Please stop buying big plastic bottles of laundry detergent

[ProfessorGAC]

135. I Would Generally Say Yes...

...to the softener. Some municipal water systems that draw from large bodies of water (lakes & rivers) are usually very low in hardness, so the softener is a waste of money.
We draw from a river here. When we first moved here, the water was from deep wells. Softeners were a must!
After the built the new water plant, our in-flowing water was literally less than 1 part per million higher in hardness compounds than it was AFTER the softener before.
I haven't priced it lately, but an alternative is to use a sodium EDTA additive lime Calgon. That sequesters hardness and prevents it from reacting with the soap anion.
Not sure if regular use is more or less expensive than a softener.
Might be cheaper to buy a moderately priced laundry brand like Xtra or Surf. Those have very good hard water tolerance. Essentially the same as premium brands.