How to remove soap scum

How to remove soap scum ?, What is soap scum ? According to Wikipedia, It is the formation of insoluble calcium and magnesium salts from hard water. The sticky messy film that is also known as bathtub ring. Soap scum is also what makes your glass shower doors look so dirty.The insoluble salts form bathtub rings, leave films that reduce hair luster, and gray/roughen textiles after repeated washings.

Some kinds of soap are worse at creating soap scum than others. In technical terms, Anionic soaps make soap scum. There are some nonionic soaps that do not. Soap scum is made if your water has minerals such as magnesium, calcium, or iron in it.

The chemical formula for this process is as follows:

2 CH3(CH2)16CO2-Na+ + Mg2+ ----> [CH3(CH2)16CO2-]2Mg2+ + 2 Na+

Magnesium stearate is a major component of "bathtub rings". When produced by soap and hard water, magnesium stearate and calcium stearate both form a white solid insoluble in water, and are collectively known as "soap scum". Magnesium stearate, also called octadecanoic acid, magnesium salt, is a white substance which is solid at room temperature. It has the chemical formula Mg(C18H35O2)2.

Calcium stearate is a non-toxic stabilizer and lubricant with the molecular formula Ca(C18H35O2)2.

The byproduct of soap and hard water ions (soap scum) is insoluble in water and therefore a film that remains on the skin after bathing is a powerful discovery and a strong reason for ion exchange at the faucet. The OhSoft method, which is to remove soap scum at the source.

There is little scientific or chemical support for devices that claim to soften water without ion exchange. I support that contention. I attached a variety of devices to my shower that had no impact on water hardness. It was necessary for me to develop a compact ion exchange water softener that I could attach to my shower pipe.

Eventually I was very successful in producing a unit that immediately solved my problem, my brother’s problem and my daughter’s problem. It was then that I realized that anionic soaps and shampoos, used in bathing, combine with ions of sodium, magnesium and assorted metals to form an insoluble film of salts and that  this film not only coats the shower walls with soap scum (SS) but also coats our skin where it remains.

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