Do you live in an area of exceptionally soft water?

[Tokenorange]

I want to know if your whites stay white wash after wash? I live in a very hard water area & it never takes long for white things to acquire that greyish cast. I hate it. It'd just be nice to know that someone, somewhere has lovely fresh whites week after week..

When I win the lottery, I'm having a water softener fitted to my washing machine...

Water is fairly soft here in Scotland, it takes years for my whites to look grey. Not something I’ve ever though about before tbh lol

The only time my whites have gone grey is when I accidently put it in with the dark load. Whites are always white. Should bloody hope so with the cost of our water bill!

I live in a very hard water area, my sister lives in a water protection area with very soft water.
Her whites stay white, her shower tiles stay white, her toilet looks freshly bought without using "killer" cleaners. Her towels are soft without softeners and so on.
I, on the other hand, have to decide between chemicals and a bit (a lot) of limescale and decided against them. Anybody whose head comes that close to my toilet bowl has other problems.

Yes, Scotland! Always notice a difference in my hair when travelling!

Yes and yes they stay white. I've never thought about it before.

I hadn't realised how nice it is having soft water until spending a couple of weeks in a hard water area this year. My skin felt dry and tight and it seemed harder to rinse soap etc off. Hair was super shiny though.

Yes, and yes.

Scotland. All my whites remain white.

I'm always amazed at the amount of foam I get when washing my hair at friend's in a soft water area.

Yep. And my whites are beautiful. I know plenty of people whose clothes go grey though. They're the sort who never separate anything because 'it doesn't make a difference'!

Soft water and whites stay white until
I throw them away. I noticed in London how little foam I got from shampoo and soap which was strange. I also tried the tap water (filtered) and it was rank! The water up here tastes nice.

Anybody know what the Morpeth area is like?

Yes, we moved from London to an area where we have lovely soft Welsh water and whites definitely stay whiter. I brought a bottle of Viakal with us amongst our cleaning products and four years on the same bottle is unfinished. I still, out of habit, pour away any leftover water after boiling the kettle as our London water would start to scale it up after only half an hour or so.

However, if you have hard water you can console yourself that it may well be better for your heart.

Very jealous of people who live in soft water areas - makes your hair feel lovely and barely need a blow dry.

We have very soft water and my whites stay white for ages. In fact, we don't even bother separating colours and we still have white whites.

No limescale either, anywhere. When we visit my grandma her hard water always catches me out. It tastes gross and I have to descale everything before I use it, like the kettle or the shower, it annoys me greatly. I tend to drink fizzy pop when I visit her, so I don't have to deal with the hard water too much.

I used to get grey washing, had the maChine serviced...

Blue sock extracted from somewhere it shouldn't have been, white washing returned!!!

Soap nuts are great in hard water.

Disgrace Put the postcode into this www.nwl.co.uk/your-home/your-account/your-area.aspx?returnUrl=%2fyour-home%2fyour-account%2fin-your-area%2fwater-quality.aspx and it should come up with all the water details including how hard or soft it is.
Think that's the right provider. If not you can just google 'Morpeth (or wherever) water type'.

I didn't even realise hard water turned whites grey. Better stop blaming DH for not sorting the washing properly when it's his turn...

We definitely live in a hard water area. I've never really known any different though, as despite moving all around the country it's always been the same, so we just replace the kettle regularly and resign ourselves to drinking slightly gritty cups of tea in the interim period. Removing limescale from shower doors is now my least favourite thing to do, though.

The postcode checker says we have slightly hard water, but I'm not sure I believe that, as it seems very soft.

I've never had to descale anything, don't bother with salt in the dishwasher, even with ordinary detergent, and I really notice when using hard water in other areas.

Whites don't stay white because we don't separate washing, but we don't really have many anyway. I don't wear light colours because I don't like how they look and I CBA with the extra work and mental energy they demand.

For reference, my kettle needs descaling weekly that's how bad it is!

Thanks Enid. We'll be going from hard to slightly hard, but if it's on the same reservoir as DD it'll be pretty soft. That'll be nice, not having to replace taps every three years because limescale has split them.

I actually like hard water. I've always lived in hard water areas and when I lived in a soft water area for a couple of years I hated the taste!

Limescale is a pain though.

I have no idea if I live in a hard or soft water area

Just googled and it is moderately soft. Thank god because I have never descaled anything 😂

we are in a soft water area. for the first 18 years of my life I lived in an area with very hard water. whites do last better, but the main difference is tea - it tastes infinitely nicer here, and I never need to descale my kettle.

I've moved from the hardest water part of the country to a moderately soft area and the difference it incredible, not just the whites, but not descaling the kettle/shower/taps weekly. Not having to scrub the shower screen every two days and my loo is white!