How can I prevent well water (iron? hard water?) from staining tub, sink and clothes a rust color?
Question:We live in a pre-civil war home in the country and have well water. CLR is great for cleaning the tub and sink (with heavy duty scrubbing) but how can we prevent washer from staining our laundry (whites and colors?). I've heard white vinegar, super iron out--haven't tried either yet. Any thing else suggested or try those two? Don't want to pay like $3000 for a water softener when that might not take care of the problem.
Answers:
You actually can make your own hard water softener and add a cup of the solution to each load of wash water along with your regular detergent. Get a plastic milk jug that has been cleaned out and add:
1/2 lb Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
1/4 lb Twenty Mule Team Borax
1 gallon of warm water
I used this homemade softener before I got my water softener because our water is so hard that our clothes weren't getting cleaned well enough. I also found that using liquid fabric softener in the wash instead of the sheets in the dryer worked better to soften the clothing.
To keep the iron color from making a ring around the toilet and constantly having to clean it, drop a couple of those denture cleaning tablets in the bowl. I used to do it either daily or every other day, but that is probably excessive. For the sinks and tub, I found carnuba wax, like you use on cars, kept the iron from accumulating on those surfaces. I just waxed up the tub and sinks about every 3-4 months. For the laundry tub, in which I do my handwashables, I used a product called Gel Gloss because it is fiberglass. This stuff is great you just spray it on, wait for it to haze and buff off. It leaves a great shine and resists the rust from acuumulating. If your tub is acrylic, you can use this on it too.
My mother in law has the same water, it stains her tub, toilet and clothes. She had a water softener installed and it works great! That is the only way you are going to keep it out of your clothes. That water also ruins your hair! Good luck! =)
I agree with taylee you need a water softener. My grandmother had the same problem and they installed a water softener and it did the job.
I use CLR also.
For laundry: make sure you fill the washer first before putting in your clothes.I found that out the hard way.
It's the hard water running in the washer on your clothes that causes the stains.
By filling the washer first and then adding the clothes you can eliminate that problem.
Muriatic acid also removes rust from the tub and sink.Follow the directions on the can.No hard rubbing when you use this stuff but be careful using it.
You don't have to pay to have a water softener put in until a test is done to see what is actually in your water.
In the meantime, Arm and Hammer Baking soda in your wash works well. Just put it in with your soap. Also Walmart sells a product (just can't think of the name of it) that my cousin uses. It is in the laundry section and it help with the same problem.
You need a water softener. You can add borax to your washer when you do your laundry. It make the detergent work better if you have hard water.
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