Itching because the bar soap does not wash off because of the soft water on board

[Bobnapples]

Is soap making you itch from bathing because of the softwater? I found that it made my ankles itch so I surfed the net and found this site that has a body bar that works very well in the soft water and rinses totally off.

Here is the net site : http://airwatersolutions.com/soap.html

Holland America should look into it for use in the future.

[jhannah]

I've never had any reaction to the soaps on HAL ships. Do you normally have sensitivity to detergents and the like, or was this unique to your cruise experience?

[Bobnapples]

Vegas Jim

I find it only happens when the water has been soften. Never give me a problem other than at that time. I have heard others mention it so I posted the net site where I get my soap to use on board. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[CDRMark]

There's never a copper around when you need one.

[mhshapiro]

I have somewhat sensitive skin also, and I find that olive oil based soap from "Kiss My Face" works fine and does not cause itching even with the soft water found on most cruise ships.

[Bobnapples]

Thanks MHShipiro

I have in on my ankles and it drive me crazy with the scratching I have to do to do to try to relieve it. As for the one who is looking for the copper, let them have the same problem and they will know how it feels. A good soap makes me able to enjoy the cruise!!! :)

[Randyk47]

Interesting. We actually have the reverse situation. Typically soaps don't work as well in hard water and, in fact, we have our own water softener for our house. Before it was installed we had more trouble with soap related dry skin, etc., and it certainly has made a difference in our laundry. Never have had a problem on a cruise though we tend to bring our own bath soap but just the kind of gentle soaps you can find in a regular grocery store.

[Claire O'Brien]

We find the Oil of Olay bodywash is excellent on board ship, nice and mositurizing and you can even use it as a shampoo. Walmart often have it on special and then it is not at all expensive. One bottle lasts a long time.

The water they make on board is not actually softened as such but is very pure water which has been distilled from seawater. Softened water at home on land is usually hard water which has been treated to soften it and contains other added chemicals.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Husband has very sensitive skin - due to medications - and so far todate - he has never had a problem with either HAL's sopas or shampoos.

[jhannah]

Softened water at home on land is usually hard water which has been treated to soften it and contains other added chemicals.Water softening systems use either salt or potassium to periodically clean the resin that removes the "earth" from the water. Our system uses salt. There is about the same amount of salt in a gallon of water that there is in a slice of bread. (i.e., very little.)

[mhshapiro]

The water on cruise ships is "soft" because essentially all the minerals have been removed by the purification system (either a distiller or reverse osmosis system).

In hard water soaps form precipitates, which are easy to rinse off. However, in soft water the fats in the soap form a layer that clings to your skin and is hard to rinse off. Most soaps include animal fats and detergents, and some people are allergic to the detergent residue that remains on the skin.

There are some soaps that are made only from vegetable fats (and no detergents) - remember the old Palmolive Soap (palm and olive oil based).

The olive oil soaps have no detergents and no animal fats, so some people find them less irritating.

[elmorejj]

I have extremely sensitive skin, so I started making my own soap about 5 years ago. It is made from a base of pure glycerin, to which I can add lanolin, cocoa butter, aloe etc plus perfume oils. I`ve never itched since I started making my own and its a whole bunch cheaper.....jean :cool:

[sail7seas]

Thank you, Mark, for your explanation. Makes sense to me and I will be looking for some Palmolive to bring on Zuiderdam with us. The last cruises we had on her, I did notice I had a hard time rinsing off the soap but it did not irritate either my DH or my skin. I didn't understand why the difference on Zuiderdam when I had never had that issue on any other ship.

[sail7seas]

Jean......Your homemade soap sounds wonderful. Makes me think of the fabulous green soap I always buy from the ladies in Dominica. The first time we were there, many years ago, we walked down the pier to a small 'market' the ladies had set up. They were selling big bars of a coconut scented green soap that was subtle enough to really appeal to me in the Caribbean. I bought a few bars (more to feel I contributed a little something to these women with small children than out of a great need for the soap.) I feel bad to keep saying No, Thank You to everything they are selling. I don't really want t-shirts or trinkets etc


I used one of the bars that night in the shower and was amazed how much I liked it. Very moisturizing.

