Homemade Water Softener
Hard water is a mineral-rich combination that contains calcium and magnesium. Washing your clothing in hard water can reduce the effectiveness of your laundry detergent, making your clothing more difficult to clean completely. Additionally, hard water tends to fade clothing at a faster rate, and leaves your clothing feeling stiff and uncomfortable to wear once dried. Using a water softener in your wash can improve the ease with which all your clothing is cleaned. Water softener neutralizes the effects of hard water, and a homemade version can be created using a few easy-to-obtain materials. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
-
-
1
Use a funnel to pour 1 cup of Borax and 2 cups of washing soda into a gallon container. Add water to this mix to fill the remainder of the container, leaving about ½ inch of space at the top. Borax and washing soda can be found in the laundry section of your grocery store.
-
2
Mix the contents of the container, completely dissolving the powder into the water. Seal the container and shake it using a gentle up and down motion.
-
-
3
Soften hard water by adding 1 cup of the mix to each load of laundry when you regularly add laundry detergent. Cut the amount of laundry detergent by half because too much detergent will make the softener useless.
-
4
Wash and dry your clothing as normal. The softener should leave the clothes cleaner, softer and fresh smelling. If the results are not satisfactory, add 2 cups of softener and try again.
-
1
References
Resources
- Photo Credit laundry image by timur1970 from Fotolia.com
