Where is the stain coming from?

[MiamiCuse]

I have little speck of brownish orange stains on my white shirts, and I thought may be I was just sloppy when eating pasta.

Well I bought a brand new white shirt last Friday and washed it Sunday. Before I wore it I noticed a few speck of small orange stains the size of the letter "o" on your keyboard.

So it couldn't be pasta sauce. I have not even worn it yet.

It has to be from the washer or dryer. I looked and touched the inside of my washer/dryer, nothing, I thought may be I would find a rusted part that is staining the shirt, but I did not find any.

I was not using any bleach with the wash.

Any idea what could cause multiple spots of orangey stains?

Thanks,

MC

[Erma1ina]

My guess is that you have iron in your water. Try adding something like Super Iron Out along with your regular detergent in the washer.

[Mike Paulsen]

That'll do it.

I just checked. There are no orange stains on my keyboard. I'll watch it closely for the next few days and report back if I find anything. I admire your dedication to finding these spots, but I prefer that you stay out of my house in the future.

TIA

[cshenk]

"MiamiCuse" wrote

Snicker, I had black or brownish ones. It turned out to be caused by crud build up in the water line to the washer. Since I only ran it about once a week, it would just sorta sit there and cause that.

To fix it, eventually we ended up also replacing the washer because inside the crud had built up and it was cheaper than replacing clothes but the main thing we learned was to run the washer once while empty (no soap etc needed) to clear the line, then with clothes.

We had other 'issues' with that piping that caused us to replace the lines (or part of them). When they came out, the plumber was laughing at the crud in there. It had been building up for years? We guessed that the last owners before us use a landromat so they could do many loads at once (there was one just 200 yards from the house and they had 5 people in the house so would have taken less time).

I'm not saying your problem is the same, but it might be related to some rusty joint someplace along the supply line to the washer or something that isnt fully draining inside the washer and is rusty which on the next load after it sat a bit, comes back up into the clothes?

[Pete C.]

Likely something in the water supply. Given the low cost of filters, if you don't already have one I'd install a whole house filter at the water supply to the house and use at least the basic sediment filters which are cheap if you buy them by the case at a plumbing supply house. It might take a few empty runs of the washer to clear remaining crud from the lines. If need be, I'd even consider installing a pair of filters directly at the washing machine, since it doesn't take much ruined clothing to add up to the $50 or so it would cost.

[dicko]

Check the washing machine itself for rust, most notably around the lip of the door opening. The porcelan coating failed all around on mine and dropped little rust pieces into the water while washing.

Disolved iron in water wont make red spots. It'll make the whole garment dingy red. You need a solid rust particle to make spots. So it could be something upstream in the water system that is shedding rust specks, or as I said, the washing machine itself. I dont know what brand you have but if its a top loader, see if you can pop the top off and look around the upper rim of the wash basket for rust particles.

-dickm

[Erma1ina]

Not true.

For example, check out the following:

Excerpt:

"Textiles Director Kathleen Huddy answered questions on our Good Housekeeping On Your Side message board on April 24. Read a few excerpts below.

Rust Spots on Clothing

Q: I am having trouble with rust spots on my clothes after they're washed. I've checked the washer and dryer drums for rust, but I don't see anything. My white clothes are affected more than the colored clothes. I've tried bleach and other treatments, but nothing seems to help. I do have well water. Do you think this could have anything to do with it? I also have a water softener. I'm willing to try any suggestion you might have. kitchensclosed

A: Well water sometimes contains high amounts of iron, which can cause the rust spots. Try the RIT Dye Rust Remover. That should do the job. It's sold at grocery stores in the cleaning section."

[ransley]

We had and old machine that was rusting at the top where you could not see it, and did the same thing.