Artificial Water Softner Units

[washer111]

Home Water Softener

Launderess...

Sorry to disagree, but that slimy feeling is actually induced by the salt in the softened water. The harder the water starts of, the more salt that replaces the Calcium/Magnesium ions during the softening process. You won't notice this in naturally soft water.

Here is a trick I learnt from the local rip-off guy with water softeners: If clothes feel starchy after washing with the softener, use less detergent. We have a junky Simpson HE machine from 2009, its 5-6 spray rinses can get rid of the detergent. This is using the RECOMMENDED dosage, by the way.

So: Use less detergent/hotter wash or an extra rinse to combat the issue - I wouldn't rinse in hard water, since it makes everything all stiff and decreases the life of clothing, from what I've heard. Before we got our stuff up here, we used the local Maytag laundry, and our clothes lost lots of colour during that time - from hard water and super may tag wash action!

http://www.softenerparts.com/kb_results.asp?ID=15

 

[gansky1]

I have softened water to everything except the outside faucets and the garage (hot water is softened) and I've noticed a huge difference in rinsing between the two. The hard water rinse in the garage washer is usually clear and clean but when that load is taken to softened water in the basement machine(s) the difference is clear - or not so clear as it were...

Water hardness and quality varies tremendously from region to region, even in the same state. My parents live about 20 miles away but because their water is drawn from municipal wells rather than river(s) as in the city, their water can be 5-7 grains harder than mine.

By coincidence, I'm doing a load of rags now -

Here is a load of rags rinsed in cold, hard water the garage. A few bubbles after rinse agitation:

 

[gansky1]

Same load, minutes ago in the 58 Unimatic Frigidaire with softened water:

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The residue is still there, just bound up by the hard water. I guess it would stand to reason that if softer water has more ability to hold detergents, soils, etc. that it makes sense to rinse in soft water as well as wash.

 

[beekeyknee]

I agree with Greg. The soap residue is still there, suppressed by the hardness of the water, just as I mentioned about bathing suits in hot tubs.

If one wants to get the soap out of the clothes and do it well, one would be best off using just the right amount of soap to get the clothes clean and rinsing in soft water until the suds were gone. It would take more water to do so, but this would be the acid test. A large amount of soft water in a solid tub machine that has an over-flow rinse and high spin speed, like an old Frigidaire, might be the best answer, aye Robert (watch me drag him into this...lol). It seems a lot of contemplation and observation is required. There are a lot of variables, but the old hard water is the ultimate deceiver. It likes to lead us down the primrose path. [this post was last edited: 6/21/2012-05:58]