We figure the first question most of you will have is:
Do I have hard water?
There are a few ways to test this. Below is my personal favourite.
If you suspect that you have hard water we recommend that you then use a strip test to confirm your PPM. You can find these kits on Amazon, Home Depot etc. You are needing to test your Total Water Hardness.
Solutions:
It's mostly an easy solution, frankly. Add a water softener such as Borax or Calgon to your wash cycles. Amounts needed will depend on your hardeness level and the detergent you are using.
Additionally, some powdered detergents have water softeners that help give a better clean in hard water. If your detergent isn't proving strong enough, upgrading detergents would also help immensely.0-60 ppm - No softener needed
60-120ppm - 1/2 cup borax in your Main wash
120-250ppm- 1/4 cup in your first (prewash) and 1/2 cup in your main
250+ ppm- 1/2 cup in both cycles
*Tide original powder covers up to 180ppm with no softener needed.
While in some laundry issues we suggest an extra rinse, here we wouldn't because you're just undoing all your good work (essentially, you're adding back all those mineral deposits you just cleared out with your new or increased detergent).
For detailed information about hard water please reach out to us at delight@lilhelper.ca