What phrase strikes terror in the hearts of all household members?  

"It's your turn to do the dishes!".  

Like most others, we have very hard water, water that is so hard that we couldn't use our automatic dishwasher because of the film and deposits it would leave on the dishes.  Unable to afford a whole house water softener, we tried just about everything to get rid of the stains, from expensive commercial detergents and stain eliminators to messy home remedies.

After years hand washing our dishes, we decided to do something about it.  3 years of research, development and 5 prototypes later, the SoftenShine water softener was perfected.  My background in biology and chemistry finally paid off.

Many states and cities are banning the use of whole house water softeners due to their dumping of waste salt into the environment.  Our final design reduced the amount of waste salt by nearly 95% while making the water 90% softer and the dishes sparkling clean.

How clean do you ask?  Both of these glasses were washed in our dishwasher about 50 times.  The one on the left was washed using the SoftenShine softener, while the one on the right was washed without the SoftenShine softener.

When word got out about our softener, we were inundated with requests for them.  To hand make the prototype versions of the softener requires about 4 hours of cutting, sanding, gluing, sanding some more, along with some "appropriate" words to make everything fit together properly.  Clearly this is not a viable option for production.  

Our Indiegogo campaign will allow us to get injection molds created and build up an initial inventory so we can get the device out to those who need it.  Without a successful campaign, the SoftenShine softener will not make it to market.  By making our campaign successful, you will help people save time, money, and protect the environment.

We are needing to raise $63,100.  Here is how it will be spent.

Equipment including injection molds    $18,500
Insurance and legal fees                            $  2,200
Materials to build the softeners              $32,400
Marketing, miscellaneous expenses     $10,000

Our perks are great!  They include cool items with our logo and a discounted price of the Softenshine water softener.

If we don't reach our entire campaign goal, we can reduce the number of units we build for inventory and the marketing expenses so we can still get the product out to you and others.

Why should you contribute?  Here are some reasons.

1. You have spots on your dishes.  Softenshine actually removes the hardness minerals from the water.
2. You are tired of high price additives.  Softenshine has a very low cost per use of about $0.02 per use, compared to additives  which may cost $0.25 per use or more.
3. The unit is small and compact, easily transported and used.
4. You are concerned about the environment.  The SoftenShine uses up to 95% less salt to soften the water than a typical whole house water softener uses, making it ideal for locations that have salt restrictions.
5. You want to use less detergent.  SoftenShine“ softens the water so that lower phosphate detergent bans or reductions will not cause film or hard water buildup on the dishes

All products have some inherent risks.   SoftenShine faces 3 main risks.

1. Funding.
2. Marketing.
3. Consumer acceptance and brand recognition.

The members of our team have a unique mix of abilities that will enable SoftenShine to really "Shine".  These abilities include experience in small business management, engineering and sales.

How will we overcome the risks? Here's how.

1. Funding - Your support for us on Indiegogo will go a long way to eliminating this risk.
2. Marketing - With a successful campaign, marketing will include mix of newspaper articles, trade journals, trade shows, word of mouth, targeted magazine articles/advertisements and internet advertising.
3. Consumer acceptance and brand recognition - Both of these take time.  Product price and performance will help the consumer accept the softener and brand recognition will be solved with marketing.