Soft water is water low in dissolved calcium and magnesium, the minerals that make water hard. It lathers soap easily, leaves no scale in kettles, and feels slippery in the wash, qualities that please the bathroom but can trouble the kitchen: vegetables cooked in very soft water may turn mushy, and brewing liquor for beer often needs its minerals. Soft water areas, typically with granite or peaty catchments, pipe it naturally; elsewhere ion-exchange softeners remove hardness artificially. Health debates about soft water centre on its low mineral contribution and on sodium added by softeners, but for most people it is simply a fact of geography. The kettle tells the story: no fur, soft water.