Hard Water

HARD WATER? 

          Do you have hard water?

                                                  

What is hard water?
     
    Hard water is water that has high mineral content. Hard drinking water is not harmful to one's health, but it can be costly. Hard water can cause damage to your dish washer, washing machine, or boiler. Hard water is often indicated by lack of suds formation when soap is agitated in water. Hard water contains salts, calcium, magnesium, chloride and sulfates that can cause damage to your hair and skin. Hard water can also make your clothes appear dull and discolored giving them a shorter life span. Hard water can also cause your utility bill to go up due to the accumulated scale in the water heater. Scale is a conductor of heat, increasing the energy needed to heat the water. In other words, your water heater is working extra hard because the large amount of minerals and magnesium in the hard water.


5 Signs that you have hard water

1. DRY SKIN: If your skin is dry and itchy no matter how much you moiturize it than you probably have hard water. Have you spent tons of money on expensive soap, lotion, creams and moisturizers and no matter what you purchase or how much you apply it your skin remain dry. Is your skin breaking out for no reason? Your not stressed, you eat right, and you have a good skin care regiment? Hard water may be your problem. Hard water have been known to make acne and eczema worse.
2. DRY AND DULL HAIR: You just washed and deep conditioned your hair. The conditioner is in your hair and your hair feel amazing on your fingers. Now it's time to rinse and your hair now feel hard and unmanagable. To make matters worse your hair look dry, dull and lifeless. You began to moisturize and seal hoping it will help but no such luck. You may be a victim of hard water.
3. YELLOW STAINS IN YOUR SINK, TUB AND TOILET: Your brand new tub has lost its pearly white shine and has been replaced with nasty yellow stains that Mr. Clean or Clorox can not remove. The excessive minerals in the water are causing your water to leave these ugly stains.
4. WHITE FILM ON YOUR GLASSWARE: When you get out of the shower does your bathroom mirror have water stains? Does your glasses, coffee pots or pans have streaks, water stains or a white film after they've been washed? These a sign of hard water.
5. LAUNDRY NOT COMING CLEAN: Does your clothes look dull after you wash them. Do your white clothes come out off white or rusty looking? These are all signs of hard water.

Simple Solutions

So now that we are caught up on what hard water is, as well as the damage that it can cause, lets talk solutions. 

1. WATER SOFTNER: You can purchase a water softener from walmart. Water softener is a substance that softens hard water by removing certain minerals, calcium and magnesium from hard water.
2. WATER FILTER: You can purchase filters for your faucets and shower to help soften the water. Amazon sell some amazing shower filters starting at $69.
3. DISTILLED OR PURIFIED WATER: if you can not afford a filter, I suggest you purchase some distilled or purified water when washing your face or hair. Hard water can make your hair hard and brittle. It can also cause your face to break out. Purchase a few bottles of water to avoid any damage to your hair or skin.

Getting rid of hard water stains!!!
          
      Once I fixed my hard water problem, I was then faced with the ugly yellow stains that it left in the Bathtub, toilet and Bathroom sink. I looked for different solutions and found that baking soda and vinegar was the most popular one. I tried this solution several times, several different ways. I allowed it to soak overnight. I even made a paste and scrubbed until my arms couldn't take it any longer but the stains remained. Finally I was told by my landlord to try a product called WHINK. I was skeptical but decided to give it try, after all I had nothing to lose and I wanted the hideous stains gone! I went to my nearest hardware store and purchased two bottles of Whink for $7.00 each and headed home hoping for the best. The directions were very simple (pour whink on the problem area and rinse with cold water immediately. Repeat if necessary). Whink is a miracle in a bottle. Not only did it work but I only used 1 bottle for my entire bathroom. If you have hard water and have any additional advice on how to fix it, please comment below.