Limescale tabs - do they reduce the amount of washing powder needed?

[TheBlonde]

I have bought some limescale prevention tabs for the washing machine

Do they reduce the amount of washing powder needed?
Or will they just protect the machine against limescale?

bump

I use them to protect the machine and still use the same amount of powder.

I would have thought they are doing 2 different things, therefore you'd still need the same amount of powder (never used them though so not sure)

but if they are softening the water surely I can use less powder?

According to the packet, you just need to use the amount you would need for a 'soft water area' - not much help when you use tablets like me, but I suppose it means I don't have to use 3 tablets when I have a particulary gross wash

Detergent foams up more in soft water, so that's why you need less.

Thanks, couldn't find any useful info on the tesco packet

Yes - unless things are particularly dirty, I generally cut the amount of detergent in half when using limescale prevention tabs. Works fine.

Washing machine engineer told me not to easte my money on limescale tablets etc. He said a tablespoon of household soda does exactly the same job of keeping the machine scale free, and you can use half the powder too .

Sorry......... 'waste' my money!