Used one of those Affresh pods today. It’s the second one I’ve used. Not entirely convinced it’s achieving much but it was a nice day to have several gallons of hot water sloshing around in the house.
Last month I noticed just how crud filled the softener dispenser was, and there’s no way to take it apart so I just had to sort of reach into the holes and do what I could, fill it with water and such and just shake it around trying to dislodge everything. Figured I should probably start cleaning the tub as well.
Citric acid can be a more useful alternative: easier to increase strength as it is a powder and doesn’t have much of a smell. It also a useful ingredient for making cheese sauces, ice cream and desserts.