Hot Wash Cold Rinse Cycle?

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Chetlaham

Chetlaham

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What would you call a Hot wash Cold Rinse cycle? What would you launder in a hot wash with a cold rinse? Is it normal to wash permanent press items in hot water?


So far I've got this:


Hot wash / Warm rinse = Heavy Duty & White Cottons

Warm Wash / Warm Rinse = Normal & Colored Cottons

Hot Wash / Cold Rinse = ??????????

Warm Wash / Cold Rinse = Permanent Press

Cold Wash / Cold Rinse = Delicate

 

 

 

 I'm lost. 
 
"What would you call a Hot wash Cold Rinse cycle?"

The stiff, itchy cycle.

"What would you launder in a hot wash with a cold rinse?"

Laundry of an enemy.

"Is it normal to wash permanent press items in hot water?"

Never tried it.
 
What would you wash on hot wash cold rinse

A very simple everything, I don’t think I’ve ever used any other setting on any washing machine in my life. If you look at recommendations, permanent press is washed on hot water.

And I have never used a warm rinse on a regular basis. They’re simply no reason whatsoever.

No washer manufacturer recommends it no detergent manufacturer recommends it, there is simply no reason for anything but a cold rinse.

John L
 
Mark, Cold wash Warm rinse would be for wools and possibly knits. Cold would help prevent pilling and stretching of knits during wash, while warm would relax thick fibers for detergent carry away. Unless knits would do better in a warm wash...
 
John, I've been thinking about that. Perhaps permanent press would probably indeed be better suited with a hot wash cold rinse. Which then leads me to ask what to call warm / cold.



Hot wash / Warm rinse = Heavy Duty & White Cottons

Warm Wash / Warm Rinse = Normal & Colored Cottons

Hot Wash / Cold Rinse = Permanent Press

Warm Wash / Cold Rinse = Casuals

Cold Wash / Cold Rinse = Delicate


Another possible interpretation:


Hot wash / Warm rinse = Heavy Duty & White Cottons

Warm Wash / Warm Rinse = Normal & Colored Cottons

Hot Wash / Cold Rinse = Permanent Press

Warm Wash / Cold Rinse = Knits (?????????)

Cold Wash / Cold Rinse = Delicate

 

The push for cold rinsing comes from energy regulations, and at least some of world knows how well that is working out for them. Yes detergent manufacturers claim cold water does not effect the rinsing of detergent itself, however, cold water constricts fabric making carry away less efficient. With cold water rinsing in winter you're essentially only rinsing the outside of the garments. You're probably seeing fewer suds in the water during winter because there is literally less extracted detergent in the water itself. Cold Rinsing is a major waste of water even with modern detergents that can be dissolved in cold water.

 

 

 
 
Not knowing what to do with hot / cold I ditched it and went simple:

 

 

503852663207d64a4aa3e484c7711d73acc02c9ad66df8f5dc725fae0eb0f2f5.png


 

 

 

 

Heavy Duty = Hot / Warm

 

Normal = Warm / Warm

 

Permanent Press = Warm / Cold

 

Delicate = Cold / Cold

 

 

However, thinking about this some more, especially with the possibility of permanent press fabrics doing better with HOT / COLD, it looks like I may have more fabric types to contend with:

 

 

4faf50bfefa5ad5b6b5760562dc4c8c9fe31f22dd2c54496a05c2b782af2a396.png


 

 

 

 

 

Cottons & Heavy Duty = HOT / WARM

 

Normal =  WARM / WARM

 

Permanent press = HOT / COLD

 

Casuals = WARM / COLD

 

Delicate = COLD / COLD

 

Knits = COLD / WARM  

 

 

 

 
 
Programmed Cycle

Alright, so I came up with this fabric convention with companion wash and rinse temp:

 

 

Heavy Duty = HOT / WARM

 

Normal =  WARM / WARM

 

Permanent press = HOT / COLD

 

Casuals = WARM / COLD

 

Delicate = COLD / COLD

 

Knits = COLD / WARM  

 

 

 

 

 
8c4d551b58b6960dc58e4767d3184696765125e05feccbaa5660b39ffd38a8f4.png


 

 

 

 

[this post was last edited: 5/27/2025-03:23]
 
There were a number of automatic washers

That only gave a cold rinse when you selected a hot wash, our 1960 Franklin washer was such a machine. It’s just common sense even back then they knew that the world didn’t have unlimited amounts of hot water to waste.

It was especially important before clothes, dryers and permanent press cycles on washers when you did use hot water to cool the fabrics down to reduce wrinkling. You could sometimes get away with a warm rinse with a warm wash, but you would never want to keep things so hot all the way through the cycle by washing in hot and then rinsing in warm it wouldn’t make any sense at all. There’s no reason for it. If a load was washed in good hot water, it’s still plenty warm when the cold rinse water comes in and mixes with a load of clothing and the machine.

John L
 
My take

Hot wash / Warm rinse = Redundant

Warm Wash / Warm Rinse = Redundant

Hot Wash / Cold Rinse = Whites, Towels, Bed linens, underwear & Kitchen linens/cleaning cloths etc

Warm Wash / Cold Rinse = Everyday clothes, Delicates, Wool/Silk, Outerwear

Cold Wash / Cold Rinse = Maybe in rare situations some very lightly soiled items need a simple refreshing but otherwise mostly redundant.

I don't think any washer has historically offered anything other than tap cold rinses here, perhaps some very early automatics from when some people were still using actual soap.

More recently a couple of manufacturers have experimented with "allergy" or "medic" rinses, where the Rinse water is heated to 30 or 40c, but having had use of such a machine for a while, this feature was completely pointless IMO.

Around 90% of the energy usage of a washing machine comes from heating the water, even if warmer water did help flush out slightly more detergent (a claim of which I am sceptical) adding an additional Cold Rinse instead would use far less energy and do a much better job.

I would add that a very hot (85+c)/Cold option is definitely beneficial for really grubby whites which can withstand it, especially on ground in dirt like cloths, mop heads and white socks. Understand this is not really possible in a machine without a heater though.

Matt
 
For whites, sheets and cleaning rags = Hot Wash/Warm Rinse all year long.

For colors it's Hot or Warm wash, sometimes I'll use medium switching from hot to warm when tub is 2/3 full of water. Rinse: October-April is Warm for everything, May-September is I'll use cold as long as the tap water is above 70F.

Many of my machines made before 1957 only offer a warm rinse, which is just fine. Overall I prefer a warm rinse.
 
Our 1956 GE washer only had warm rinse. The 1963 15 lb. Norge had for Whites cycle hot wash and warm rnse. Woolens/specials cycle also offered warm wash warm rinse. All other programmed cycles were cold rinses. I loved using warm rinses on our 1970 Kenmore 800 because the rinse fill completed fill beforer the end of the initial 2 minute rirnse increment before agitation began. I had to "educate" my mom to use warm wash/cold rinse when she used the Perm press cycle on our Kenmore 800.
 
Warm rinsing came to be used when laundering with soap. When washing was done by hand, the clothes were boiled to dissolve and remove the soap. Soap had to be removed from fabrics with warm water at least in the first rinse when using a wringer washer. In winter weather, the tap cold water was tempered a bit with the addition of hot water to prevent the cold water from causing pain in the hands of the person doing the laundry.
 
Right and right, however I still think modern fabric become to constricted with cold water under 70*F and don't give up the residual detergent so easily.  

 

I think the best approach was taken by Kenmore that regulated warm and cold rinsing to 75 and 70* respectively.

 

 

5bff65f1cde7bd3daf4eaa3f71423026c167e4869132fe3caf98278729b06bb5.png
 

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