I live on a farm, which is on well water for washing. I find my clothes are not soft and are not comfortable to wear. Also I have an odd orange stain on my clothes. Is there anyone in Ontario, that is on a farm and experiencing this? Do you have a solution? Detergent or soaps that are better? Any help, would be appreciated.
By Sheila from Ontario, Canada
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
You must have a lot of iron in your water. How about using Iron Out? This is only for whites though.
We have well water. We do run a water softener. I wash everything in cold water to reduce the stain on the clothes. I never buy expensive clothes, because they never last or look new for long.
You definitely have a lot of iron in your water! If you use a cup of distilled vinegar in the final rinse cycle it will break down the iron (and other minerals at that) and soften your clothes too. :-)
My parents were on well water with the same problem. My mom found not using liquid bleach kept the whites whiter and there is a person in the Ottawa area that sells attachments to reduce iron in the water.
When employed at a laundromat one customer would come every few weeks to undo what her well water had done to her clothes. She'd dump in Liquid Plummer which got rid of the orange color. She'd apparently done this for years and swore by it.
Dear God Liquid Plummer????? Im scared.
Do you know how she did the liquid plumber dump? Like in what part of her system or just in her washer?
We have well water, with a higher than usual iron content. We have no water softener. My clothes are always soft and normal, but about once every 3 months, I run my whites with Iron-Out, be so careful if you do, as the fumes are toxic. Maybe you are using too much detergent, and do you use a dryer sheet, or a wadded up piece of tin foil in the dryer? Try a smaller load. Try a cup of white vinegar instead of fabric softener-I actually never ever use liquid fabric softener.
You have a high sulphur content, for your side walks and driveway bleach is fine, but it will turn your clothes an ugly gray and quicken corrosion in metal pipes.
It is iron in the water. Can you save rain water for washing?
Don't leave them sit in the washer too long. When I have this smell, I either hang them outside in the sun and fresh air to dry, or rewash them adding vinegar to the load.
Try using 1 or 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar and if needed also add 1/2 cup baking soda this should help.
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
