How to machine wash if you have hard water: useful tips

Hard water creates problems not only in the form of limescale in the kettle and stains on the plumbing. It also significantly worsens the quality of the laundry. First of all, due to excessive salts, detergents foam more than necessary, and the remnants of this foam are difficult to remove. It's also difficult to rinse out the clothes. Therefore, the question of how to soften washing water remains relevant for Ukraine as our tap water is hard almost everywhere.

Lifehacker has collected several effective ways to deal with this problem. None of them will require the purchase of additional equipment

Add vinegar

To soften water during washing, it is better to use white or distilled vinegar. It will not leave stains and will smell less. Vinegar has the ability to neutralize minerals in the water that make it hard.

For the product to work, just add vinegar during the rinsing stage. Pour half a cup of liquid into the detergent tray. This will help to thoroughly rinse out the remaining foam and minerals from the clothes, leaving them softer, cleaner and fresher.

If you have been washing clothes in hard water for a long time and they have turned gray or stained, you can soak them in a vinegar solution overnight. Mix it with water in a 1:1 ratio to get the right amount of liquid, soak your clothes or laundry in it, and wash them in the morning as usual. The problem with faded colors and gray stains should be resolved.

Use baking soda for laundry

Unlike baking soda, which is sodium bicarbonate, washing soda is sodium carbonate, which means it does not contain a hydrogen atom in the molecule, which changes its properties somewhat. In particular, it softens water perfectly. It is commercially available under the name soda ash or crystal soda. Simply add half a cup of this powder to your detergent in your next wash or pour it directly into the drum.

Choose your detergent carefully

Modern laundry detergents and gels often already contain softening agents. If you're looking for that, you can find products that contain vinegar. In any case, liquid laundry formulas resist hard water better than powdered ones.

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