soft water all month.

 

[batty]

Duh, I just reread your message. You were talking about using soap in hard water. Sorry about that. Still, I'd look at using more coconut oil and superfatting with some really nice skin conditioning oil.

Also, your water softener service needs adjustment so you can get soft water all month. That is not an unreasonable request, to have soft water all month.

Thanks for the tip. I have been using mostly conditioning oils so far, but I did a 100% castile bar, and one with just OO and cocoa butter that both lather very poorly compared to the ones with CO. I'll probably stick with more balanced recipes from now on. (I am fairly new at it so I have to try everything!!)

We get a water softening service that brings a saline tank and so I guess the saline solution runs out after a certain amount of use. We are running out because a family member has a med condition that requires 2 baths a day. Hopefully we will be using a LOT less water in the next month or 2, but I thought I'd ride this month out since I have lived with hard water for 10 years now

 

[Kansas Farm Girl]

I too live in an area with very hard water. I can tell if my water softener needs to regenerate because my soap does not lather as well, my skin is not as soft, my hair is like straw and my dishwasher leaves white build up on my dishes (the lack of phosphates in the dish soap) and minerals start to build up on my faucets, bathtub and sinks. I'm not sure where you live, I have never heard of a water softener like you describe. Ours had a tank that we put salt into and the system passes the water through it and removes the calcium and other minerals. We just add salt when it gets low. We can set how many gallons go through it before it does it's thing. Maybe you can look into a different water softener system. Hard water will cause your plumping to corrode also.