People often encounter this situation in their daily lives. The washed clothes feel hard to the touch after drying. Although this does not affect the wear, it inevitably makes everyone have some doubts. Why would such phenomenon happen? How to deal with or prevent this situation? Let us talk about this issue below.
One of the reasons for this is the water quality. We generally use tap water without any treatment to wash clothes, and the water quality of tap water is hard. If you use this kind of water to wash clothes, the water in the water will The hardness will penetrate into the clothes, and the clothes will naturally become hard after drying. The second reason is related to washing products. Some cheap washing products contain a lot of hard materials, which can easily make clothes hard after use. The last reason is that the detergent has a saponification reaction with impurities in the water, clothing impurities, etc. The saponification reaction is sodium stearate, the active ingredient in soap. This substance can be dissolved in water. During the washing process with hard water, its calcium , magnesium ions will replace sodium ions and become calcium stearate and magnesium stearate. The solubility of this substance in water will become smaller. It is like some small particles attached to the clothing fibers. It’s like the clothes are covered with a lot of scale, so the clothes will become very hard after drying. In addition, repeated washing of clothes will cause the fibers to become entangled and the clothes will lose their elasticity, causing the clothes to become hard.
So what is the hard material in the water? In fact, the so-called “hard water” refers to water with a high content of calcium and magnesium ions. Although it does not cause direct harm to health, it will bring a lot of troubles to life, such as scale on water pipes, pots, utensils, etc., reducing the effectiveness of soap and detergents. How do we know whether the water used in our home is “hard” or “soft”? There is a very simple identification method. After boiling the water, if there are scale and floating objects in the kettle, it means that the water has more calcium and magnesium ions and the water quality is hard. On the contrary, if the water is clear and there are no floating objects, it means the water quality is soft.
So what should you do if your clothes become stiff after washing? For water quality issues, it is recommended to install water softening equipment at home. There are many benefits to using soft water. Using soft water to wash clothes can effectively save 50% to 80% of various detergents, reduce the wear and tear of clothes, and make clothes soft and maintain their color after washing. Longer. And soft water will also reduce the generation of dirt on household appliances. However, obtaining soft water requires time and money, so it is more economical and affordable to start with washing products. Try to choose good quality washing products. It is recommended to use appropriate softener during the washing process, but in an appropriate amount, and try to avoid using it to wash underwear. and intimate clothing.
