As many of ya know, Al and I are spending 3 months here in the Rio Grande Valley, home of wind, dust, warmth (well most days, not today), sun and HARD WATER!!!!
I have long hair, I am allergic to color and to perms, so I leave it long, and every two years I cut off 10 inches or more and donate it to Locks of Love. I also have those 4 yorkies, with long hair.
When we got here this year, my hair is the longest it has been when we have been in the valley, I need to get it cut. The hard water was playing havic with my locks. The day after washing I would find a LOT of broken hair in the sink after brushing. I was breaking enough that I feared there would be nothing left for Locks of Love. Seriously!!!
I could not get a comb through the yorks hair either, even the day after bathes and with lots of cream rinse. I even went out and got some Frizee stuff to put on their hair, which did help some, by the way.
I have been quietly (well, sorta quietly) asking Al for a water softener for a while. He has been looking at them, groaning a bit about the cost, cause they ain't cheap.
One is available at CW, you have to use rock salt in it, and that did not appeal to us, not wanting to haul that stuff around in the rig, maybe attracting a lot of moisture and rust???
There is another one just recently available, that uses only table salt, one 26 ounce container of table salt (about 30 cents or so) per regeneration. It is similar in size to the one that CW sells, and similar in price, give or take $20 or $30 (depending on where ya buy it)
This one is called "On the Go", type in "portablewatersoftener.com" in a search engine and you will find it.
We have had it about 10 days, or so, and here are some prelim thoughts
1.) easy to regenerate, dump out some of the water, careful not to lose the "beads" and dump in table salt, and let water run through it for about 15 minutes. Al purchased one of those clear elbow things for the sewer system, with a back flush jobbie on it. He is using that for the regeneration process.
2.) it works!! wonderful for the hair, mine has stopped breaking off like it was, as it is easier to get a brush through it. Yorkie hair is also much softer and very easy to comb through after a bath and for days afterwards. It feels fab on the skin, and the dishes are not spotty.
3.) Spots, that is a huge one, getting rid of spots on the dishes, and the silverware and the shower stall!!! I wipe down the shower with one of those miracle clothes after each shower, but I still had a lot of spots and marks. They are disappearing, I noted today the shower stall was much better!!!
4.) Mineral deposits, on stuff like the sink and toilet are disappearing as well. I had a area on the kitchen sink, where water tends to lay, and then dry and then leave crusty stuff behind. That is all but gone!
We are hoping that use of the water softener for long term stays will lesson the effect that hard water has on ALL the plumbing and water system in Montana. Our feeling right now is that this is a plus for long timers and/or full timers.
Now, would someone turn the sun back on down here??
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