Hard Water Smell

You can get a water softener. Hard water isn't good for pipes, anyway.

We also have the nasty smell on dish rags, etc. but not in the sinks or dishwasher. We moved into our house in Eagan earlier this year and it has been driving me nuts. We do have a water softener, but I was reading Beth's response to my husband and he thinks having it tested would be a good idea. I've also been meaning to ask my neighbors if they have this. Sorry I'm not any help, but I can sympathize!

We have a similar problem. When the drains get bad, we pour in a liquid enzyme solution to soak overnight. (We got ours from Roto Rooter, $50 for a huge bottle, but home improvement or hardware stores might have something similar.) We also do the baking soda/vinegar thing, and that seems to help. Dropping a chopped up lemon in your disposal is a temporary way to freshen the air. As for the towels, we have the problem, but the weird thing is it seems to be worse with our dark towels. I don't know if this is because we don't use the same bleach detergent, Anyway, I will wash all my towels/washcloths/etc. in super hot water, with baking soda and/or vinegar, and that seems to work for a while. Good luck!

I would have the water tested to see if you need a softener. I would also look into a whole house water purifier. They have those ones you just hook into your pipes at the beginning of your supply to your house. They aren't expensive and you can change the filter when the water starts to get bad again.
I usually will dump some baking soda in my drains and then follow with some vinegar and that will help clean them too. You can get a big 10 lb bag of baking soda at Sam's Club.
J.

It might be your pipes!

We had a plummer at our house once and I was complaining to him about how our water smelled. He said that a lot of times stuff will accumulate in the pipes - bacteria, mold, whatever, - and will start to emit an odor from the drain when you run the water. A solution he told us to try was to pour bleach down the pipes and let it soak for a few hours. We find that it makes a huge difference, but has to be done again every month or so (depending on how often the source of the pipe is used). I also know that you can get them professionally cleaned, which seems like a great idea for us, but since we only have one income we stick to the bleach solution.

I know this won't help with the rags or laundry, but it might help your sinks and drains. With the rags and laundry, I would contact the city - or whoever handles your water - and file a complaint. I also think you should see if you can get the water tested but I honestly have no idea about how to do that. Maybe the city would know. That's where I would start.

Good luck!

B., I had a simular problem. I poured draino or liquid plummer down the drains and let it sit over night. The sinks don't smell anymore. Then we got the landloard to put in a new watersoftner. Now everything smells good and clothes, dishes, sinks, toilets, and tubs are clean, shinny, smooth. It is great. Our landloard put in and enexpnesive morton softner but if you own your home I would reccomend a Kenetico, Im not sure that is spelled correctly. they are expensive but well worth the money. We bought our first on when we liven in Burnsvile had there for 12 years moved it ot Bemdiji where we live about 8 years. We left it there but bought another one when we moved to Chaska for about 10 years. When we down-sized we gave it to our daughter who has been using it for 2 years. they great because they don't use timers you always have soft water. they don't require electricity to work. I really miss my kenetico. Good Luck

I have extrememly hard water where I live. Really bad like it effects my skin and hair. My toliet bowl and sinks like to turn yellow so I have to constantly clean them. But I've never had a nasty smell. Maybe there is something else going on with your water? Maybe you should have it tested. If you are in a house you can get a water softener and would get rid of the hard water.