Why Is It Harder to Rinse Soft Water?
Monday May 12, 2008
Do you have hard water? If you do, you may have a water softener to help protect your plumbing from scale buildup, prevent soap scum, and lessen the amount of soap and detergent needed for cleaning. You've probably heard that cleansers work better in soft water than in hard water, but does that mean you will feel cleaner if you bathe in soft water? Here's an email I received about that question:
Hi,No, it's not your imagination. Yes, the soap residue could cause your skin to become drier.
For the first time we have a water softener in our house. After showering, I feel slippery, as though I haven't rinsed off all the soap. Is this my imagination at work or is it harder to rinse off in soft water? Will soap which has not been rinsed off make my already dry skin drier? Is there a solution to my problem (presuming I have one)?
Thanks,
DB
Hard water contains calcium and magnesium ions. Water softeners remove those ions by exchanging them for sodium or potassium ions. Two factors contribute to that slippery-when-wet feeling you get after soaping up with soft water. First, soap lathers better in soft water than in hard water, so it's easy to use too much. The more dissolved soap there is, the more water you need to rinse it away. Second, the ions in softened water lessen its ability to 'stick' to the soap molecules, making it more difficult to rinse the cleanser off your body. There are a few ways you can address the problem. You can use less soap, try a synthetic liquid body wash, or rinse with naturally-soft water or rainwater (probably won't contain elevated levels of sodium or potassium).
Hard & Soft Water | How Soap Works
Photo: It's harder to work up a lather in hard water, yet rinsing in soft water may leave you feeling slippery. (Nicholas Eveleigh, Getty Images)
Comments
Okay, forget bathing, far more important is the issue of hard water and a nice cuppa.
db
Hi Anne Marie,
Iv’e been researching htis har water vs. soft water and have been finding contradictions to your statements on this subject in which you state that with soft water the soap molecules (sodium stearate) stick to the body. The soap woul rather stick to you that be rinsed away with the soft water. Also, I have read another of your articles describing the hard water and the soap scum or curd: “This sodium salt will give up the sodium ion to water, while the stearate ion will precipitate out of solution if it comes into contact with an ion that binds it more strongly than sodium (e.g., the magnesium or calcium in hard water). The magnesium stearate or calcium stearate is a waxy solid that you know as soap scum. It can form a ring on your tub, but it rinses off your body”.
Other things I have found on other websites have contridicted what you are saying about the hard and soft water with soap on the skin. Other info states like the following : “When the hardness minerals are removed, thus making soft water, soap no longer forms a soap curd, or “bathtub ring” on your skin, plugging your pores, clinging to every strand of hair. You are now truly clean. That slick, slimy feeling you feel is your natural body oils — without the soap scum. The old saying that you get “squeaky clean” is a myth; that feeling was caused by the soap scum on your skin. By the way, that soap scum provided an excellent place for bacteria to hide and grow, causing numerous minor skin ailments.”
So you can see that I am a bit confused. I am interested in knowing the “truth” because since I have moved to Louisiana from Alabama, I have developed a scalp condition and I believe that it is all or partially because of the difference in the water in that my scalp is not getting as clean as it used to be. Can you please help me with my confusion here?
Thanks,
WM