Clean Hard Water Deposits Naturally

Are your faucets covered in white calcium deposits? Or maybe your glasses come out of the dishwasher with a white residue? You, my friend, have hard water. Let me teach you how to clean hard water deposits naturally before the sprayer in the shower stops working entirely!

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My Water Grows Rocks!

Shortly after moving into our house, I noticed the drinking jars looked a bit cloudy. I thought nothing of it because we had just switched detergents. Around that same time I noticed that we were going through a lot more soap. This was especially true about shampoo. I blamed the problem on my hair getting longer. As it turns out, our well water was much harder than our old house. Despite having dealt with hard water at the old house, I was totally unprepared for just how hard the water would be at the new house.

Within three months I noticed that that sprayer on the sink faucet was shooting water all over the place. Turned it over and immediately saw the problem. Hard water deposits had clogged the holes. The bottom of the teapot turned white with deposits. The humidifiers were growing rocks to the point of needing cleaned every couple of weeks. After almost a year of this, I have learned two things. First, I learned how to clean hard water deposits naturally from just about every surface in my home. Second, I learned that we are going to be investing in a water softener as soon as possible.

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What are Hard Water Deposits?

Hard water happens when large amounts of calcium and magnesium are dissolved in the water. This is particularly common when getting water from the ground, such as a well. When the water goes through the earth it dissolves some minerals as it goes. These minerals, such as calcium then travel with the water out of your faucet. These minerals build up and leave what we see as hard water deposits and soap scum.

Hard water deposits can affect anything you do with water. It causes clothing not to last as long. After doing the dishes, they may seem cloudy. When the calcium from the hard water mixes with soap, it forms soap scum. In order to wash things, you will need more soap. This means more shampoo, laundry detergent, and dish soap. The good news is that it is not harmful to humans, just their water pipes.

How to Clean Hard Water Deposits Naturally

The best way to clean hard water deposits naturally is with vinegar. Some good old white vinegar does the trick 99% of the time. But it will take some time. Allow things with hard water deposits to soak in vinegar. How long it takes to remove them, will depend on how bad the deposits have become. Vinegar is acidic and reacts with the calcium in the hard water deposits.

Faucets and Shower Heads

These are tricky to clean because you can’t toss them in a bowl of vinegar. This means you have to bring the vinegar to the faucet. I’ve found that a plastic bag and rubber band do the trick. Put some vinegar in the bag and use rubber bands to secure it to the faucet or shower head. I prefer to do this at night so it can soak for as long as possible. When the soak is finished or you need to use the faucet, remove the bag of vinegar and give it a little scrub with a cleaning toothbrush. Then rinse with hot water and your faucet is as good as new! This can be repeated as often as it is necessary.

Sinks, Tubs, and Showers

Hard water deposits and soap scum tend to build up much faster on these surfaces because they hold water. The tub is especially bad because it holds standing water. Start by spraying the surface down with vinegar. Allow it to sit for a few minutes. Then sprinkle some baking soda over the surface. Using a stiff bristled brush, scrub the sucker clean. Lastly, rinse with hot water and spray another round of vinegar. I let the vinegar stay until I use the tub, sink, or shower again.

Dishes

There is nothing worse than a cloudy glass or mason jar. It is frustrating because you just worked to clean it and it still doesn’t look clean. You guessed it! A bit of white vinegar will do the trick. If you are using a dishwasher, simply fill the rinse agent spot with some vinegar. This will help both your dishes and the machine. If you’re hand washing everything. Fill a dish pan with vinegar and give them a dip after washing. With a second rinse you’ll be good to go.

Laundry

Adding some baking soda or washing soda to a load of laundry will help to soften the water. This will in turn help to lengthen the life of your clothes and machine. Plus your detergent will work better.

Is There a Cure for Hard Water?

There is hope for all of you hard water sufferers. You can soften hard water. A water softener will soften water for the entire house. This will extend the life of your appliances such as the dishwasher, washing machine, and hot water tank.

Smaller water softeners are available. A shower head filter is a great example. This filters out the minerals and saves your shower head. And you will find yourself needing a lot less shampoo and soap to get clean.