Does anyone have a Water Softener for their home?

[Melissa in CA]

If so, do you like it? Is it worth the money? If yours died would you definitely want another one? Does it make your skin softer?

 

We are looking into getting one due to being on a well and dealing with hard water issues. One being that since we moved here (5 years ago) the skin on my legs is consistently dry to the point of needing to see a doctor! I am wondering if it is from the hard well water. :confused: I never had this problem pre-well water.

 

I slather on lotion after each and every shower which is helping, but I am wondering if soft water would help as well. We have the money, so it's not a huge sacrifice financially right now, but I would hate to pay $500+ and not find any relief. :001_huh:

 

 

Any advice?

[jail warden]

We have one here and I would never do without. Our water is so bad that it will actually turn the tub and toilets orange if we run out of salt. I don't know for sure if it would help your legs, but I know that the few times we've run out, I can feel a sticky film on my skin, kinda like when you shower at a hotel. I don't know if this makes sense or not. But I recommend you try it.

[Janna]

Hi Melissa,

 

We also have well-water, and we do have a softener. I love, love, love having a water softener. I've never had one before, but when we moved into this house almost 4 years ago, it came with the softener. The difference is huge!

 

One thing about the well-water is that we have a lot of rust in the water. When the salt is gone from the softener, I know it because the shower stalls are stained yellowish - orange. Fortunately, it's not too hard to clean off, but that is a huge difference between having the softener and not. I can't imagine what our showers and toilets would look like without it.

 

I've also taken a glass of water from a sink that is not hooked up to it (our kitchen sink is not hooked up to the softener water. However, if I use hot water in the kitchen, it is because the softened water runs through the water heater) and a separate glass of water from a different sink that is hooked up and let them sit overnight. In the a.m. the kitchen sink water was rusty colored, while the bathroom sink water was perfectly clear.

 

So to answer your questions, yes, we have a water softener, yes we love it and yes, if it broke we would be getting another one asap. It should help your skin, but I don't know how dramatically. You'll also need to use less soap, less laundry detergent and way less dishwashing detergent.

 

HTH!

[Sarah CB]

I'm hijacking here to ask how you take care of a water softener - do I just keep putting salt into it? Is there any sort of maintenance to do?

 

Thanks,

Sarah

[Claire]

We have always had a water softener, although never hooked up to the kitchen sink. (You do not want to drink or cook with softened water.) It makes soap "soapier" so you need less of it, plus soap rinses off much better. Hard water can permanently etch glass, plastics, and I think porcelain. Last fall the guy who comes out to wash our windows mentioned that the droplets of hard water left on our exterior windows from when dh power-washed the deck should have been wiped off. He said he has seen hard water permanently etch windows in less than a year.

[Copswife]

We are off of a coral reef, so I'm told, and have terribly hard water. My dh decided oh, about 7 months ago to get a filter/water softener. (it's outside and filters the entire house) We spent so much money on bottled water, it was getting ridiculous! It was mostly for the filter aspect. So, now I drink right from the faucet. The filter removes the chlorine and about 99 percent of all the bad stuff that could be/is in the water. Then it goes through the softener.

 

I. Love. soft. water. I had no idea what I was missing until we got this. I use less shampoo and condition; we all use less. I feel soft and clean when I get out of the shower.

 

But I have to say, I have dry skin. It helped somewhat, but I still am just a person w/dry skin. I've been using some natural oil I get at the health food store and its really good, but I'm out right now.

 

We figured with a family of 9, the filter would pay for itself in less than a year. :001_smile: Plus I don't know if it has anything to do with it, but I see a difference in my energy level. Before the filter, our water stunk like bleach. It's just not healthy to bathe in that chlorinated water. I read up on it, there are differences in opinions out there, but you had to smell it and know that your skin absorbs it; it can't be good over time.

 

Tracie

If so, do you like it? Is it worth the money? If yours died would you definitely want another one? Does it make your skin softer?

 

We are looking into getting one due to being on a well and dealing with hard water issues. One being that since we moved here (5 years ago) the skin on my legs is consistently dry to the point of needing to see a doctor! I am wondering if it is from the hard well water. :confused: I never had this problem pre-well water.

 

I slather on lotion after each and every shower which is helping, but I am wondering if soft water would help as well. We have the money, so it's not a huge sacrifice financially right now, but I would hate to pay $500+ and not find any relief. :001_huh:

 

 

Any advice?

[KristineIN]

We have a water softener, it was in the house, and we would replace it if it quit working, actually we would like to replace it sooner, because it's older and uses quite a bit of salt, but it is worth it.

Not sure about the dry skin though.

Kristine

[Melissa in CA]

We have always had a water softener, although never hooked up to the kitchen sink. (You do not want to drink or cook with softened water.)

 

Is there a reason you can't drink it or cook with it? Ours would have to be hooked up to our sink, there is no way for it not to be. And though we drink mostly bottled water, I would have to cook with it and/or drink it from time to time as well. :confused:

[Claire]

Is there a reason you can't drink it or cook with it? Ours would have to be hooked up to our sink, there is no way for it not to be. And though we drink mostly bottled water, I would have to cook with it and/or drink it from time to time as well. :confused:

 

Here is a link to an article that explains why soft water is not good for drinking.