If you’ve had your water softener for a while, you may have forgotten all the fun perks you’re getting with soft water! Using softened water around your home makes a real difference in your daily upkeep. Can’t recall what it was like to have hard water? We’ll jog your memory with our 7 favorite soft water benefits and help you better appreciate all the perks of having a home softening system.

1. Saves soap

Soft water works a lot better with detergents and soaps. Usually when people first get their water softener installed, they’re surprised at how little soap it takes to form a lather. Having good, soft water for cleaning means you get to use less soap for laundry, dishes, and even less shampoo in the shower.

2. No more water spots

Softened water is great for rinsing away your soap and detergent because it doesn’t have those “hard” minerals that were in your hard tap water. Hard water minerals leave little cloudy spots on faucets and dishes, but you get a completely clean rinse with soft water. So no more spots on your clean dishes. And no more spots on your faucets and fixtures.

3. Protects your water heater (Plus energy savings!)

Hard water minerals create a real problem for your water-using appliances—especially water heaters. Using hard water in your home causes rock-like mineral deposits called scale to form inside your water heater, which makes the unit have to use a ton of energy to do its job. Fortunately, soft water doesn’t have these scale minerals. Having a water softener helps keep your water heater working better, longer!

4. No more mineral deposits on pots and pans

When you boil hard tap water, some of the water evaporates and leaves a kind of dusty, white ring around your pot. That’s the hard water minerals calcium and magnesium. The same thing happens inside your kettle or hot water pot, making your cookware look dingy. Your water softener takes those hard minerals out for you, so you don’t have to deal with mineral deposits when you’re cleaning.

5. Stops soap scum from forming—for good

Regular bar soap won’t lather with hard water. To make matters worse, the minerals in hard water react with soap and create a gooey buildup around your sink or bathtub. Soft water, on the other hand, is great with soap! So when you have a home softening system you’ll prevent soap scum from ever building up again.

6. No more scale buildup on shower heads and faucets

Rock-hard white or green scale on faucets and shower heads isn’t pretty. And that’s just the buildup you can see! It’s tough to remove, and if you still use hard water, the scale is only going to come back. Homes with soft water don’t have to mess with scale, or water spots, or soap that doesn’t lather—so it’s easier to keep kitchens and bathrooms shiny and squeaky-clean.

7. Better water pressure, and better for your pipes

Soft water helps keep your water pressure strong because hard water minerals aren’t piling up. A 2009 research study on shower heads and water found that in less than 18 months, shower heads with hard water had lost 75% of their flow rate. The minerals in hard water clog form deposits that clog pipes and those pinhole points on shower heads, but with soft water your water pressure should be a-okay. Even if you think your water is already pre-softened by your city, be sure to double-check around your home. If you’re experiencing any of these hard water symptoms, you and your family could probably benefit from a home water softener.