There’s something deeply frustrating about watching your perfectly good clothes slowly transform into dingy, yellowed versions of their former selves. I came across a discussion recently where someone was dealing with exactly this problem – their white shirts had turned an unpleasant shade of rust-orange, and their blue Carhartt looked like it had been through a dust storm. The culprit? Well water with high iron content.

Living in the suburbs of Melbourne, most of us are blessed (or perhaps sometimes cursed) with city water that’s been treated and regulated to within an inch of its life. But for those on well water, particularly in rural areas, the chemistry of what comes out of your tap can be a whole different beast. This poor person had a water softener and an arsenic treatment system, yet their laundry was still coming out looking like it had been dipped in rust.

Remember those moments in childhood when the walls seemed like the perfect canvas for artistic expression? Well, somebody else’s little one just had their first exhibition, and now their parents are dealing with the aftermath of colored chalk on their walls. This situation sparked quite a discussion online, bringing back memories of similar creative endeavors in my own home.

The sight of that chalk-stained wall immediately transported me back to when my daughter was four, and she decided our hallway needed a personal touch with her set of markers. The initial shock and frustration quickly gave way to problem-solving mode - much like what these parents are going through now.