You see it everywhere. Spots on your water glasses and splotches on the tub. You can smell it in the laundry and even feel it in the cracking of your dry hands after washing dishes. Hard water is in over 90% of US home tap water and its collection of negative side effects will make you wonder why cities leave these minerals in there while filtering out other things.

Scale is one of the most common side effects of hard water. Scale is the mineral deposit left behind on everything hard water touches. While hard water is relatively harmless and is safe to drink, it can wreak havoc on the quality and experience of your home.

What is Scale in Your Home and Plumbing?

Hard water is hard mineral content in your water. It is made of calcium, magnesium, and iron molecules suspended in your water.  The presence of it is what makes water hard vs soft. This may not sound too bad, at first. Those harmless minerals pack a big punch when it comes to quality of life. When you can see it, hard water is an off-white chalky deposit called scale that appears in rings and spots where water has been. But it’s where you can’t see it that it does the most damage.

The Damage Hard Water Can Do

Clog Pipes and Stop Drains

Hard water builds up on everything, including the insides of your drains and pipes. It can reduce your water pressure for inlet pipes and clog your drains in outflowing pipes. It slowly narrows the inner size of the pipe so that less and less water can get through.

Water Spots and Scale Deposits

Scale is a chalky white residue left behind on everything that hard water touches. It is residue from molecules of calcium and magnesium which can build up on anything, from fabric, appliances, to the inside of pipes. Scale is the biggest from around heated water or appliances that heat water during use.

Scale is most easily seen on the sides of drinking glasses and bathtubs. Anywhere water has dried, you will see white, chalky deposits. These take an acidic solvent and serious scrubbing to remove from everywhere it is visible.

Build Up On and Sour Clothes

Where you can’t see hard water is in your clothing. Mineral particles build up in the weave of the fabric. By nature, it reduces the sudsing of soap and in laundry, it prevents detergent from fully cleaning the fabric. Over time, clothes become stiff, then scratchy, then sour even fresh out of the laundry.

Clogged Pores and Dull Hair

Hard water does the same thing to your skin and hair that it does to pores. It can clog your pores, causing acne breakouts and minor infections. It also builds up a residue on your hair, leaving hair dull, brittle, and limp. You may also find that your hands are especially dry and cracked after washing many times with hard water.

How to Get Rid of Scale

Scale is a tough substance to deal with. It’s not easily washed away with water and it keeps coming back. There are only a few accepted ways to fight back against it and keep your household safe.

Vinegar Wash

White vinegar is the single most effective cleaning product to get rid of the scale. A little cup of vinegar in the dishwasher or a light vinegar soak can help remove it from all sorts of surfaces.

Scrub with Vinegar

What a vinegar wash doesn’t remove, try scrubbing with vinegar. Combine vinegar and borax, or the fixing action of vinegar and baking soda. Scrubbing with vinegar mixed 50/50 with hot water is also a good move. The vinegar breaks down the scale and the water washes it away.

Apply CLR

CLR stands for Calcium, Lime, Rust. Scale makes up one category of what CLR is designed to clean. If you have a lot of it on a bathtub, a splash of CLR can give you a head start on chalky buildup and corrosion.

Water Softener Says Goodbye to Hard Water at Home

Of course, if you want to never see and scrub scale again, there’s another option. Instead of getting rid of scale that’s already there, get rid of it before it deposits. A home water softener can remove the minerals that cause scale from your water before the water hits the taps. No more water spots on glasses, chalky buildup by faucets, or dull clothing in the wash. 

To explore water softener models for your home to say goodbye to hard water once and for all, contact us today.