Ian33568
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Hard Water + Washing MachineWe currently use washer tabs to stop the heating element becoming coated in limescale/calcium deposits. I would like to stop using these - can anyone suggest anything that can be added to the wash to prevent build-up of deposits?
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stumbling goat
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the only thing i know that works is a water softener.
maybe not what you wanted to hear, sorry. have heard nothing good abbout the so called ionising reducing gizmos you can attach to the water mains that supposedly prevent calcium forming on pipes etc.
hy
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Effie
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Someone I know claims vinegar is supposed to work. (Although, frankly I've come to the conclusion they are a few beans short of a casserole in general, so I don't know if there is anything in it.)
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Ren
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I had also heard about white vinegar in the rinse cycle, it is also a good softener for clothes.
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nettie
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Vinegar makes sense, with it being acid and the limescale being alkaline. It's listed in many old-fashioned books as a limescale remover for taps etc. Worth a try, and it will freshen the clothes too.
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alice
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We have very hard water. We have to descale the kettle every week. Even the dogs' waterbowl acquires a layer of limescale  We use white vinegar to descale the kettle, shower screens, taps, showerhead, stainless steel sink, washing machine. I don't add it to the wash in the machine but every few months we put a gallon in the drum and leave it overnight. Then drain it the next day, into a bucket - not down the drain, you'll be amazed at the limescale that ends up in the bucket. We reuse the vinegar a few times. Use white vinegar - malt is smellier and there's something quite depressing about watching brown vinegar running down your tiles and pooling in your bath 
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dpack
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vinegar again 
the magnetic things do help but an in line ion exchange filter (flush with salt like a dishwasher filter thingy )works well but is costly to buy and run
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Ian33568
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Vinegar it is then......not sure if we can get white vinegar here but plenty of cider vinegar. ...or would that be unsuitable?
Might try the washer soak Alice but not sure how easy ours is to drain.
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alice
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I expect they're all of a muchness
When you set the m/c to 'drain' (like you would after a rinse hold) drop the waste pipe into a bucket instead of letting it go down the drain.
I'm sure any sort of vinegar would do it
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nettie
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| alice wrote: | | We have very hard water. We have to descale the kettle every week. Even the dogs' waterbowl acquires a layer of limescale We use white vinegar to descale the kettle, shower screens, taps, showerhead, stainless steel sink, washing machine. I don't add it to the wash in the machine but every few months we put a gallon in the drum and leave it overnight. Then drain it the next day, into a bucket - not down the drain, you'll be amazed at the limescale that ends up in the bucket. We reuse the vinegar a few times. Use white vinegar - malt is smellier and there's something quite depressing about watching brown vinegar running down your tiles and pooling in your bath |
Do you use the vinegar neat on the taps and stuff? I'm a bit worried cos ours are chrome and don't want it to spoil, we've been using the ecover descaler which is fairly diluted citric acid.
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alice
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I use it neat in a plant sprayer. I don't know what our taps are made of - they are fairly new and look like chrome to me. I haven't noticed any damage - but I hesitate to tell you to use it in case it all goes horribly wrong and you come round and let my tyres down 
I've just asked OH who is the fount of all knowledge  and he says vinegar won't hurt chrome...
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nats
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and where, pray tell, does one get hold of huge quantities of white vinegar at a reasonable price??
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alice
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£2.80 for 5L from our local shop 
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sean
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You've got some weird specialist vinegar shop out on the islands?
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alice
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Its a broad church
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Helen_A
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Vinegar here as well - first dose into the new machine going in this weeked  - perfectly happy that it works, as the previous machine was pretty clear of serious deposits anywhere when it died in december (we took it to pieces to see if it could be fixed before we realised that it was totally and utterly borked with several things having gone all at once; but not down to limescale )
Helen_A
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gz
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| sean wrote: | | You've got some weird specialist vinegar shop out on the islands? |
They are just used to people pickling and preserving
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