SoapZone Community Message Board

Ever since we moved in to our new house about a year and a half ago, I have noticed several things:

- our bathrooms are much harder to clean
- there is always a white residue in every sink throughout the house
- water spots have become a part of our dishes, windows and silvereware
- our Keurig machine broke after only a year's use
- my hair is now dull, thin and rough - and I swear a good 1/3 of it has fallen out in the past year

and possibly the worst:

- I have developed an extreme case of eczema on my legs that has reduced them to cracked, scaly and bleeding most of the time that breaks out every time I take a shower. Before, I had attributed this to possibly developing an allergy to shaving cream.

I never really connected any of these until about a week ago I stayed over at a friend's house, took a shower and noticed the difference. We had someone come over and test our water a couple days later, and sure enough it was labeled hard (10 out of 17 - not the worst).

Thing is, it's $2000 to get a good softener installed throughout the house. This seems like a good idea, because although the vain side of me wants my hair and body to look nice again, hard water throughout the house just seems like a bad idea.

So, this leads me to my question.

Am I better off just getting a shower head and continuing to use a drinking water filter or is the benefit of having the water throughout our house fixed enough to warrant $2 grand?

Hubby is having a problem with the cost - most likely because none of this is affecting him - and there's a possibility fixing it means no fun vacations this year.

Is it worth it and will it save us more trouble in the end? I have heard stories about pipes going bad and laundry machines breaking... I don't know how true they are or even if this really is the answer to the the eczema, hair problem, appliances breaking, etc.

ETA: I saw a dermatologist this week, and he swears this would have nothing to do with my skin/hair issues. But why does everything seem so different when I shower with soft water (i.e. friend's house, vacations)?

So has anyone does this and is it really worth it?