Anybody who's bored enough to have read most of this blog knows that I've been fighting excess iron in our water system since we moved in. I like to think I'm winning, but there are days I'm not so sure. I've installed a whole-house filter to catch the iron & rust particles before they clog the water softener, I've found some great (and many not-so-great) cleaning products, and learned more than I ever wanted to know about rust in wells. What still surprises me is how fast (and sneaky) rust can be. This is a typical work shirt for me. I wore it about a week ago and threw it in the wash a few days later. It was washed and dried, and then hung up. I noticed that it was looking a little dingy, but when I looked more closely, I found that there was some pretty large rust-staining on the back. Luckily I found it before wearing the shirt again - it was on the back, so I probably wouldn't have noticed until my co-workers pointed it out.
Again with my blowing kisses and smoochy-talk about Iron Out. I ran a small load of whites with Iron Out instead of detergent, and let the whites soak for about 10 minutes. Then I drained the water and ran the wash with regular detergent, resulting in a much more presentable shirt. Perfect? No, but the shirt is a few years old and I don't expect miracles. I'm going to do a little experimenting to see if I can just throw in a little Iron Out with the soap and get the same results. If so, I'll just make sure to do that when I wash lighter color clothes.
