When soap mixes with hard water it produces a sticky, scummy residue. When you wash, you rub this residue into your skin. The residue dries out the skin and prevents the body's natural oils from maintaining your skin in top condition. It's the same residue that you have to scrub off the inside of the bath every week!
Water softeners eliminate this sticky residue. Softened water can help certain dry skin conditions such as eczema.
CASE STUDIES
Our water softener has helped the scratching - Jessica, Southampton, UK
If anyone is wondering whether or not to get a water softener, I can say that it has been worth it for us. We have found that it makes a big difference to our 10 month old baby's skin. After installing one, there was an immediate improvement - and specifically a reduction in scratching, which was a huge relief to all of us. Recently her skin began to deteriorate again, and I wondered whether we had wasted our money getting the water softener, until I found that I had forgotten to replenish the salt! Once I'd done that, there was an immediate improvement again with the newly softened water. Having the softener has not cured her eczema, but has made it a lot better. Life is easier without the frantic scratching that she used to do. We live in an area with very hard water, so I don't know whether others elsewhere would get the same benefit. (Source: www.talkeczema.com)
A water softener has helped us - Kate, Bourne, UK
My 6 year old daughter has suffered from eczema since she was 7 weeks old. We have tried numerous treatments including various steroids, antibiotics and homeopathic medicine. At its worse it effects the whole of her body and regularly becomes infected. Seven weeks ago we decided to have a water softener fitted and it has been like a miracle cure for us. It has not completely cleared up but her skin has become much softer and she is getting a good nights sleep without being woken 2 or 3 times in the night because of the itching. I have since found out that there has been a study on the effect of hard water on children with eczema and it has now been proved that hard water can be a major irritant for children with eczema. I recommend any one with skin problems give it a try. They are quite expensive to have installed but once in relatively cheap to run. We find we save more on washing powder then we spend on the salt.