thank you janis!

altho there are plenty of exceptions listed here, I think that in general east of the Mississippi you are likely to have soft water and west of the Mississippi you will have hard water.

My mom has soft water in her house and , like Surfergirl, I never feel that I can get truly dry when I shower there.

We just returned from Daytona Beach, but this seems to be the same at Myrtle beach, SC too...When I go to these places and take my first shower, my hair and skin improves. I hardly need hair conditioner. My skin feels very soft, and my hair seems to be moisturized, but full of body. A year ago, I wanted the same results at home so we had a very good water softener installed in our home. The results are not the same. I still need to use conditioner on my hair and the water in the shower just does not feel the same as it does in the hotels we stay at, and they are not expensive hotels. I brought home water from the hotel in Daytona and tested it with my meters at home, and to my surprise, it was hard! If they have hard water, and we have soft water here at home, why do I still have better results at the hotels?