How does dirt residue impacts my washing machine and laundry?

In hard water regions, the soap content in your laundry detergent causes it to become less effective, preventing it from foaming and forming a lather. Therefore, more detergent must be used in order to effectively clean your clothes.

However, when detergents fail to create a lather, they can leave a residue or ‘soap scum’ behind instead. You may recognise this as a grey slime in your washing machine that congeals in the drum, the door and the rubber seal in between them. The more detergent you use, the more residue is left behind, especially when using liquid detergents.

In every household, small amounts of dirt such as mud or food are bound to enter the washing machine on your clothes, especially in a family environment with children. This dirt can cling to the layer of soap scum inside your washing machine, provoking the spread of bacteria. Other blockages in your washing machine, such as limescale build-up, also make it easier for residues and dirt to accumulate.

The damp environment of your washing machine is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria, mould and mildew which means that the ‘clean’ clothes you take out of your washing machine may have been bathing in bacteria. This might present a mildew smell in your laundry, and a smelly washing machine.

Traditionally, the development of bacteria has been fought by washing on high temperatures, but this is bad for the environment as you can use more energy, and can have a damaging impact on your laundry as well. The recent focus on being eco-friendly means we are washing with lower temperatures which fail to eradicate bacteria. Therefore we recommend using Calgon Anti-Bacterial Gel, a hard water softener that also kills 99.9% of bacteria for your washing machine.

Using Calgon when you live in a hard water region means only having to use the amount of laundry detergent needed in a soft water region. Calgon prevents the build-up of limescale, detergent residues, and soap scum, avoiding the growth of bacteria, resulting in a clean washing machine and clean laundry.