Explain the Slimy Feeling With Soft Water
Question:
Dear Mr. Timmons, You may have received questions similar to the one that I will pose to you from others, but I am quite confused as to what I have read on the internet. Please allow me to provide you with details. When I take a shower, I want to feel as if all of the soap, body oils, and grime will come off my body immediately. I do not mind if my skin comes out extremely dry after showering. I want to feel clean and I can always put on lotion if my skin is too dry. I have lived in southeastern Kentucky for many years and I have never had any issues while showering. I contacted my municipal water manager here in Hazard, Kentucky and he informed me that the water hardness of our town is usually around 180 parts per million and runs a range of 160-240 ppm at the extremes. The pH is usually around 7.4. During my college and medical training, I have lived in Lexington, KY; Louisville, KY; Cincinnati, OH; Cleveland, OH; Silver Spring, MD; and Burbank, CA. I have never had any problems while showering in those communities.
One time, we visited family friends in rural Iowa and taking a shower was an unpleasant experience. It felt as if the soap would not come off my body no matter how much water I used. When I visit my brother in Las Vegas, NV, it is the same problem with taking a shower - the soap does not feel as if it is coming off at all. I do not know if he has a water softener. When I visit my parents in New Tampa, FL the same situation as with my brother - I can't stand taking a shower as it feels that the soap will not come off no matter how much water that I use. I have read conflicting information on the internet. Some sources state that hard water causes the problems that I experience with showering in IA, NV, and my parents home in FL. Other sources say that it is probably a water softener used to lessen spots on dishes, etc., that cause that slimy feeling of not being able to get soap off of me during showering.
I read your article that states that it is actually a "silky" feeling. I respectfully disagree with your characterization of "silky" as it is a markedly uncomfortable feeling and I have noted that acne seems to be worse when I am visiting my parents as the oils are not effectively removed from my skin. My parents told me that they have a filter for their home, but I am not certain that it is "softening" the water and that is why showering is such an unpleasant experience. The reason that I am sending this e-mail is that I will be moving to the Tampa area to work. I will be renting an apartment in Brandon, FL and I am not certain as to whether I should get some sort of water treatment system or if I should just try the city water first. Most of the literature seems to point to "soft" water as the culprit for the markedly uncomfortable feeling while showering. Some say it is "hard" water. Please explain and advise.
Thank you very much. -G
The Water Doctor's Response:
Dear G, First of all, I will just deal with the facts. Whether the water is silky or slimy is a perception, not a fact. I know many people who feel it is silky and I know many who think it is slimy. Do you like Coke or Pepsi? That's personal taste - you can't say one is better than another to everyone - just you. I love baseball and another person may hate it, so when we go to a game together, he is bored and I am engaged. We are in the same place, so it is our own perception that changes everything. I just wanted to make that point.
Here are the FACTS:
1. Calcium and magnesium are “hard” minerals which combine with soap and form “curd” and suds.
2. This calcium and magnesium and soap curd does lodge in the pores of your skin in hard water.
3. Since there is no calcium or magnesium in soft water, the sodium which is a “soft” mineral, combines with the soap to form suds, without curd.
4. There is no calcium and magnesium in the water and no curd, and sodium does not stick in your skins' pores.
5. Use a pure soap like Ivory - wash one hand with soft water and rinse - it will fell slick - then wash the other with hard water - it will feel “squeaky clean.” Then taste both hands. You will taste soap only on the hard water side. Therefore the soap is gone.
6. Many people with sensitive skin break out when they bathe in hard water. I have seen people with eczema-like skin problems have clear skin after a few days with soft water.
7. There is no soap residue left when you shower in soft water.
8. There is soap residue left on the skin when you shower in hard water.
9. I cannot say why acne would occur in soft water unless the skin is stimulated by the lack of calcium and magnesium in the pores to produce oil.
10. Some people love the slick feeling - others hate the slimy feeling - it's all about perception!
11. With soft water, you get the following benefits over hard water:
b. 30% saving on water heating energy.
c. Dramatically increases the life of all water using appliances and plumbing appliances.
d. Delivers spot-free dishes in the dishwasher.
e. Cuts cleaning time in showers and sinks. Those are the facts.
This is why we offer traditional salt based water softener solutions as well as salt free water conditioners
135 Comments
I also don’t like the slimy feeling with soft water. How can I bypass the system and just use the city water.
Thank you
Why no mention about the environmental damage caused by water softeners. Also curious with the cost of the system and the cost of keeping it running can you honestly say it saves people money? I guess you assume people will use less water, but as others on here have said it takes me 2-3X longer to shower with soft water because it feels like it takes forever to get the soap out. Anytime I stay somewhere with soft water for a few days it is a major relief to come home and be able to take a good shower again. Clearly you sell soft water systems for a living so its hard for me to not to believe many of the opinions expressed here are unbiased. I have no reason to hate soft water outside the disgusting feeling I get anytime I use it for a shower and the environmental damage water softeners do to fish.
