When my water softener is working, I feel like I can’t rinse all the soap off me. The water softener company said that soft water does not leave behind soap but does keep the natural oils on my skin. What is that slimy feeling, soap or natural oils? Thanks for your help, Cathy
The last time I answered this question, I was accused of being sarcastic, so let me assure you up front that I’m being serious.
You feel slimy because you’re clean. Cleaner than with hard water. The “slimy” feeling is just your skin. Hard water leaves behind residues of various minerals and other chemicals that feel gritty. Of course, that’s what we’re used to, so it feels normal. Then we get cleaning with soft water, the grit is gone, and we feel slimy. But we’re just clean.
I disagree, I think it’s the soap. Since I’ve started using homemade soap I’ve noticed a distinct absence of slime when rinsing. (Don’t you remember those old Zest commercials where they showed how Zest was “clean rinsing” compared to other soaps?) My brother had some sort of water softener put in his house that required special soaps and cleaning products (which the company was happy to sell him, huh.) We don’t have a softener, so my theory may not apply.
Smeghead is correct.
That slimy feeling is your clean human skin with all its natural oils.
I find it so disgusting that I insist on keeping a layer of soap scum covering my body at all times.
Though soaps do have some influence. Some do, indeed, rinse cleaner than others. But I’d say they have less impact than the softness of the water, generally speaking.
Wait a minute, not that I doubt what Smeghead is saying, but now I’m all confused as to the nature of water softeners.
I was always under the impression that water ‘softeners’ were used, which is to say added, to the water in places where it is particularly hard. That being said, I thought that the water there had a) the minerals and junk that make it hard to begin with, plus b) the chemicals(?) that make up the softener. Assuming this is correct, shouldn’t there be more crap in the water and, by corollary, doesn’t it make sense that more crap would be left behind?
Nope. Home water softener systems simply swap Calcium and Magnesium ions for Sodium ions.