We have hard water, but don't want to install a softener. We manage
to clean the bath/sink/toilet ok, but the bath fixtures and faucets
get coated and (almost) pock-marked after a while without serious
scrubbing that can damage the finish.

Any advice on whether certain finishes (i.e. stainless steel vs.
chrome) are better to minimize such scaling and the damage to fixture
from cleaning that may occur?

Thanks.
-Theodore