Now....I am always happy if Dominica is on our itinerary as I load up on more soap.

[mhshapiro]

Palmolive has gotten really hard to find these days. I also have had a hard time finding "Kiss My Face" olive oil soaps in the retail outlets recently, but I have been able to order them directly on the Internet.

[ocngypz]

Actually, it's the other way around. "Softened" water is a very powerful cleaner. Bathtub ring is soap (really very few true soaps still out in the marketplace) scum and minerals from your water. A whole house system(especially when combined with an r/o system) eliminates bathtub ring.. you use just a smidge of shampoo.. a little bigger smidge of liquid laundry detergent, etc.

Desalinated water still contains high levels of other minerals.

Water onboard ships has high concentrations of halogen (type of chlorine) to pass any CDC inspection. This will make you itch. Ever take a bath onboard??? There's the good old bathtub ring... ergo hard water.

Water spots are a result of hard water. When you have soft water.. there are no water spots.. no bathtub ring... your clothes are softer (provided you don't use too much detergent, your hair is cleaner, the element in your hot water heater is clean, the water pump in your washer lasts longer and your razor blades even last longer too because they don't have to cut through the mineral deposits left on your skin.

At home, try rinsing your hair after shampooing with hard water.. and see the difference. it's much softer.. that's because the vinegar helps remove the mineral buildup.

The salt used in water treatment systems is for knocking the mineral buildup out of the filtration media. There's not very much which actually passes back through to your taps.

[imsulin]

Bath and shower water (and toilet water) on cruise ships is desalinated water - not loaded "fresh" water. All cruise ships have their own desalination plants, which can continually supply desalinated fresh water from ocean water. Just an FYI.

[HeatherInFlorida]

I've always been told that it is the hard water that is difficult to rinse off and that you will get that slippery clean feeling after rinsing in soft water. However, this does not mean "softened" water which is entirely different.

True soft water, such as from a spring like where I grew up, leaves you feeling soap free and completely refreshed. It also leaves your hair feeling softly wonderful and limp as a dish rag:( . Still there is nothing like a bath or shower in soft water.

Softened water, on the other hand, is another animal. And while your dishes will come clear as a bell with it (without that hard water residue that is also left on your skin:eek: ), it will not leave you with the same feeling as the real thing.

In New Jersey I had a water softener and was deathly allergic to whatever made it soft (not the salt because ocean water clears up my skin:confused: ). I'd never had the problem before and it cleared up when we moved away . I am hypersensitive and cannot use anything with PABA, lanolin or zinc oxide either so this wouldn't happen with everyone, but it definitely could explain a slightly itchy feeling after showering in "softened" water.

[MDL1771]

I live in Western New York where the water is very hard. Whenever I travel someplace with soft water, my hair goes limp. I usually have a lot of volume to my hair, but not when it is washed with soft water. Does anyone have any advice on what kind of shampoo I could use to add the body back that the soft water on the cruise is going to take away.

[jhannah]

Most every shampoo brand has a formula for extra body/volume. You might try one of those.

[HeatherInFlorida]

MDL, yes I would try one of those. I happen to like Pantene with extra body (or something like that) that has a conditioner in it. Beyond that, I just put a lot of junk in my hair to "dirty" it up a little and that's what gives it the body. The reason your hair goes limp in soft water is because it is completely clean with no residue of any kind left on it. In effect, you have to put the residue back in. Sounds gross, I know, but that's an absolute fact.

[elmorejj]

S7S, It was after we visited Dominica and purchased some of their wonderful green soap that I started making my own. I took one 30 min. class at a craft store and haven`t looked back!! Whenever grandkids or nieces stop by, they always want to make soap with me. There are several web sites for supplies. I also make bath salts, and lip balm.....jean :cool:

[saltydog28]

jean-a friend of my daughters' is in to making her own bath and body products. A few years ago we were in London and we found Lush. We had been ordering on line, when we saw they opened a store in NYC. Their 'newspaper' gave our friend alot of ideas.
And if I am in Ireland or Bermuda I always buy Radox.
Do you have a problem with laundry detergent?
Take care,
Pat.

