hard/soft water in your house?

I did this strip test for the water and it indicates 'very hard' water. Is this bad? Should we be getting some type of water softener? or it's not that big of a deal?

So funny you asked this. Just today I asked DH to buy a shower filter cause the hard water in our new house is making my hair dry and my skin is breaking out alot. I never had these problems before. It has to be the water. I read alot online about it. Here's some info...

What's the shower doing to my skin?
More than half of American homes have moderately hard water, meaning it's loaded with dissolved minerals like calcium and magnesium. The degree of hardness becomes greater as mineral levels increase. When you bathe in hard water, a mineral-and-soap 'curd' settles on skin, making it feel unclean and possibly causing breakouts or even rashes. Using a mechanical water-softening unit (sold at plumbing-supply stores) is ideal. But there are also soaps formulated to break down hard-water scum, like Zest or Safeguard ($2 each). Since these scum-spoiling soaps can be drying to skin, make sure to slather on plenty of body lotion afterward.
What's it doing to my hair?
When you shampoo with very hard water, hair feels sticky and looks limp and dull no matter how well you rinse. The culprit is that curd again, which forms when most shampoos meet minerals. (Using a clarifying shampoo several times a week can break down such deposits.) You may also find you can't get your shampoo to produce satisfying suds. This can be helped to some extent by using more shampoo, but keep in mind that suds don't necessarily equal clean. Hair-care expert Robert Craig has formulated shampoos for the water type in which they'll be used. Check the map on his website (www.robertcraig.com) to see if the water in your area is soft (Maine), moderately hard (New York) or hard (California). Use this map just as a starting point, since it lists median hardness data for large regions (not specific towns), and water hardness can vary from season to season. You can also order strips from his site that test your water's hardness. But remember, hardness isn't the only issue. Chlorine is often added to tap water to kill bacteria, and in high levels, it can damage hair. If you suspect your tap water is heavily chlorinated, test it yourself with the Water Awareness Kit ($5; www.wqa.org). If your levels turn out to be unusually high, you can buy a chlorine filter for your showerhead (about $50) in hardware stores.

Levittown. My water in Merrick was great when I rented an apartment.

I'm in Manorville.
I'm going to look more into it I notice too that when I take the clothes out of the washing machine, the clothes never feels soft, even with using fabric softener.

---

Posted by Valentinegirl

So funny you asked this. Just today I asked DH to buy a shower filter cause the hard water in our new house is making my hair dry and my skin is breaking out alot. I never had these problems before. It has to be the water. I read alot online about it. Here's some info...

What's the shower doing to my skin?
More than half of American homes have moderately hard water, meaning it's loaded with dissolved minerals like calcium and magnesium. The degree of hardness becomes greater as mineral levels increase. When you bathe in hard water, a mineral-and-soap 'curd' settles on skin, making it feel unclean and possibly causing breakouts or even rashes. Using a mechanical water-softening unit (sold at plumbing-supply stores) is ideal. But there are also soaps formulated to break down hard-water scum, like Zest or Safeguard ($2 each). Since these scum-spoiling soaps can be drying to skin, make sure to slather on plenty of body lotion afterward.
What's it doing to my hair?
When you shampoo with very hard water, hair feels sticky and looks limp and dull no matter how well you rinse. The culprit is that curd again, which forms when most shampoos meet minerals. (Using a clarifying shampoo several times a week can break down such deposits.) You may also find you can't get your shampoo to produce satisfying suds. This can be helped to some extent by using more shampoo, but keep in mind that suds don't necessarily equal clean. Hair-care expert Robert Craig has formulated shampoos for the water type in which they'll be used. Check the map on his website (www.robertcraig.com) to see if the water in your area is soft (Maine), moderately hard (New York) or hard (California). Use this map just as a starting point, since it lists median hardness data for large regions (not specific towns), and water hardness can vary from season to season. You can also order strips from his site that test your water's hardness. But remember, hardness isn't the only issue. Chlorine is often added to tap water to kill bacteria, and in high levels, it can damage hair. If you suspect your tap water is heavily chlorinated, test it yourself with the Water Awareness Kit ($5; www.wqa.org). If your levels turn out to be unusually high, you can buy a chlorine filter for your showerhead (about $50) in hardware stores.

---

funny! we're on this topic again
well, because my hair has become so dry....I have opted to chop it off! I haven't had short hair in so long, but it's gotten to the point where I think I'm gonna just do it