We have hard water in our neighborhood, so my parents got a water softener. I have been washing my car with the one hose that doesn't go through the softener. Would it be better to use the soft water to wash the car? I know that the soft water will have salt in it, but won't it also make it harder to rinse the soap off? Thanks for the help.
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Water from water softener to wash car?
- Thread starter blk96gt
- Start date
imported_Mobile detail
New member
From my understanding, it's better to use the soft water cause it doesn't have all the minerals and other junk in it that will cause water spots to be as bad/noticeable. But since I'd like to see this clarified, can anyone truely answer this one?
Accumulator
Well-known member
blk96gt-There was ANOTHER thread too, maybe in the GARAGE section, where we kicked this around. Short version: I use a softener for my garage water but use potassium chloride in it instead of "softener salt". No problems, less spotting, great washing. If the softener's rinse cycle is long enough, there shouldn't be a problem from the salt anyway. BUT often the cycle IS NOT long enough and yes, salty water is, of course, a problem. Set up the softener for a LOOOONG rinse and you should be OK. Talk to your plumbing contractor.
imported_Smoker
New member
**Used To Work In Power Plant That Use De-Min Water In The Boilers**
Softened water just means theyve reduced the lime content in the water.
Limestone is what makes water 'hard' or 'soft'.
The stuff you put in your car battery is a whole different kettle of potatoes.
Thats usually De-Mineralised water.
You can 'De-Alkalise' water (first stage) and 'De-Mineralise' water.
This effectively gives you pure water (which doesnt actually conduct electricity lol).
In theory this would be awesome to wash yer car with because theres nothing to deposit when the water itself has evaporated.
In practice unless you live next door to a De-Min plant and they left a pipe within drilling distance, I would stick with soft water, my bro in law has it piped to a hose and it seems to leave alot less water spots than our hard water.
Softened water just means theyve reduced the lime content in the water.
Limestone is what makes water 'hard' or 'soft'.
The stuff you put in your car battery is a whole different kettle of potatoes.
Thats usually De-Mineralised water.
You can 'De-Alkalise' water (first stage) and 'De-Mineralise' water.
This effectively gives you pure water (which doesnt actually conduct electricity lol).
In theory this would be awesome to wash yer car with because theres nothing to deposit when the water itself has evaporated.
In practice unless you live next door to a De-Min plant and they left a pipe within drilling distance, I would stick with soft water, my bro in law has it piped to a hose and it seems to leave alot less water spots than our hard water.
Accumulator said:blk96gt-There was ANOTHER thread too, maybe in the GARAGE section, where we kicked this around. Short version: I use a softener for my garage water but use potassium chloride in it instead of "softener salt". No problems, less spotting, great washing. If the softener's rinse cycle is long enough, there shouldn't be a problem from the salt anyway. BUT often the cycle IS NOT long enough and yes, salty water is, of course, a problem. Set up the softener for a LOOOONG rinse and you should be OK. Talk to your plumbing contractor.
Well I asked my dad earlier what he thought about the salt and he said we use the potassium chloride, so it looks like I'm going to start using the soft water spout instead of the hard water one. Thanks for the responses.