Moving to hard water area.

We got a water softener when we moved here eight years ago. It is wonderful. We did a lot of research and DH felt able to install it himself after viewing a lot of You Tube videos. We got the softener from Amazon at quite a reasonable price, we just need to buy salt tablets every few months and it has saved a lot of time on cleaning and money on cleaning products. We have a separate tap for drinking water and it has a filter cartridge attached which lasts around six months. If we move again, hopefully not, it will be the first thing we purchase.

The good news is, hard water protects your heart.

You will also need to descale your washing and washing machine regularly.

Check with a hardware store what to use. I believe what I buy is a natrium carbonate derivative. Probably your local supermarket sells something that claims to do the job, but not all of them work well on the actual clothes washed with the additive.

The small wire things that people mention. I was able to buy them in Wilko, as I used to send them to a relative in London. I think it's just a kettle descaler. They were not expensive to buy.

You can use a water softener but most use salt. I am on a low salt diet so no good to us.
I use bottled still water for cups of tea, you can't get a decent cup of tea with tap water.
You need to add salt to the dishwater periodically and the washer will need protection with tablets.
The end of your tap spout with need to be sprayed but don't leave it on more than 5 minutes it will bring the shine off.
The water is definitely not like we had in Derbyshire, that was nectar.

I got a little bag thing from Lakeland which fits over tap heads to fill with Viakal or similar which takes the scale off the tap outlets.

Or if you're a cheapskate like me use a freezer bag filled with vinegar and a rubber band to tie it on ?. Some freezer heads come off. We take one off every couple of months and soak it in a jug of vinegar/water.

Viakal spray is good on things like shower cubicles and I got a little bag thing from Lakeland which fits over tap heads to fill with Viakal or similar which takes the scale off the tap outlets.

The good thing is that hard water is good for your heart - and I think tastes good.

We are in Suffolk with very hard water which not only ruins the kettle but all other appliances and pipes where the damage is unseen until a problem occurs. My shower head exploded at the side because of scale and that was only after a year of use. Have now had a water softener fitted which has made a vast difference, it was expensive but well worth it especially with the large salt blocks which are so easy to fit.

Like this.

They're a thing, made out of wire.
You know the scouring pads made out of wire?
They're a smaller, more tightly compressed version of those.

The scale builds up amongst the wires, rather than in the kettle.

Sorry, what do you mean by "wire things"? Sound as if they could be useful, please explain what they are!

I agree using the wire things helps a lot. I use white vinegar too and always buy a kettle with a wide top which I can get my hand inside to give a regular scrub around. Can't do much about those nice little guides on the outside of some kettles which tell you how full it is. They fur up first use!

When I moved from Scotland to London I found the water undrinkable. Keeping the kettle fur free was certainly difficult - we used one of those wire things which helped. Likewise with limescale issues with taps, shower screens etc. I’ve since moved back to the borders and never need to de scale the kettle.

(and it's important to empty the kettle after use too. Leaving hot water in it allows more deposits to form.) I really don't like the taste of tea in soft water areas.

I find citric acid works better than vinegar, here in London. I have to boil the kettle several times to dissolve the scale.

Citric acid is another safe option.

Put a small cup of vinegar (white or malt but white is not quite so smelly and cheaper I think)) in the kettle, fill with water and boil it. Leave for an hour or so. Empty and rinse with clean water. I usually boil it again with clean water afterwards and rinse it again. Don't want tea tasting of vinegar ?

I also keep one of those little wire things in the kettle. Rinse it off every now and again and leave in with vinegar to clean it.

I agree Peasblossom, hard water is better for you.

Having grown up in a hard water area I really disliked the taste of the water when I moved to Devon.

You could buy a filter jug, dahlia and use the filtered water in your kettle if a filter system is too expensive. I use one because our water is over-chlorinated sometimes.
Or use white vinegar as CountessFosco suggests.

You can get a little wire gadget that sits in the kettle and collects some of the limescale but really it’s just one f the things you have to accept. It was rare for a kettle to last more than a few months where I lived before.

Built in water softeners are good for preserving washing machines etc but you can’t use them for drinking water. Too much salt.

On the plus side hard water is much better for your health, ?

My neighbour has a water softener installed and says it’s wonderful. I’d like to get one but they are quite expensive.

We filter water for kettle, iron and coffee filter machine. We have a Brita filter jug but thinking of getting one like my DDs which doesn’t use cartridges. We use “balls” in dishwasher and washing machine- they last a long time but I don’t know how effective they are. Use vinegar for removing scale round taps etc.

Here in the south east water is very hard too, we sometimes use vinegar to clear it and when we are away the difference is noticeable.

We have to put 1/2 liter of white vinegar into our kettle periodically - it does the trick. Then filter the remainder through a sieve and it can be reused.
Lived all over the world = this is the hardest water we have ever encountered [south Hertfordshire]

I had to get a filter kettle, fed up with descaling every few weeks.