A laundry treating system comprising: a washing machine that receives a wash mixture and at least one laundry item to be laundered during a washing operation, wherein the wash mixture is one of water, water and a chemical agent, or water and a plurality of chemical agents, and wherein the washing machine washes the at least one laundry item in the wash mixture during the washing operation to separate at least one contaminant from the at least one laundry item; characterized by an extraction system in communication with the washing machine, the extraction system comprising a filtration system including a plurality of stage filters (172, 176), the plurality of stage filters (172, 176) comprising at least a first stage filter and a second stage filter, and at least a first magnet and a second magnet, the first stage filter including a coarser filtration medium that filters at least part of the wash mixture, such as substantially all of the larger non-magnetic particles, during the washing operation to form a filtered wash mixture, and the second stage filter including a fine filtration medium that filters the filtered wash mixture after the filtered wash mixture passes the first stage filter, such as to remove substantially all of the remaining particles and impurities; wherein the first stage filter includes the first magnet that attracts magnetic material to facilitate separation of the magnetic material from at least part of the wash mixture, and wherein the second stage filter includes the second magnet that attracts magnetic material to facilitate separation of the additional magnetic material from the filtered wash mixture that was not captured in the first stage filter. a washing machine that receives a wash mixture and at least one laundry item to be laundered during a washing operation, wherein the wash mixture is one of water, water and a chemical agent, or water and a plurality of chemical agents, and wherein the washing machine washes the at least one laundry item in the wash mixture during the washing operation to separate at least one contaminant from the at least one laundry item; characterized by an extraction system in communication with the washing machine, the extraction system comprising a filtration system including a plurality of stage filters (172, 176), the plurality of stage filters (172, 176) comprising at least a first stage filter and a second stage filter, and at least a first magnet and a second magnet, the first stage filter including a coarser filtration medium that filters at least part of the wash mixture, such as substantially all of the larger non-magnetic particles, during the washing operation to form a filtered wash mixture, and the second stage filter including a fine filtration medium that filters the filtered wash mixture after the filtered wash mixture passes the first stage filter, such as to remove substantially all of the remaining particles and impurities; wherein the first stage filter includes the first magnet that attracts magnetic material to facilitate separation of the magnetic material from at least part of the wash mixture, and wherein the second stage filter includes the second magnet that attracts magnetic material to facilitate separation of the additional magnetic material from the filtered wash mixture that was not captured in the first stage filter.