why aren't my clothes coming clean?

[caedmyn]

We moved into a new house about 6 weeks ago, and since then I've noticed that most of DD's and my lighter colored shirts have stains/spots on them, and most of the time I never even realized anything got on the shirt in the first place. Why aren't my clothes coming clean? I'm using the same detergent as I was using (All Free & Clear) and we even have the same washing machine as before. The water is kind of funky out here--could it have something to do with the water? It's hard water and we have a water softener just like we did at our last house, which had well water. This one has water from a rural water system but it's not really drinkable (tastes pretty bad) unless it's filtered.

[gossamer]

Maybe you have iron in your water and you are getting rust stains.

[caedmyn]

Originally Posted by gossamer

Maybe you have iron in your water and you are getting rust stains.

What do rust stains look like?

[AngieB]

Yep, sounds like rust stains. They are orange spots or your white just start looking orangish all over. Plus your toilets and bathtubs will start turning orange.

[caedmyn]

We had rust problems at our last house in the tub and sink, but I never had any problems with the clothes getting stained. This house doesn't have any build-up on the tubs or sinks, but my clothes aren't getting clean. The stains either look like grease stains (but they don't come out if I put Dawn on them, and grease stains normally do), or they are darker colored, sort of greyish stains. I wonder if there are other minerals that can stain clothing.

[lovemysunshine]

I'm having the same issue with the grease looking stains on our clothing. DH is ready to go buy some Tide since he thinks the natural detergent is to blame. Interesting that I made the switch 2+ years ago though and it's just now getting bad with the stains. I have been using Ecos, soap nuts, and Charlie's lately. We also have hard water, but no water softener (I use baking soda in the wash and vinegar in the rinse though), not sure if that's causing some of the problems. Hoping you get some ideas here. . .