Pop` wrote:

IMO, "too soft" would be a tub surface that remains dangerously slippery, or
if you don't like the feeling, you could tone it down some. I'd start with
getting a test done if you haven't already, and go by that. It works well
usually, and the benefits of the softener are worthwhile.

Not all water inthe house should be softened, by the way. Usually it's just
the water to the dishwasher, hot water faucets, and the like, but not the
cold water or toilet unless you can afford the salt usage.

Contrary to what someone else said, softened water IS potable and won't hurt
to drink. It won't however taste very good and can make a bad pot of
coffeeg! I don't know if prolonged consumption would cause any problems
or not; the softener probably wouldn't be healthy long term, as in any other
substance taken into the body.

http://www.raindancewatersystems.com...r-catalog.html is just one
of many hits at Google for
water softeners +definition
Caution: Some of those top-ads are double-click trackers; stick to the
links below them unless you don't care.

HTH
Pop`

For residential softeners, softened water is either hard or soft based
on 0 gpg (grains per gallon= soft) or more than 0 gpg (=hard). If the
water isn't 0 gpg, the softener isn't working correctly.

All the water in the building should be softened because otherwise all
fixtures using hard water can suffer damage and the water is less
usable etc.. Plus, as soon as hard water is added to softened water,
the water is hard and there is no benefit to having the softener. Most
clothes washing is done in warm and cold water today, so there would be
no benefit to laundry done in hard water.

The sodium added to water by ion exchange softening is 7.85 mg/l per
gpg of ion exchange. I.E. 25 gpg hard water = 7.85*25=196.25 mg per
rough a quart. A slice of white bread contains 120-160 mg per SLICE.
Check the labels on your food containers, and your water; bottles or
water company CCR (consumer confidence report). Anyone under a low
sodium or sodium restricted diet knows how to count their daily sodium
intake; the rest of us should not be concerned about the sodium in our
water, but we certainly get WAY too much sodium in our food, which is
not good for us.

http://www.awqinc.com/sodium_softening.html
Mayo Clinic says... http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sodium/AN00317

And if you want a good cup of coffee, use RO water. There is very
little to no hardness in RO water.

Beware of raindance, they sell very high priced stuff that is no better
than what you can buy from anyone else.

Gary
Quality Water Associates