remember that hard water isn't a state of mind and isn't defined by how it affects you. Its based on the quantity of offending minerals. You can boil it or add salt or add chemicals to counter its effects but those minerals are still there and its still hard. Those things don't make it soft. Most detergents have borax or some other chemicals mixed in to counter the effects of hard water. If you used pure soap with hard water to clean your clothes it would be a disaster. If you use pure soap and you have soft water you can avoid those expensive detergents. You don't need them.

If you have hard water try adding some borax to the water for shaving. It might make a big difference. It won't remove the minerals but will kind of cancel them out. Kind of like adding sugar to some bad tasting medicine to make it taste better.