Laundry Problems and Water Quality Ernestine Porter Research on laundering has shown that many factors affect the cleanliness of the wash. One often-ignored factor is the quality of the wash water. Several laundry problems are caused by minerals, organic matter and other impurities in the water supply.
Some laundry problems have similar symptoms but different causes.
To determine if your laundry problem is due to a combination of factors or to water quality alone, consider your equipment, water, laundry products and laundering procedures. Hard Water Laundry Symptoms Dinginess or graying yellowing General soil build-up Stiff, harsh feel to fabric White or gray streaks on colored fabrics Calcium and magnesium are usually the minerals that make water hard. The greater their concentration, the harder the water. Hard water doesn't clean as well as soft water because much of the detergent added to the washer goes to soften the water instead of to clean the clothes. This means you must use more detergent than in soft water.