Many times when working with brands and PR, we stumble upon my choice of “Frugal” as an identifying word for myself and my website. After all, how can I review an amazing Disney Cruise when it isn’t on a budget list of destinations like a camping trip? My answer has been and always is that being frugal is not about being cheap. It’s about finding the best value for your dollar spent. So, saving money with coupons and price-matching one week enables me to save to spend the money on a top-brand vacuum the next. It can be a delicate balance to start, but once you have a focus and budget, being frugal is pretty…well…fabulous.
We’ve moved three times in ten years, and each time we discover things. Our first move found us in a house that had a ridiculously old furnace that needed to be replaced. Our second move put us in a house that had no water softener! I couldn’t understand how the person before us lived without one, and promptly headed out to get one within days of moving in. Did you know – you can either rent or purchase your water softener? If the purchase price isn’t within your budget, consider renting for awhile if you’ve never had one, to see all the benefits of soft water.
Still using hard water in your home? Here are some benefits of soft water use in your household:
- Laundry detergents, shampoo and soap all lather better with soft water. If you’ve ever used hard water and had detergent left on your clothing, you know the frustration that brings. Better cleaning is the result when you use soft water on your clothes and your body! Better lather means you use less product. See? Frugal!
- Your sinks and tubs will be cleaner, without those yucky rings left from water scaling and soap scum.
- Hard water is also tough on washing machines, making them wear out up to 30% faster! Replacing a machine well before you need to is definitely not frugal. Take care of your appliances and they will take care of you!
If you have a water softener, you may know it’s time to add softener only when you’re in the shower and realize the water feels yucky and your soap isn’t lathering as it should. This actually isn’t a good way to judge because when the resin beads in your softener become saturated with calcium and magnesium ions, they need to be recharged. Sodium ions from the water softening salt reactivate the resin beads so they can continue to do their job. Without sufficient softening salt, your water softener is less efficient. As a rule, you should check your water softener once a week to be sure the salt level is always at least one quarter full. I didn’t realize we should be checking weekly, whoops!
Who knew that the water softening salt you used matters too? It’s true. Hard water contains traces of dirt, iron and other minerals that can build up in the resin and valves of your water softener. That can lead to expensive repairs. But Windsor® System Saver II Pellets are specially formulated to clean out those traces of dirt and minerals and to help keep your softener clean longer than all other salt pellets. System Saver II Pellets are formulated with salt that is guaranteed 99.7% pure and contains virtually no insolubles that need to be cleaned from your brine tank.
We recently switched to Windsor® System Saver II Pellets and we’re going to be checking the water softener weekly as directed to ensure we are as soft and lathered as can be! I’ll be reporting back sharing our experience being on the ball with our water softening soon!
I have to have a softener my hard is very hard and high in iron, and boy can you tell when the salt runs low!