Water softeners (laundry additives)

[lordkenmore]

For my next Great Laundry Room Adventure, I'm thinking of trying a water softener laundry additive.

The primary store I shop at has the following, all of which someone somewhere says can work:

-Washing soda
-Borax. (Highly recommended by someone who lives in a nearby city.)
-A formal water softener. Two brands are available: Calgon and WhiteKingD.

I'm wondering what will work the best. Thanks!

 

[ronhic]

I've used...

....both Calgon gel and Washing soda....

I used Calgon in London where water is quite hard (kettles 'fur' up very quickly) and it was great. Never had lime on my clothes....

I use washing soda here primarily to enable the detergent dosage to be reduced as we have soft water as it is....

Liked both and happy to use both

 

[tomturbomatic]

Borax and Washing Soda are precipitating water softeners, not the best for automatics if you are using soap and have hard water, but your detergent has builders to take care of water minerals so these would be more like laundry detergent boosters instead of water conditioners so they should not create too much of a mess in the machine. You would not be able to reduce the amount of detergent you use like with a more complex water conditioner such as STPP. Borax is good for odor control in fabrics exposed to sweat since the residual boron serves as a bacteriostat, if I remember correctly. Calgon is phosphate free in areas that ban phosphates and the original formula was, I believe, sodium hexametaphosphate which was not quite the cleaning booster that sodium tripolyphosphate is. Mom liked to use Calgon in the first rinse water to bring the detergent out of fabrics.

 

[polkanut]

I'm a 4th generation borax user here, and both sides of the family has always gotten great results with it. Wausau's water comes from wells and is considered medium hard. My one cousin's well water was high in iron (lived on a farm), and they never had any problems with iron stains. I recommend it highly.

 

[gmmcnair]

Another borax user here....

....I use it in my white stuff during summer weather when I can use my clotheslines.

With its mild bleaching action and a day on the lines in the sun, my whites are gorgeous.

 

[launderess]

Vintage Calgon (In the Silver Boxes)

Was a brillian mixture of STPP and sodium hexametaphosphate.

While both are phosphates, and soften water etc, each brings someting great to the party. Sodium hexametaphosphate is actually more expensive than STPP.

Don't know when or if the Calgon changed the formula over the years as they produced both a phosphate and phosphate free versions. Today the Calgon powder is mainly washing soda, while the liquid is sodium citrate.

 

[imperialmarkxii]

Soft water

Water softeners have disappeared from two leading supermarkets here. Used to have Calgon available in both liquid or powder.

However, there is one store I am still able to find White King in powder.

Hope that it remains, along with Borax. ...

I believe our water may be about 7 grains hard.

BTW. Calgon in silver boxes I haven't seen in ages. ...

Russell

 

[launderess]

Washing Soda

Can be very harsh on fabrics, and is much more alkaline than either phosphates or borax. There is a reason automatic dishwasher detergent powders are mainly made up of washing soda, indeed before modern detergents "soda crystals" and or washing soda was mainly used for cleaning (along with soap) every thing from dishes to floors.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Washing soda was also very rough on hands and on the aluminum tubs in Maytag conventional washers. The damage it could do to the old machines with tall drive posts led to the low post drive which was protected from contact with the water by the air dome formed under the agitator.

 

[spiralator60]

Southern California Supermarkets

Russell,

I've seen Calgon in Albertsons, most recently about a month ago. Sometimes it is available at Ralphs, as some locations carry it, and some don't. Most store managers that I have spoken with at either store have been willing to special order it, especially if you are willing to buy an entire case.

If you can get to a WinCo supermarket, White King is carried there.