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Water softener for laundry only
I live in an area that gets Lake Michigan water and conventional
wisdom typically says the water's pretty 'good' and a softener is unnecessary. When I visit my suburban mom and drink her softened water, or take a shower, I cannot stand it. It tastes funny, I feel slimy and my hair doesn't seem clean. That said, I'm becoming a bit of a laundry fanatic and wonder if I'm crazy to start looking for a small softener that would sit directly in front of my washer and laundry tub and handle that water only? ~Hera |
#2
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wrote in message ... I live in an area that gets Lake Michigan water and conventional wisdom typically says the water's pretty 'good' and a softener is unnecessary. When I visit my suburban mom and drink her softened water, or take a shower, I cannot stand it. It tastes funny, I feel slimy and my hair doesn't seem clean. That said, I'm becoming a bit of a laundry fanatic and wonder if I'm crazy to start looking for a small softener that would sit directly in front of my washer and laundry tub and handle that water only? ~Hera It can be done. You need a small capacity softener plumbed into the line that feeds the washer. Not seeing your plumbing, I can't say how difficult or simple it is. The softener must have access to a drain. While it can do the laundry only, splitting the plumbing behind walls (if it is) can be difficult. As for the slimy feeling and hair, they are cleaner than ever; honest. You feel slippery because you don't have the mineral residue on your body. |
#3
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#4
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"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in
news:2Gv9d.1636$tc.187@trndny02: wrote in message ... I live in an area that gets Lake Michigan water and conventional wisdom typically says the water's pretty 'good' and a softener is unnecessary. When I visit my suburban mom and drink her softened water, or take a shower, I cannot stand it. It tastes funny, I feel slimy and my hair doesn't seem clean. That said, I'm becoming a bit of a laundry fanatic and wonder if I'm crazy to start looking for a small softener that would sit directly in front of my washer and laundry tub and handle that water only? ~Hera It can be done. You need a small capacity softener plumbed into the line that feeds the washer. Not seeing your plumbing, I can't say how difficult or simple it is. The softener must have access to a drain. While it can do the laundry only, splitting the plumbing behind walls (if it is) can be difficult. As for the slimy feeling and hair, they are cleaner than ever; honest. You feel slippery because you don't have the mineral residue on your body. That may be so, but I had a whole house softener for over five years and was really glad when we moved. I never got used to the feeling. It would be great having it for the washing machine and dishwasher, however. -- It's me, Baker! When the Chips are Down, the Buffalo is Empty. |
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#8
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baker wrote:
"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in news:2Gv9d.1636$tc.187@trndny02: wrote in message . .. I live in an area that gets Lake Michigan water and conventional wisdom typically says the water's pretty 'good' and a softener is unnecessary. When I visit my suburban mom and drink her softened water, or take a shower, I cannot stand it. It tastes funny, I feel slimy and my hair doesn't seem clean. That said, I'm becoming a bit of a laundry fanatic and wonder if I'm crazy to start looking for a small softener that would sit directly in front of my washer and laundry tub and handle that water only? ~Hera It can be done. You need a small capacity softener plumbed into the line that feeds the washer. Not seeing your plumbing, I can't say how difficult or simple it is. The softener must have access to a drain. While it can do the laundry only, splitting the plumbing behind walls (if it is) can be difficult. As for the slimy feeling and hair, they are cleaner than ever; honest. You feel slippery because you don't have the mineral residue on your body. That may be so, but I had a whole house softener for over five years and was really glad when we moved. I never got used to the feeling. It would be great having it for the washing machine and dishwasher, however. Agreed. It wasn't my idea to have it installed. I am on well water and when I had the house built 20 years ago, the well water from over 300' down was odorless, colorless and tasteless (no sulphur smell like others who live a few blocks from me). Everyone who drank water from our well commented on how great it was. My visiting relatives used to bring empty gallon water bottles to take it home. After about 5 years in the house, my wife decided to have a softener installed for washing, and after hearing (from the Culligan salesman) how pipes can become clogged with mineral deposits, she ordered one. When the installer came , I watched while he installed it. Before he cut the copper pipe for installation, he said he would show me the mineral deposits in the copper pipe. Well, he showed me, and the inside of the pipe was clean as a whistle, which even surprised him. I jokingly told him to forget the installation cause it looked like we didn't need it. The feed line from the well pump, and now the softener, joined up with the pipes that fed the rest of the house. The first line it connected to was a pipe that ran from the front of the house to the rear, it was the supply for the front and rear outside sill cocks. From another T in that sill cock line, the rest of the house was connected. This means that the sill cocks always get softened water. Because my wife says that softened water is not good for the plants (but OK for us??), we had to bypass the softener whenever we wanted water for the grass or plants. My wife still missed the pure well water, so at the same time, she would fill gallon water bottles with the unsoftened water for drinking purposes, and I would have 20 or so water bottles stored in the garage. Finally, about 2 years ago, I ran a 3/8" non-rigid plastic tube directly from the well pipe before the softener to a small drinking faucet that I installed on the back of the kitchen sink, so now she has pure well water for drinking, and I have more room for other junk in the garage. I am still contemplating doing something about those sill cock pipes that still get softened water. The only good thing about the slimy feel after taking a shower, is that if you don't feel slimy, you know the softener needs salt. :-) |
#9
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Art Todesco wrote:
In addition, there is the hot water problem. Most softeners are not designed to run on hot water. So, one could put a softener on the cold water line to a washing machine and wash with cold water. If you want hot softened water, you probably need a separate water heater for the washing machine. BTW, we had well water and a softener for 25+ years. A few years ago, they piped in Lake Michigan water. There's really no need for a softener any more. Mine is by-passed. I will be removing the softener .... someday. Good point. I did not think of it, A second heater for just the washer would seem like a bit of overkill. However with just the cold and using a cold rinse, that should help. It will also help the wash cycle some when using warm water. Still I doubt it it will be worth the effort. -- Joseph E. Meehan 26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math |
#10
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We used to live in the country, we collected rain water in the
cistern, and my wife hated to wash her hair in it. We started showering at a friend's house that had that 'awful' city water. Recently, when we got a visit from the RainSoft rep, I declined for several reasons. http://www.bobvila.com/wwwboard/messages/11360.html I suggest you look at this site before you take the step. wrote in message ... I live in an area that gets Lake Michigan water and conventional wisdom typically says the water's pretty 'good' and a softener is unnecessary. When I visit my suburban mom and drink her softened water, or take a shower, I cannot stand it. It tastes funny, I feel slimy and my hair doesn't seem clean. That said, I'm becoming a bit of a laundry fanatic and wonder if I'm crazy to start looking for a small softener that would sit directly in front of my washer and laundry tub and handle that water only? ~Hera |
#11
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#12
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Thanks to everyone for their comments. Nice to know I'm not alone in
disliking the feel and taste of soft water. I think I'm going to forget about it forever and just be properly appreciative of Lake Michigan. About a year ago we invested in a high-efficiency front-loading washer and I just love it. It motivated me to take a much closer look at how I'm handling water temps, soaking, detergents, additives, etc., hence the interest in softened water. However, since I'm washing in primarily warm/hot water, albeit profile-washing, the softener would indeed be a waste as there's no way I'd invest in a second hot water heater. Truthfully, it's taken me a while, but I'm pretty happy with my laundry right now and think I need to stay away from the laundry boards! Hera |
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