Hands up! If you don’t currently have a water softener, how quickly do you see a deterioration in the quality of your laundry? By that, I mean how long does it take before towels, jumpers, bed linen, shirts and blouses even, start to lose their softness? To the point that clothes actually feel uncomfortable against the skin!
There’s nothing worse than drying yourself with a harsh, scratchy towel!
Your washing machine might still be giving its all to ensure everything comes out perfectly clean after each wash but, in the absence of soft water, it’s still pretty powerless when it comes to keeping laundry looking lovely and feeling fabulous.
The reason everything looks and feels a bit flat and uninviting is hard water.
A water softener prevents the adverse effects of hard water on your clothes, whilst making them soft to the touch and preserving their new, fresh look and feel.
Who wants their laundry suffering from fibre fatigue?
Do I need to use as much detergent and fabric softener with soft water?
If you wash your fabrics in soft water, they will last longer – a lot longer. You’ll also notice with whites that they will come out of the machine looking whiter and brighter. This is because they won’t be so saturated in mineral deposits, which suck the life out of clothing and causing that loss of vibrancy.
But that’s not the end of the story. Since soft water is more efficient at cleaning clothing than hard water, you won’t need to use as much detergent, or fabric softeners, like Lenor. And in no time at all, you’ll be pleasantly surprised about how much money you’ll be saving on those supermarket cleaning products – which don’t come cheap at the best of times.
Having softened water in your home is also good news and a welcome relief for anyone who has skin that reacts badly to certain types of detergent. Less detergent means fewer skin complaints.
In terms of how much detergent or fabric softener you should use with soft water, it’s a bit of trial and error. We suggest you cut it back by 50% of what you were previously using with a hard water regime and see how that works – then adjust according to the results you get. To assist you further, many laundry detergents specify the dosing required for hard or soft water.
Does the machine water temperature need to be as hot with softened water?
With hard water present, the golden rule is to have the water as hot as possible – applicable to the type of fabric that’s being washed. This is to ensure it gets the items as clean as possible because hard water leaves mineral deposit residue on laundry and the best way to remove this is to have the water temperature as high as possible.
With soft water, however, you don’t need to worry about the water temperature. In fact, you could wash everything in cold or 30˚C water and it will still produce cleaner and softer laundry than you’ll ever manage with hard water.
This also has a number of knock-on advantages. Cold or colder water stops colours from bleeding and fading – a perennial curse of hard water.
Incidentally, for those who have been used to putting salt into the washing to prevent colours from running, with soft water you won’t need to do this anymore. What’s more, by using cold water, you’ll also notice savings on what you are currently spending on your energy. Less requirement for hot water – and you can use gallons of the stuff for just a single wash – means reduced fuel bills.
That’s good for your pocket. Good for the environment and, of course, great for your laundry.
And your washing machine will love you because it won’t get clogged up with horrible limescale.
To find out more about the benefits of having a water softener in your home, check out our website and our informative blog section, which tackles all manner of questions you may have.
For all installation and service enquiries, please contact SJ Water Softeners, your number one local supplier for West and East Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire on 01243 607494 or via email: scott@sjbs.info