Hard water and limescale

I am currently at my mum's in a hard water area (Where I grew up). I much prefer the drinking water here I have to say! Mum has a separate small tap on the sink that runs soft water & she uses that for cooking but it doesn't treat the bathroom plumbing unfortunately. I too have to wipe down the walls and shower screen BEFORE I get out of the shower which can be a chilly job!!
Sounds like you should take professional advice about your tiles and how to treat them safely OP and maybe invest in a softener if you can afford to ?

I grew up in a hard water area, so knew no different, but then I went to live in a soft water area. It`s much better for washing, but horrible to drink, it has a limey taste. Now we`re happily back with hard water.

You can leave a hard water tap in the kitchen if you don’t want to drink the softened water. You can also get a sort of water softener that doesn’t use salt but uses a small amount of electricity I believe, which separate the scale so it doesn’t stick to surfaces. I’m not too sure how it work to be honest but it might be worth investigating.

We have hard water in our area and the softeners we looked at you had to add salt.
I have high blood pressure so we were told to avoid this type.
When we first moved into our home 11 yrs ago I made a drink for all of us, not realising the water was hard. There was a film floating on the top of the cup of tea the taste was was terrible. I have never had a decent cup of tea in this house without using bottled water.
A local lady said if you are born here you get used to it.
We previously lived in Derbyshire and the water out of the tap was fabulous. We didn't appreciate the problems people had in hard water areas.

But looking on the bright side, hard water is lovely to drink!

We have Kinetico H2Options from Waterways water softener, it sits under the sink and doesn’t use electricity. Just need to top it up with salt every few weeks.It has made so much difference to our bathroom and shower screen not to mention hair and washing . I think it cost about £1k to install a few years ago which is a big outlay, but you do save on cleaning products as you need about half the washing powder etc and prolongs the life of your appliances as they don’t get scaled up. I would definitely recommend.

Mine is a Kinetico and uses no electricity. I’ve had no problems with it.

Oh please don't use Cillit Bang! God only knows what is in it - I tried it for the first time on the filthy bath when we moved in and thought I was going to have an asthma attack - and I don't suffer with asthma.

NonnaW we got our softener from Patmore - it's non electric and works very well, six years now and still running as well as when installed.

Definitely

Why use Cillit Bang when you can use very effective Shower screen cleaner at £1 a bottle.

It's probably already been said but water softeners, the type that treat the water as it comes into the house, do work! Ours was out of action recently (leak elsewhere in the system!) and I could quickly see the effect on the chrome of bathroom fittings.

Lakeland sell very good shower cleaning and maintaining products - I use Clean Shower on our shower screens and it stops the dreaded water marks

I’m interested in your water softeners too. It seems the best option long term. I’ve noticed the effects on my skin and the laundry but the wetroom is now an eyesore. We moved in 18months ago and it was all brand new. It looked smart but now the effect of the limescale and my lack of care means it’s shabby now. The only concern is that we don’t have a water tank, all water comes directly from the mains. Would that make a difference?

hi went to currys store few months ago funny long thing on sale about £20 mark couple of end brushes that fit on long bit , our wet room was terrible dull grimmy now before i have a shower every few weeks i charge it up undress as if im about to have a shower and get to work for 10 minutes max it works with a bit of cleaner for bathrooms and the little brushes spin and remove muck its amazing,off amazon also ,no effort needed then rinse it away with shower head i then have my shower saves getting wet doing it , highly recommended you should find it on currys web site cant think of its name ,

Can I ask what type of water softener people have? It would be great if we could fit something as the limescalre here is terrible.

mollie
Were the grey tiles already down when you moved.?To save yourself more work any chance of going for a cream or beige, less noticeable where limescale is concerned unless it would mean retiling the walls Or have a shower unit installed that includes a tray.?
Much easier to keep clean.

I have a water softener in a very hard water area and wouldn’t be without it. While I always use a quick squeegee on the shower door, everything remains limescale free, except for my leaking kitchen tap which I should replace. The softened water is good for watering the houseplants too! Also, no need to add salt to the dishwasher.

We had a water softener installed when we moved into this house as we needed a new boiler and shower, and the water in this area is SO hard it's unbelievable!
I could not be more pleased that we did this; it must save a fortune over the years on pipes clogged with limescale not to mention the appliances . The shower and bath just need a very quick wipe and no chemicals to keep them sparkling, and if you don't water droplets dry without a mark. (I wipe round quickly to avoid mould on the sealant). We top up with salt blocks whenever they run low, and would recommend a softener for anyone living in a hard water area. Having soft water is supposed to help a lot with eczema too.

I’ve moved from a soft water area to hard water and it was a surprise to see the limescale. I’ve used vinegar with some success. Just pour it on, leave overnight and with minimal scrubbing it shifts most of the wretched stuff.

Water softeners are the best idea. Only have limescale in the kitchen where there is a bypass from the water softener. Then I use white vinegar ( in the kettle too).
We had slate put down in a previous house and were told to get a specific product recommended by the supplier of the slate.... can’t remember it’s name though. Sorry!
Water softener is Great for your washing too as everything stays whiter for longer.

Some water softeners work, some don't if we are talking the kind that you buy as cleaning agents.

However, the fixtures that soften water before it gets into your taps are I believe quite efficient, but as we have just moved to an area with soft water, we have not tried one.

Please, do not use vinegar on real slate, the results will be damage to it, as Eglantine says. Try asking your builder what he recommends for removing limestone deposit.

Careful with the cleaning materials if it's real slate. Anything acidic will dissolve it!

Does a water softener really really work? A question for those who have one! I so hate drying the glass on the massive shower enclosure to avoid the rain drop pattern. Shivering in a towel, rubber spatula thing first, brisk rub with special cloth afterwards ...... Ok it only takes a few minutes but it drives me crazy.
However, not as crazy as having spotted glass. Sooooo DO WATER SOFTENERS TOTALLY AVOID THIS????

Try some cillit bang lime scale on floor first ?

Use some white vinegar in the water to dissolve the limescale. There are bathroom sprays (Mr Muscle is good) for shower screens, and so on, that work on the chronic London limescale. Good luck!

I use white vinegar, neat, and a small scrubbing brush. Does the job perfectly!