[ASM]

I haven't used soap in years but my Oil of Olay body wash works fine onboard and on the coast. I do use less shampoo however, and that helps the limpness problem. I like Aussie volumizing shampoo but it's very hard to find around here,

[elmorejj]

Pat, I absolutely love Lush products, they have many stores in Toronto, and I purchase them when I`m there. I`ve also experimented with making bath bombs like the ones from lush. We also used Radox at home in England. Laundry detergent bothers my skin, so I usually use baby detergent such as Dreft for my things. I`ve also used Baking soda in the final rinse water to get rid of residue soap.....jean :cool:

[geoherb]

I make my own soap from scratch (not melt and pour). I use olive oil, coconut oil, stearic acid, castor oil, almond oil, and sodium hydroxide (lye). Most of the time, I use essential oils instead of synthetic fragrance oils. I always take my own soap to use on cruises and never had any problems with it not rinsing off cleanly.

As someone mentioned, there are quite a few of us soapers around on the internet. I also make my own laundry detergent by grating my soap and mixing it with washing soda and borax.

[sail7seas]

S7S, It was after we visited Dominica and purchased some of their wonderful green soap that I started making my own. I took one 30 min. class at a craft store and haven`t looked back!! Whenever grandkids or nieces stop by, they always want to make soap with me. There are several web sites for supplies. I also make bath salts, and lip balm.....jean :cool:

Jean.....That is fabulous. I love that green soap. It's so moisturizing. Do you have any idea what they put in it besides aloe and coconut?

I can't get enough of it.

[paultxrn]

I had the same problem...........my skin became very red and flaky over several days. I will definitely bring soap from home next time.

[elmorejj]

Sail, I`ve been wondering also what base they use. I think probably the old fashioned way with lye (don`t sound too good ) but all soap was made that way before modern chemicals were added to our beauty products...jean :cool:

[sail7seas]

I suspect you may be correct about the lye. While I would not dream of eating anything with lye or fried in it, I think it could be very moisturizing on the skin.
It is inexpensive and easily obtained so it is very possible that is the base those ladies are using. Whatever it is, I really like that soap and plan to 'load up' on it when we are in Dominica in January.

[anjan]

When I was a cosmetologist, we used soft water. Soft water rinses cleaner. That slippery feeling of your skin is clean skin. When you wash in hard water, minerals and some of the soap stays on your skin. That is why your skin does not feel as slippery. The reason fine hair has more body after washing in hard water is because of the deposits left behind. When people have ichy skin, it is usually related to the perfumes in the soaps.

[sail7seas]

Oops, Jean.......You said "LYE" and I was thinking "LARD". I certainly hope I'm not served lye to eat. :(

[Slinkiecat]

I solved the problem by switching from soap to shower gel, which is basically detergent, very easy to rinse off and no bathtub ring either, because it doesn't have the fat that binds to the minerals in hard water.

slinkie

[Slinkiecat]

Sail 7 Seas wrote: "You said "LYE" and I was thinking "LARD". I certainly hope I'm not served lye to eat." :(
__________________

I wouldn't want to eat lard, either. As they say, "You ARE what you eat."

slinkie

[sail7seas]

Sail 7 Seas wrote: "You said "LYE" and I was thinking "LARD". I certainly hope I'm not served lye to eat." :(
__________________

I wouldn't want to eat lard, either. As they say, "You ARE what you eat."

slinkie



I absolutely agree......I would not want to eat lard either.

I fully agree you ARE what you eat. We eat very healthy in this house. :)

We have had conversation in recent weeks on this Board about various diets/ways of eating/lifestyles in food selection. In came up in terms of can a pax adhere to various ways of eating while aboard ships. Specifically South Beach, Atkins etc