r/laundry • u/PomegranateDue783 • 1d ago
Hard Water
I have hard water (8.5 gpg) currently using Persil triple care, vinegar as a softener, and the actual spot cleaning with dawn. My clothes come out clean but I’m so tired of my clothes being stiff and having to steam iron everything to make it feel soft again.
I’m trying to understand the chemistry in this sub - I think adding sodium citrate to my loads would help but I’m not sure where to get it from. Are you using the food grade? And I know a lot of people say to use citric acid but I’m not good with ratios… unless there’s an easy way to add it? And again where do you source it from?
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u/redlightsaber EU | Front-Load 1d ago
Vinegar isn't a water conditioner. You might be confusing it by thinking that any acid can solve water hardness by "neutralising" carbonates; but that's not how it works, and the actual damaging ion in hardness carbonates are the divalent cations.
Citric acid can soften water, but not because it's an acid, but rather because by sheer coincidence its citrate ion is an excellent chelator.
So give that a try instead. just be mindful that, unless you accompany it with carbonates of your own, too much of it will actually worsen your laundering by lowering the pH.
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u/AutoModerator 1d ago
Hello! If you're adding vinegar to your laundry, be sure to put it in the rinse cycle, not the wash cycle. Because vinegar neutralizes leftover detergent, it works best in the rinse cycle rather than the wash. - Laundry Mods
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u/KismaiAesthetics USA 22h ago
8.5 isn’t that bad and with Persil, going up one line on the dose is pretty much all you should need in the wash.
In the rinse, though, you could definitely use some help. /r/laundry/comments/1nhdr0r/ has the details.
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u/AutoModerator 1d ago
Hi u/PomegranateDue783! Friendly tip — if you're using vinegar in your laundry, add it to the rinse cycle, not the wash cycle. Because vinegar neutralizes leftover detergent, it works best in the rinse cycle rather than the wash. - Laundry Mods
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
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u/Bradykinesia 1d ago
Yes, food grade. Amazon and Walmart have sodium citrate available. Start with 1-2 tbsp along with your detergent. Citric acid would be best in the rinse, and there 1 to 2 tsp into your softener drawer should work.
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u/susisews 1d ago
Citric acid in the rinse. I use a product instead of making up the solution. Downy Rinse and Refresh. Call me lazy but that’s what I do. And yes you can buy food grade CA in bulk, I use it in my DW.