People in hard water areas...

[Lucyjane45xxx]

This is of a random post but we moved to Kent in October and ever since I have been suffering with really bad skin. It has been dry, flaky and incredibly itchy all over, it’s absolutely horrible. I thought it could be detergent/fabric softener at first so switched that up and then when that didn’t work I switched out all my skin products but I am still so itchy.
The only thing I can think of is that it is down to the hard water in my area? Our water is really hard, Our shower screens/sinks/kettle etc all get bad limescale build up. I grew up in Manchester where we had soft water so am thinking this must be the reason?
Can hard water actually cause itchy skin?
We keep getting flyers through our door about getting a water softening tank installed or something... has anyone done this and do you feel it was worth it? Any idea on approximate costings? I have had a quick look for prices online but it seems to be a real range. Also can anyone recommend a company to use?

Thanks!

[iloveholidays1]

I live in a hard water area - I do notice the difference in my hands when I holiday in places with softer water. I also have quite a dry scalp with improves when away also. Don't feel the need to do anything about it though, but then I've always lived here.

[Guest]

We live in a hard water area and my dh’s dry skin has a got a little worse .
We do have a water softener though so it’s not as bad as it was.
Most houses in our area have one or it would be a nightmare!
B&Q had some decent softeners in

[Holiboo]

We live in a really hard water area, and when we first moved here my skin and hair both became much drier, although not as bad as yours sounds. We got a water softener installed after 2 years and really wish we'd done it earlier- best money ever spent. We moved into a new build, and the limescale was already destroying the new bathrooms (despite being viakil-ed weekly!). Now my skin and hair are better, everywhere is much easier to clean, and I use less detergent/shampoo etc. Wouldn't be without it. We got a local independent to put a twintec one in (same machine as Harveys basically) and I think it cost roughly £1300. HTH.

[Guest]

I live in a hard water area. I suffer from very dry and cracked skin during winter, but I have always put it down to washing my hands a lot and the central heating. We are due to get our kitchen done in a few months time and having a water softener put in so maybe next winter I will see a difference.

As for creams we use aqueous cream which works well for us.

[skb 123]

We purchased our Kinetico water softener at the Ideal Home Show about 15 years ago. I seem to remember it costing about £800 but I consider this money well spent. The only ongoing costs are the blocks of salt which cost us roughly £80 per year for a household of 4 people.

Not sure where you are in Kent, but we are in North Kent and get our salt blocks from Simply Soft in Crayford. They are also suppliers of Kinetico water softeners and I can see on their website they also offer free home surveys.

[sky13]

I used to live in a hard water area (Cambridge) and had incredibly dry skin. Had to use moisturisers every night!

[DonnaD]

Originally Posted by skb 123

We purchased our Kinetico water softener at the Ideal Home Show about 15 years ago. I seem to remember it costing about £800 but I consider this money well spent. The only ongoing costs are the blocks of salt which cost us roughly £80 per year for a household of 4 people.

Not sure where you are in Kent, but we are in North Kent and get our salt blocks from Simply Soft in Crayford. They are also suppliers of Kinetico water softeners and I can see on their website they also offer free home surveys.

See more...

We had one of these in the UK and were very pleased with it. The softer water allows you to use less soap, shampoo etc.

[kateh134]

We have always lived in hard water areas, but our current house already had a water softener installed when we moved in. It’s not something we would have considered installing, but we wouldn’t be without it now. Very little limescale build up which saves on cleaning products and shampoo etc. I have very dry skin but I put that down to lots of hand washing and being rubbish at remembering to use hand cream!

[Lucyjane45xxx]

Thank you so much for all your replies - really appreciate it!
I think it definitely has to be the water, I recently spent a week back up in Manchester and the itching was all but gone!
As you mentioned Holiboo - the limescale is just mental, I seem to spend all my time with the viakal it's crazy!
I am glad that those of you with softeners think they are worth it, after our wedding in April, I am definitely going to look to have one installed, I think I will go crazy otherwise

Thanks for the tip on getting an independent person in, I hadn't thought of that

We live a train stop away from crayford so will have a look into Simply Soft!

Thanks all - much appreciated!