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Article
Laundry

How Does Your Water Affect Your Laundry?

By ACI

Categories: Laundry
Tagged: Clothes, Hard Water, House Cleaning Tips, Laundry, Laundry Detergent, Soft Water, Washing Clothes

The answer is in the water's softness or hardness. Soft water aids cleaning. Hard water poses some obstacles to cleaning.

 

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Hard water contains minerals (mostly calcium and magnesium), which react with soap to form a curd. This soap curd can show up on clothes as a white powder, make fabrics feel stiff and attach to the inside of washing machines. The forming of the curd uses up some of the soap and reduces its cleaning power.

Detergents are less sensitive to the hardness minerals in water; therefore, they perform better and do not form a curd. Because of these features, detergents, instead of soaps, are used for laundry products.

However, if you are doing laundry in hard water, even a detergent needs some help. Add slightly more detergent than the product label directions recommend. The extra detergent will help soften the water and allow the remaining detergent to do its cleaning job. You can also add a water softener or detergent booster to the wash water to increase cleaning power.

Your local water company, public utility consumer service department or Cooperative Extension Service office can provide this information or refer you to someone who can. You probably have hard water if:

  • There's a "ring around your bathtub."
  • Soaps and shampoos do not lather easily.
  • White residue forms around faucets and drains.
  • Fabrics feel stiff, not fluffy.

The Housekeeping Channel (HC), a for-profit educational LLC, provides the information on HousekeepingChannel.com as a free service to the public. The intent is to disseminate accurate, verified and science-based information on cleaning and housekeeping.

 

While an effort is made to ensure the quality of the content and credibility of sources listed on this site, HC provides no warranty - expressed or implied - and assumes no legal liability for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, product or process disclosed on or in conjunction with the site. The views and opinions of the authors or originators expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of HC: its principals, executives, Board members, advisors or affiliates.

How Does Your Water Affect Your Laundry?:  Created on January 6th, 2005.  Last Modified on January 3rd, 2010

 

About ACI

ACIThe American Cleaning Institute℠ (ACI - formerly The Soap and Detergent Association) is the Home of the U.S. Cleaning Products Industry® and represents the $30 billion U.S. cleaning products market.  ACI  members include the formulators of soaps, detergents, and general cleaning products used in household, commercial, industrial and institutional settings; companies that supply ingredients and finished packaging for these products; and oleochemical producers.  ACI and its members are dedicated to improving health and the quality of life through sustainable cleaning products and practices.