Living in a world full of beauty products and advanced skin cleansers, fighting a breakout can be frustrating. After all, with access to the bath section of any grocery or department store, we should be able to solve every non-medical skin condition under the sun. Dry skin? No problem, throw on a little moisturizer. Oily skin? Just use one of a hundred special soaps. There’s a cure for everything from sunburn to blackheads, but what if you wash your face several times a day with all your best skin tricks and still keep breaking out?

Maybe it’s the weather, you think, and the climate’s just lousy for skin right now. Or perhaps it’s some subtle allergen only your skin has noticed. The truth of the matter is that it might actually be the water you’re washing with. Crazy, right? It’s hard to think of water as being anything but a clean and clear way to get the soap off your face, but not all tap water is equal.

Is Your Tap Water “Hard”?

Water comes from a local reservoir or aquifer, full of all the same minerals from the region it’s stored in and some regions are much more mineral-rich than others. Water is supposed to be a solvent, something that breaks up soap and washes it away. When it’s full of these minerals, calcium and magnesium primarily, it is known as ‘hard water’ and tries to leave particles behind rather than washing them away. You can easily identify the signs of hard water by the layer of flaky scum known as ‘scale’ left behind on faucets, sinks, and bathtubs. That scum is the calcium and magnesium left behind, but it’s not just on your bathtub, it’s on everything the water touches.

Hard Water Clogs Your Pores

Even if your water doesn’t have anything else harmful in it like chlorine (most tap water has this) or heavy metals, some of that scale is left on your skin every time you wash. It’s not just that it becomes harder to rinse the soap off, the water scum itself actually clogs up your pores and begins leaching moisture from your skin and you know what happens when you have dry, clogged pores. Breakouts. Because your water is full of unnecessary minerals, washing your face frequently could actually be making your skin worse instead of better. But what’s the answer? You still have to wash your face and bathe regularly, but who wants to worry about water scum on their skin after a hot shower?

Water Softeners Remove Minerals

Fortunately, technology has a solution. While you can’t change the mineral content of your local aquifer, you can filter those pesky minerals out of your water at home. Water softeners come in many shapes and sizes depending on your budget and ability to alter your home. If you live in an apartment, water softening faucets and shower heads might be your best bet. However, if you own your own home or your landlord is cool about new appliances, you can install a softening unit for your entire home, making sure that everything from the water you bathe with in the bathroom to the water you cook with in the kitchen is free and clear of those heavy scum-leaving minerals.

Passaic Bergen Water Softening is dedicated to bringing soft and filtered water to homes throughout northern New Jersey. We care about the damage hard water can do to your skin, your dishes, and even your appliances like the dishwasher and washing machine and are here to help. For more information about water softening systems or to schedule an installation of your own, contact us today!