Midwest winters can be harsh! The last thing you need is harsh water making the winter season even worse. Just as you protect yourself from the cold with warm clothes and a heater in your home, wouldn’t you want to protect yourself from hard water that could be wreaking havoc on your body and your home? From dry skin to itchy clothes, there can be noticeable signs that you need a water softener to ease your winter blues. Keep reading to discover five common signs that you need a water-softening system this winter. 

Dry Skin is Taking Over Your Life

Winter is known to cause difficulties for people’s skin, and hard water only furthers those issues, worsening skin conditions. Cold temperatures and low humidity levels result in dry air that draws moisture away from the skin. Brutal winter winds and dry indoor heat can make problems worse and lead to cracked, painful skin. Skin conditions such as eczema or psoriasis may also flare up during cold, dry months. Sensitive skin can be especially prone to flare-ups if hard, mineral-heavy water is being used in daily use. Minerals found in hard water, like calcium, can have a drying effect that can remove moisture from your skin’s natural barrier. These minerals have also been known to cause clogged pores and dryness, triggering breakouts, flaking, and itching.  

A water softener can be an effective tool in alleviating skin problems and also provides quality water to your household in the process. Just as it sounds, a water softening system takes hard water and softens that water to eliminate hard water minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron, and manganese. Without harsh minerals in your water, your skin can worry less about these minerals creating a drying effect.

Your Hair Has Lost Its Softness and Shine

Similar to your skin, hard water can have drying effects on your hair. Your hair already goes through so much in the winter, from frizz to heating tools, that keeping it healthy can sometimes feel like an impossible task. Your hair relies heavily on its shampoos and conditioners during the winter months and hard water can be rendering those elixirs useless.  Hard water minerals can react with fatty acids in your soap and shampoo to form chemicals that coagulate, leaving a residue on your scalp and hair. It can also have an irritating effect on your scalp, leading to even more itching and irritation. Keeping your hair moisturized can be especially important to avoid breakage. 

Your Energy Bill is Sky Rocketing

When you’re working to keep your home warm in the winter months it’s common to see an increase in your energy bill. However, hard water could be adding to your energy bill in ways you would’ve never thought. Hard water is known to cause scale build-up that reduces the amount of water that is able to flow through pipes, causing your water-using appliances to work less efficiently. When excess hard minerals are removed, water is able to easily move through pipes, allowing your plumbing system to function correctly. You will also see a decrease in your water heating bills because you won’t need to heat water to as high of temperatures to do the tasks your water-using appliances are supposed to do. 

Winter Sweaters are Itchy and Dull

Taking into account the first three signs that you may need a water-softening system this winter, this next one should make perfect sense. If you’re digging into your dresser to find your warmest sweaters and realizing that they’re becoming dull and scratchy, this could be due in part to hard water in your home. The harsh minerals found in hard water can cause fading, pilling, and damage to your clothes over time. Pilling refers to the development of small balls of threads on the surface of your clothing pieces. This can be especially common for sweaters. Soft water can be more gentle on your clothes leading to longer-lasting garments. When soft water is being piped into your washing machine, you can also notice a softer feel to your garments. 

Your Water Pressure Isn’t at Its Strongest

Freezing pipes aren’t the only thing to worry about inside your plumbing system during the winter. As hard water enters appliances, it deposits minerals over the components that make the appliance function. These minerals are called limescale and oftentimes make the appliance not only work harder but also shorten that appliance’s lifespan. Years of limescale buildup can become extremely costly to homeowners. Some plumbing systems get so clogged with limescale that they need to be completely re-piped and replaced. With less space inside pipes, for water to move freely the probability of pipes freezing can increase. By softening the water running through your home, you can prevent the buildup of limescale in pipes and appliances, ensuring that your plumbing remains clear. Water softeners are becoming increasingly popular among homeowners for this reason alone. 

Alleviate Your Winter Blues with a Water Softener from Culligan Water

The professionals at Culligan Water of Kansas City can’t keep away the snow and ice during the winter season but they can install a high-efficiency water softener in your home to keep away hard water. With healthier skin, softer clothing, and more efficient wash cycles with your water-using appliances, soft water can make all the difference in your household. Water softeners use a process called “ion exchange” to remove dissolved hard water minerals such as iron, manganese, calcium, and magnesium from the water in your home. Culligan softeners have specially designed resin beads that capture the minerals and exchange them with a trace amount of sodium, leaving softened water flowing throughout the pipes in your home. 

If you’re interested in learning more about how a water softener can benefit your home this winter, please contact us today!