What Does Hard Water Do to Clothes?

When you do your laundry, you expect your clothes to come out looking their best, clean and ready to wear. It’s what we all want our laundry to look and feel like, but unfortunately in Florida that can be an issue. Why? Because of hard water in your laundry. So, what does hard water do to clothes? Let’s find out.

Hard Water and Detergent Are Like a Science Experiment

Remember the volcano your class made in elementary school with a chemical reaction? If your water is hard then it will be like another experiment. When hard water reacts with the detergent you put into your laundry, and not in a good way. When hard water and detergent mix they can form flakes that get stuck in your clothes that take all the dirt and grime in your washing machine making them dirtier than before they were put into the wash.

Hard Water and Clothing Stains

If you live in Florida, you are familiar with water stains on clothing, especially in areas where the water hardness is above average. Instead of clean clothes when you do the laundry, you end up with clothes that have yellowish brown stains on them. What happens to cause the discoloration? The minerals in your water will attach themselves to your clothes and cause the discoloration. The culprits in this case are iron and manganese. Iron can be from deposits in the ground, but in Florida water it is most likely from iron bacteria. In some areas these bacteria are very common and if you are getting your water from a well you can count on having water stains. 

Stiff and Uncomfortable Clothing From Hard Water

If you understand that rocks are minerals, then you know what they can do to your clothing. Hard water collects in your clothes making them rigid, scratchy, and very uncomfortable. No amount of detergent will prevent your clothes from becoming stiff if there is hard water in your well.

How Do You Deal with Hard Water and Your Clothes?

So, you are probably wondering how to deal with doing the laundry when you have hard water. The solution is simple, have a whole house water softener installed. A water softener works by removing the minerals from your water, in turn your clothes will look and feel better. How does a water softener remove minerals from your water? By using a process known as ion exchange. The minerals have a negative charge, the water softener’s tank contains resin beads that have a positive charge, the minerals stick to the beads and are exchanged for sodium ions which are much softer than the hard minerals in your well water.

Prevent Hard Water From Getting Into Your Clothes

There is no need to deal with ugly water stains and stiff clothing anymore. A whole house water softener will give clean, clear water, that not only will give you water stain free clothes, but that will taste better when you drink it and won’t leave spots on glasses or dishes. Atlantic Coast Water Clinic is North Florida’s water filtration system expert. If you are in the greater Treasure Coast area, get in touch today. We can make sure that you don’t have issues with hard water in your laundry anymore. One of our helpful staff can schedule us to inspect your cloudy water and choose the right water filtration system to get rid of all those particulates from your drinking water.