What’s worse for the environment: putting a small amount of salt (a naturally occurring mineral) back into the environment or using 50-75% more soap, chemicals, and detergents, and 30% more energy to heat your water? I am serious. You may feel you have not washed off the soap, but I have addressed that and it simply is not the case, no matter how much it is said. Soft water washes off soap dramatically better than hard water, which is why car washes use soft water and reverse osmosis. You can say that you don’t feel you rinse off the soap, but the facts prove otherwise. We are in the business of providing water treatment solutions, not selling water softeners. Water softeners are a small part of what we do, however on certain types of water, a water softener is necessary. Read more HERE: https://www.wqa.org/improve-your-water/benefits-of-good-water-quality
Hi Mark…question? I have noticed that ever since we got our water softening system, our daily pots of brewed coffee has a visibly silty film! Would this be caused by the sodium? And also since we got our system, our coffee grounds overflow the filter! In your opinion….could that be caused by the soft water, because it never happened this way prior to our system! Hmmm….and ohhh…by the way,WE LOVE OUR SOFT WATER AND ALL THE SILKY FEELING THAT COMES ALONG WITH IT! Also, it’s amazing how nice my dishes come out and how clean my glass shower door stays! I highly recommend water softening systems! Thank you!
A water softener does add a little sodium and I do not like the taste, which is any I have a Reverse Osmosis System.
We live on a ranch with some of the best well water around. The last two days it has started to feel slimy, then sticky after it drys, we do not have a softener. The weather here (TEXAS) has been above 100 for weeks now, with a few days being 112.
Is it possible there could be algae or some type of build up? I have never experienced this before.
Thank you for your response.
T~
Anything is possible. I would recommend a detailed water test: It is all going to depend upon your water analysis, including pH, iron, and other “competing” contaminants. You may want to use aeration by having a floating fountain in the pond to aerate the water, depending upon contaminant levels. Get a good water test first – Measure Twice – Cut Once! https://www.uswatersystems.com/systems/water-testing/most-popular-water-tests
Not sure what to think of this. We rent a hellenbrand two stage iron curtain system. We were getting some iron in our water softener. Call the rental company out to fix the problem. He only changed out the O rings…I’m thinking the unit is over ten years old and maybe stage two failing. Any how, it puts some kind of cleaner in the water softener and set it to regenerate ( his fix of iron in the softener). Next day went to get a drink of water and spit it out…horrid. My husband asked why the water is white. And the water smells funny….we use potassium.I took a look at water softener and the guy put the hardness level way high. What could it be…the high softening level or the bed cleaner agent…so confused!?
Most likely, they cleaned it with a chemical that did not thoroughly rinse out of the resin bed. I do not know how it is set, but feel free to call one of our Water Specialists and we will try and assist you.
I just moved into a house with a new Kinetico water softener. I hate the feeling of not being able to rinse the soap off, but if it is only a perception and not true, then answer this. Why can I rinse five times as much after shampooing and yet my eyes burn as if there is soap in them? No amount of rinsing seems to get rid of the oily feeling or the stinging eyes. As a test I let plain water run over my eyes to see if they stung before adding soap. They did not.
Hi Mark,
We have been in a new house for over 2 years and we have soft water. All the other houses we lived in we had hard, well water. I love the feeling of soft water, and the fact that it doesn’t leave residue all over the tub, however my scalp, hands, and feet tend to feel SO itchy a few hours after I shower. Any help with this?
It sounds like the water is soft, but I would confirm that with a test, just to be sure. When you first install a water softener, it will remove the soap scum build up on your skin. Unfortunately that soap scum was a nice dermal absorption barrier for chemicals in the water. Some people notice itching after installing the water softener because of the increased dermal absorption for chemicals like chlorine and that is what the itchy reaction is from. The solution may be to install a carbon filter ahead of the water softener to remove these chemical. There are two options: 1. https://www.uswatersystems.com/us-water-bodyguard-whole-house-chemical-removal-filtration-system.html 2. https://www.uswatersystems.com/us-water-bodyguard-plus-whole-house-water-filtration-system.html If you are not sure what is right for you, call one of our Certified Water Specialists.
Hi Mark,
We have been in a new house for over 2 years and we have soft water. All the other houses we lived in we had hard, well water. I love the feeling of soft water, and the fact that it doesn’t leave residue all over the tub, however my scalp, hands, and feet tend to feel SO itchy a few hours after I shower. Any help with this?
That is a very good and logical statement and question. For those who do not know, here is what Anne Marie Helmenstine wrote: “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 cleaners work better in soft water than in hard water, but does that mean you will feel cleaner if you bathe in soft water? Actually, no. Rinsing in soft water may leave you feeling a little slippery and soapy, even after a thorough rinsing. Why? The answer lies in understanding the chemistry of soft water and soap. The Hard Facts of Hard Water 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. Chemical Reaction The reaction between a triglyceride molecule (fat) and sodium hydroxide (lye) to make soap yields a molecule of glycerol with three ionically bonded molecules of sodium stearate (the soap part of soap). 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 (such as 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 in your tub, but it rinses off your body. The sodium or potassium in soft water makes it much more unfavorable for the sodium stearate to give up its sodium ion so that it can form an insoluble compound and get rinsed away. Instead, the stearate clings to the slightly charged surface of your skin. Essentially, soap would rather stick to you than get rinsed away in soft water. Addressing the Problem There are a few ways you can address the problem: You can use less soap, try a synthetic liquid body wash (synthetic detergent or syndet), or rinse with naturally soft water or rainwater, which probably won’t contain elevated levels of sodium or potassium.” There are no “absolutes,” especially when we are dealing with water. There is probably no such thing as 100% pure water, and it is likely that the sodium or potassium plays a role in creating a slick feeling. However, the fact remains that if you wash your hands with a bar of strong soap (such as Ivory) with soft water and hard water, you can still taste the soap on the hard water hand. The soap is still there. You cannot taste with when you rinse with soft water! It is apparent that there has to be much less soap on your skin when washed with softened water. People with Eczema are often “cured” when switching to soft water because more soap is being washed off. Maybe there is some left, but it has to be considerably less soap, which can be irritating to the skin.