Eighty-five percent of Americans have hard water. So, chances are, the mineral-laden water flows through the taps in your home.
If so, you may be suffering from a few hard water problems in your abode. You might not even know these issues are down to the mineral content of your water, either.
Here are five of the most common problems—and one way to solve them all.
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1. Lackluster Laundry
You’ve just finished a load of laundry, but when you take it out of the dryer, it doesn’t look clean. This doesn’t necessarily mean your machines are broken—it could be hard water to blame for your dingy duds.
The minerals found in hard water can react with your laundry detergent, making the latter less effective in cleaning your clothes. It can cause garments to fade, and it can leave chalky stains behind, too.
Finally, hard water can affect the feel of your clothes. If you’ve noticed your clothes feel stiff or even coarse post-wash, it may be down to the mineralized water, as well.
2. Dull-Looking Hair
Your looks may also be affected by your hard water supply. Mineral deposits can build up on your scalp, causing your hair to appear dull.
Not only that, but mineral build-up blocks moisture from reaching your follicles, which dries out the hair, too. And you can’t get rid of them by washing more—in fact, doing so just makes matters worse if you have hard water.
3. Streaky Dishes
You’ve run your dishwasher and opened it to find cloudy, streaky, or otherwise unclean-looking glassware inside. Again, you’ll have to blame this on the hard water.
These marks are called “curds,” left behind by the reaction between the hard water and the dish soap. Your stuff’s clean, of course, it just doesn’t look it—and that can be very frustrating after all of your hard work.
4. Tough-to-Clean Tubs and Basins
Any receptacle for your hard water will start to show mineral build-up, too, and it’s not easy to clean it away. If you find you can’t scrub out the stains in your sinks and tubs, they are likely caused by hard water, as well.
5. Plugged Plumbing
You might notice some mineral deposits dangling from your faucets. If they’re growing on the outside of your sinks, then they’re undoubtedly building up inside of your pipes, too.
Over time, these deposits can turn into clogs that affect your plumbing, water heater, and other water-centric appliances in your home. Now’s the time to look into solutions, such as the GE Water Softener, before it’s too late.
How Can I Solve My Hard Water Problems?
As we said, you can fix your hard water problems with a single appliance: a water softener. The GE model mentioned above is just one example. These devices remove the minerals from your water before it flows into your home, thus protecting your laundry, hair, dishes, plumbing, and tubs from damage caused by build-up.
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