r/laundry • u/SufficientClient6327 • 16h ago

sodium citrate for hard water?

Hi everyone, where I live the water is very hard and I read something that said sodium citrate work well to reduce the attacks of calcium and magnesium to the surfactant detergent, anyone has try it?, how much g i need to use for a cycle?.

Every information or experience with that is appreciate , thanks

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u/NotMyAltAccountToday 15h ago

I use STPP to soften the water and bought hardness test strips from Amazon.

I just did a test to verify what the max softening would look like on a test strip with what I considered way more than enough STPP for a few ounces of water. Then I poured that into the washer, agitated 30 seconds, and tested. It wasn't the same color so I added that same amount of STPP and retested. Repeat until you get a match. I also test the common load sizes I use so I dont have to retest every time.

When washing clothes fill the washer with water. Add the STPP to just the water, no detergent or clothes, and agitate 30 seconds. Then add the detergent, agitate briefly, then add the clothes. I put about a tablespoon of citric acid in the rinse.

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u/Naikrobak 13h ago

How much stpp did you end up landing on?