Hard water is basically water that’s been on a mineral bender. It’s full of calcium and magnesium, which it picks up from traveling through limestone and chalk. These minerals are the party guests that leave rings in your bathtub, make your soap refuse to lather, and turn your hair into a crunchy, tangled mess. You know that feeling when you’re rinsing conditioner and your hair feels like straw? That’s the chalk and calcium doing you dirty.
Your water softener is the bouncer. It uses little resin beads that are coated in sodium (salt). As the hard water flows through, the beads grab the calcium and magnesium and exchange them for the sodium. The “grain” number tells you how many of these mineral jerks the bouncer can kick out before he needs a break. It’s like saying your bouncer can handle 30,000 “rude guests” before he needs to go refill his coffee.
