Limescale

[flibbertigibbert]

I live in a VERY hard water area and it's driving me mad. It's not worth us spending hundreds on water softeners as we only plan on staying in the flat for a couple more years.

At the moment, I'm having to de-scale the kettle every few days. Would a Brita filter help at all? Are there any cheap ways of dealing with the effects of hard water?

white vinegar

cost 36p in asda

put it on and wait... do not boil kettle with white vinegar in... trust me on that, i did (to make the reaction quicker!) and the smell is unbeliavably horrid!!!!

I use vinegar at the moment, but 2 days later and my tea is full of bits of scum .

I wondered if there's a more long term solution.

Brita filter helps (and the tea tastes much better as well)

Brita filters are very good, and wilkinsons etc often sell the refill filters cheaply.

I use citric acid as an all purpose descaler for everything from the bathroom taps to the kettle.

You buy it in crystalline form in a big bag (very concentrated) and mix it up with water as needed.

Vinegar is also helpful, but I like the smell of citric acid better.

Thanks for the tips. I will look into a Brita filter. How long do the filters usually last before they need changing?

on the pack it says 4 weeks but I change mine every 3, as we drink a lot of tea and water.

we have this one which holds a huge amount of water and has a tab.

Yes, use a brita filter and then every so often when limescale builds up squeeze half a lemon into the kettle and boils. Rinse and reboil. Worked for me, and smelt nice too.