Thanks to Bob Heygood's Del Dios Bulletin, Lake Hodges residents can glean some hot tips from some resident-volunteered answers to 'hose corrosion' questions, a dilemma that all of us deal with.
Regarding hard water on hoses and metal connections:
"What I found works is to put plumbers tape (the thin white stuff) around each threaded end of a hose, then screw them onto a sprayer of hose bib. Every month, loosen them up and then re-tighten them. This at least keeps them from binding up. As far as corrosion of moving parts on the sprayers, the least amount of metal the better, or good quality (high price) stainless steel." A big thanks to Chris on Elm!
Regarding hard-water on fixtures:
"The deposits are alkaline in nature, with a pH above 7.
A light dousing in a weak acid (the chemical opposite) should do the trick.
Apple cider vinegar (pH about 3.5) will dissolve hard-water deposits over time.
Distilled white vinegar (pH 2.5) is a stronger acid and will work faster.
Anything stronger (lower pH) will etch/pit metal and be counter-productive."
Once again, a big thank you to Chris on Elm for sharing his gardening equipment wisdom!
Here are some other handy solutions to the same problem:
https://gardenaxis.com/how-do-i-remove-calcium-from-my-garden-hose/