Dull whites due to hard water -- how can I keep them white and bright?
Question:I live in a building with hard water. About 60% of my wardrobe consists of white clothing. Obviously this is not a match made in laundry heaven.
To date I have tried the following:
- Bleach
- Lemon juice
- Borox
- Vinegar
- Blueing
- RIT Whitener
- Oxi Clean
- Yellow Out
- Baking Sode
My most recent foray into keeping whites white is the water softener Calgon. I think it may actually be helping a bit, but obviously my older whites are now a sad shade of grey no matter what amount of Calgon I've used. Is there any way to salvage this clothing as well as keeping my newer whites white?
This has somehow become my mission in life. I'm slightly obsessed at this point. ;-)
Answers:
Iron Out http://summitbrands.com/ works really well.
The best sollution though is to remove the iron from the water in the first place. You need a water softener for that. Probably not an option if you are renting.
Go to home depot or something similar, and buy a small in-line water softener. These units are small about the size of 2 gallons of milk side by side.
They will remove the impurities in the water. You can also find water softening additives that you put in the washer with the detergent.
As far as your old cloths if they are really that important to you, take them to a dry cleaner first. You may need to do this a few times but that should start the cleaning process.
But the key is no minerals in your water.
Borax is a water softener, so I would use that with your regular laundry soap for all of your whites from now on. As far as your attempts with the oxi product, I found that it took several washings to work for most of my whites that had become not so white anymore. As far as the suggestion to use a dry cleaner- never ever, ever dry clean white, 100% cotton items. The dry cleaning chemicals can yellow them.
I would suggest ammonia. It is a natural water softener. Use 1/2 to 1 cup of ammonia per wash load with your regular amount of laundry detergent. Remember, don't use bleach!
Use Iron Out
I actually saw a commercial for a new kind of TIDE that is supposed to be formulated especially for people with hard water problems. You should look into it online.
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