Hard Water Spots and Fixtures – How To Fix Them
Fixtures are often the hardest places to deal with hard water spots, because often you can’t see the heart of the problem. An easy way to deal with this, however, is to remove the fixtures (if you can) and soak them in a solution of vinegar or lemon juice. Even if it’s only a few hours, soaking fixtures helps dissolve hard water build up throughout the fixture and can access hard-to-reach places where build up can be causing the most issues.
If you can’t remove the fixtures, try filling a water-tight plastic bag with your vinegar or lemon solution and tying it to the fixture (rubber bands can be a great way to get this to hold.) Leave it on as long as you can, and you should find your fixtures running clearer than before.
Cleaning Hard Water Stains on Appliances
Your dishwasher, coffee pot, and other water-using appliances require a specialized cleaning touch, since again, hard water may affect areas you won’t be able to see. One quick cleaning rule of thumb is to run a solution of either vinegar and water or lemon juice and water through the appliance. With a coffee pot in particular, you will want to run a half cycle if you can, and let the solution sit for as long as an hour before rinsing.
Fixing Hard Water Problems at The Source — Whole Home Water Softeners
If you’ve been dealing with hard water problems, you’ve probably noticed that it impacts a lot of your life — from the kitchen to the bathroom, to the laundry room, even outside to your sprinklers. You might also be sinking time and money on addressing the issues regularly, especially if your water is particularly hard, or requires a chemical-based cleaner to effectively treat it. One additional hard water treatment method you might consider to save yourself some time and effort is a water softener .
Water softeners come in a variety of styles and configurations, and can be used to prevent hard water problems from ever entering your home. A whole-home, or Point-of-Entry (POE) water softener is installed at your home’s water source, so that everywhere your home uses water, that water is already stripped of the minerals responsible for hard water stains and build up. Once installation is complete, hard-to-clean hard water stains will be a thing of the past for your home.
So if you’re among the majority of American homes dealing with the hassles of hard water, or if you’re unsure what’s causing staining and build up around your home, it’s worth a free water test from your local Culligan. Culligan will also be able talk through the best hard water treatments for you, as well what kinds of water softening solutions would work best for your home.