Water softener salt & shampoo suddenly impossible to rinse

[Katy]

When we first moved here the water softener was full and there were a couple of huge totes of salt in the basement, dumped from their bags so the brand was unknown.  A few weeks ago we ran out and DH just bought whatever brand he usually buys in the past at the grocery store.  I don't know if it's the combination of that brand of salt and the water here, or if the water treatment changed or what, but ever since shampoo has been more and more difficult to rinse out. And not just the kids.  I got back in the shower TWICE this morning because there was still visible bubbles in my hair.  It now gets stripped squeaky-clean before all the shampoo even rinses out. The females in this house all have fine hair, so until now it didn't matter if it was Suave or Biolage for fine hair, everything performed the same.  Now not so much.  I clearly need new shampoo for me and the girls.  Do I just switch to a more moisturizing one? Using conditioner doesn't help. Should I seek out some fancy thing for softened water?  It's irritating enough when I think I double rinsed but still have bubbles, even more so when a tween has to get back in the shower to get the soap out.

[prairiewindmomma]

It sounds like whatever salt he bought isn’t working well. I’d try another brand.

[Miss Tick]

I think perhaps the salt is working GREAT! Perhaps too well! Our softener regenerates over night, about once a week. The following morning I can always tell because it feels like I will never get all the soap off. I use a teeny amount of shampoo, conditioner, soap - like a single black bean sized amount.

Make sure he got the correct salt, but you can also adjust the hardness setting on the softener. Maybe tell it the water is less hard than it currently thinks. 

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Is it possible your water softener uses potassium pellets instead of sodium pellets (or vice versa)?   (ours uses potassium)

I have no idea what would happen if you use the wrong type, but you should be able to google your water softener to ascertain what type of "salt" to use.

If you're using the correct chemical (potassium or sodium), it shouldn't matter what brand you use.  

That being said, it sounds like your water is good and soft, and perhaps you need to greatly reduce your amount of shampoo.  Check your softener display to see if it has recharged overnight.  It could be that the previous owner was using the wrong chemical, so it wasn't working well, then your dh used the correct kind.  Or, is it possible that he also added the resin cleaner fluid?  It might be that the previous owners never did, so the resin beads were gunned up with iron or other minerals, and weren't charging properly.  If that was the case, and your dh added the fluid, it might seem like your softener is supercharging, when actually it is just now working properly.

 

[Katy]

I'll ask DH about the potassium thing.  I'm pretty sure the manual is down there in a ziploc taped to the softener.

I wonder if something did regenerate last night.  This morning I did notice that slimy feel when I was washing my hands, which I haven't had in at least a week.

Thanks everyone.