How do you get your whites really white when you have a little rust in the water?
Question:We have well water, which is fantastic to drink, bathe in, dishes, etc, but our whites get a little dingy. We don't want a water softener. There isn't enough rust in the water to discolor the toilets or anything, but our whites could be brighter. I use Era detergent and Clorox on whites. Any other suggestions?
Answers:
STOP using bleach on the whites. I used to have well water with iron in it. When I was in college, in chem class, I learned iron has a positive charge (Fe+), and Chlorine has a negative charge (Cl-), so what do you think is happening when you dump the clorox in the clothes?? I found that I was attracting the iron to my whites!! So I stopped, and I started buying Calgon water softner powder (also in the detergent aisle) to use on that load. I used 2 scoops Biz with each load.
But, about once a month, instead of Biz and
Calgon, I'd dump in some Iron-away. It is hard on your clothes, though after several washings, but they will be white. We had a lot of iron in our water and besides hauling our clothes to a laundromat, which I couldn't afford, this was my only alternative.
I always add cascade to my whites with the bleach, they seem to come out brighter.
Install a rust filer in your water line not expensive check them out
any DIY
you drink rusty water? that's not healthy, get a filter system, you can get them put on fairly cheap and use bleach to clean your laundry whites.
I never heard of these two brands but this is some good information:
Rust Stains
Yellow, orange or red stains may be caused by iron or manganese in the water supply or from rusty water heaters and pipes. It is unusual to find rust in the washer tub itself, but this is possible.
Rust stains are not removed by chlorine bleach, instead they are made darker. A rust remover such as RoVer Rust Remover* or Whink* should be used to remove the stains from clothing. For the tub, use a cleaner such as Washer Magic*.
I would put a filter in the supply line that is right before the washing machine. You will have to get one that is pretty good size, maybe even use two but they are not that expensive and should solve most if not all of the problem. If you only filter the water just at the washing machine than you wouldn't have to change the filters as often either as you would if you filtered the water for the whole house.
Bluing will turn dingys into whites
also bleach can yellow your whites too and bluing works for that too
Whatever you do, do not use chlorine bleach (Clorox is chlorine). Chlorine attracts the iron in rusty water and will dull your whites. Use an oxygen bleach and hot, hot water.
Go to walmart and get RUST OUT and use it like you would oxy clean works great. I have a lot of iron in my water and it works wonders
Forget the chemical treatment!! Waste of time and money. Invest in a iron removal system. Better for laundry but more importantly your health!! Check with Culligan or other reputable water treatment company.
One spoon of clorox or bleach will do the trick. It works for me. Make sure NO OTHER COLORED clothing except white in the wash. OR YOU SHALL REGRET!
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