Washing machines use detergents which provide cleaning power without the need for suds, even with hard water. If you ring up your water supplier they will give you the hardness factor for your water. If it is hard I would definitely recommend the use of a water softener. Having had both sorts I always recommend the dual-cylinder type as opposed to ones with clock-timers or computer controlled models. The dual-cylinder ones are more expensive but your water NEVER goes hard because a regeneration is needed (one cylinder is regenerated whilst the other is being used). All other type try to predict when a regeneration is required based on previous usage - fine until you come back from holiday with a lot of washing or do something else which uses a lot of water. Once you get hard water into the storage tank it takes days to get it fully soft again - once you get used to washing in soft water that can be very irritating.