Iron Stains from Well Water: How to Remove and Prevent Them

If your toilet, tub or white laundry keeps turning orange or reddish-brown, that's iron in your well water. Below is how to get it off each surface safely, going by each cleaner's own label, and what stops it from coming back.

Aidan "If you turn on your faucet and the water is orange or brown, that's red water iron."

Aidan "If your toilet has a reddish ring or the entire bowl stained a reddish brown color, that's iron in the water."

Orange water and an orange bowl are the same iron, and they have the same fix.

What causes iron stains

Iron stains come from iron dissolved in your well water that turns to rust when it meets air. Iron often comes out of the faucet clear. That clear-water iron has to hit air before it turns orange, so it shows up where water sits or splashes: the toilet, the shower you use most often, the white laundry. If the water is already orange or brown coming out of the faucet, that's red-water iron, and it stains the same way. People ask me whether it's their old pipes. Typically it's your well water.

The EPA lists iron as a nuisance chemical with a guideline of 0.3 parts per million. Above that, it lists a rusty color, sediment, a metallic taste and reddish or orange staining. As I put it to one caller: at 0.3 it covers the toilets, and at 1 part per million it stains the laundry, the showers, even the sidewalks if you water with it. If you're wondering about drinking it, I cover that in is iron in well water dangerous.

Why bleach makes iron stains worse

Never put chlorine bleach on an iron stain, because it sets the stain instead of lifting it. The University of Georgia's extension service puts it plainly: "Chlorine bleach will set these stains." Texas A&M's stain guide says bleach "makes the stain more intense."

There is a second reason. Most rust removers are acids, and the Washington State Department of Health warns that "when chlorine bleach is mixed with an acid, chlorine gas is given off." Bar Keepers Friend, CLR, Lime-A-Way and Iron OUT powder all say on their labels not to use them with bleach, and the safety sheet for Iron OUT powder adds that contact with acids gives off a toxic gas too. So use one product at a time, rinse it off completely before you try another, and keep the room aired out.

How to remove iron stains by surface

Here is what gets iron off each surface, going by each maker's own directions. Most of these labels also say to test a small hidden spot first.

Toilets

The toilet gets it worst because the water sits in the bowl. Iron OUT powder's label has directions for both the bowl and the tank:

1. Remove other cleaners first

   Remove any cleaner tablet or deodorizer from the bowl and the tank, then flush. That's the label's first step, and it keeps a bleach tablet from mixing with the rust remover.

2. Add Iron OUT to the bowl water

   Pour 1/2 cup of Iron OUT powder into the water in the bowl and scrub the stained area with a toilet brush.

3. Let it stand until the stain goes

   Leave it until the stain is gone, then flush. For a stain inside the tank, raise the water above the stain line if you can, add 1/2 cup and let it stand overnight.

4. Use wet pumice on a stubborn ring

   For a ring that is left, wet a pumice stone in the bowl water and rub gently until it is gone. The Pumie label says it is safe on porcelain bowls, but some colored bowls can be damaged, so test a small spot first.

If you use Bar Keepers Friend in the bowl instead, its label says to rinse it off within a minute. It is a scrub, not a soak.

Sinks, Showers, and Bathtubs

For porcelain sinks, tubs and tile, sprinkle Bar Keepers Friend powder on the wet surface and rub gently with a wet sponge. Rinse Bar Keepers Friend off within a minute, as its label says, and never let it sit and soak. Iron OUT powder works on tubs, sinks and tile too: wet the area, put the powder on a damp sponge, rub lightly until the stain is gone, and rinse.

CLR's label says never to leave it on any surface longer than 2 minutes, and Lime-A-Way's says to rinse promptly; both list surfaces to keep them off, in the table below. Older, worn or chipped porcelain can etch, and Iron OUT does not recommend its powder on worn or chipped porcelain over cast iron.

Marble, granite and other natural stone are the exception. Bar Keepers Friend, CLR and Lime-A-Way say not to use them on natural stone, and Iron OUT's spray says it may damage marble, granite and stone, so on stone the lasting fix is keeping the iron out of the water.

Laundry

Keep chlorine bleach away from rust-stained clothes, and keep them out of the dryer until the stain is gone. Texas A&M's stain guide says a stained garment that goes through the dryer "may become impossible to remove."

1. For whites, add 1/2 cup of Iron OUT powder to warm water as the washer fills (the detergent drawer on a front-loader), let the clothes soak 5 minutes, then add detergent and finish the cycle. That's straight off its label, which also says not to use it with bleach or oxi products.
2. For colors, Iron OUT says to test first and use it only on colorfast dyes, because it can ruin colors and embroidered logos.
3. Or the University of Georgia's home method: salt on the stain, lemon juice squeezed over it, dried in the sun, then rinsed well.

Your white laundry comes out reddish-brown because the iron is in the wash water itself, so the next load stains again until the iron comes out of the water.

Why iron stains keep coming back

Iron stains come back because every flush, shower and load of laundry brings in more iron, and cleaning only takes off what is already there. People try CLR, Iron OUT and vinegar, and the stains keep coming back. One buyer wrote that before the filter they had been "using iron out or salt with iron remover," and it "was not consistent like we had wanted."

Stopping it starts with a number. A lab test tells you how much iron you have, whether manganese is with it, and your pH and hardness, and those decide what goes in.

No lab report yet? Certified lab test, $199

Test how much iron you have

One certified lab test, mailed to you, run by an accredited lab, reports iron, manganese, pH and hardness. It does not test for tannins or iron bacteria. If you already have a lab report, skip this.

Get the certified well water test

Results usually 2 to 4 weeks after you order.

Already know your iron level?

Text me your test results

Send me your iron, manganese, pH and hardness numbers, and I'll tell you what stops the stains in your house.

Text Aidan443-277-2204 Call800-460-5810Aidan

Call 800-460-5810 or text Aidan at 443-277-2204.

How to stop iron stains for good

The stains stop when an iron filter takes the iron out of the water where it comes into the house. The one I recommend is the Katalox Light air-injection filter. It removes up to 30 parts per million of iron, up to 15 of manganese and up to 10 of sulfur, and it helps raise your pH at the same time. I explain the inside of the tank in how an iron filter works.

A cartridge filter won't stop it. If your pH is low, an acid neutralizer goes in too, and I set its place from your test. If you also have hard water, I cover how the two work together in iron filter vs. water softener.

The 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 cubic foot tanks are $2,095, $2,295 and $2,495, with the larger sizes on the iron filter page, and I size yours from your test. What ships: the mineral tank, the control valve with the bypass valve pre-installed, and the Katalox Light in separate bags that are loaded into the tank at install. Drain tubing is not included. I recommend a licensed plumber for the install, and I'll support your plumber by phone at 800-460-5810.

If you came here to take iron out of the water rather than off the fixtures, I compare every way to do it in how to remove iron from well water.

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