Cold Water washing

[mattywashboy]

hi guys,
i'm just wondering who else uses cold water to wash clothes with. I use cold in every load except ones with visible staining. It seems to keep the clothes bright and yet they still come out very clean. Australia has quite a few cold water detergents around since it seems to be the favourite temp to wash in. My mother being very british is disgusted at me using cold water and she uses the warm option on her Fisher and Paykel everytime. I now alternate between Bio Zet powder and Cold Power Advanced liquid in my cold water washings.

Matty

So, who else is a regular 'coldie' washer.

 

[jonv112]

I almost always use cold or "cool" as my Oasis calls it on almost all of my clothes, warm for sheets and towels, for hygiene reasons. My clothes still come out clean and fresh smelling. Saves on the utility bills too! I use Tide HE.

 

[bajaespuma]

I usually start with a cold pre-wash and then move to warm or hot or very hot. Protein stains need to dissolve first in cool water or they can set in. Greasy stains won't budge in cold water, I don't care what chemical you throw in.

 

[frigilux]

I've been using powedered Tide Coldwater for about 7 months and it's the best-cleaning detergent I've ever used. I used the temp-controlled cold setting, which on my machine is about 65-degrees.

Just last week I was introduced to the (for me, anyway) new world of Mexican detergents so I've done a couple of loads in warm/hot. I like using cold water because there appears to be less wear and tear on fabrics; plus, Tide CW removes all stains very well in cold. Less energy required to heat water, too.

 

[retromom]

Cold or Hot?

I use cold water on the colour clothes and hot on towels, sheets, and whites. I just can't bring myself to use cold on those "sanitary"-type items. I don't feel that even with a specific cold water detergent, that they would end up clean.

I agree with bajaespuma...there is no amount of cold water on this good green earth that will dissolve grease; just try to wash a greasy frying pan in cold water and dish soap...FEH!

Venus

 

[gansky1]

I almost never use cold water. Body oils, stains, kid's clothes, work clothes, rags, etc. just can't get clean in less than warm/hot water. I have worked on too many machines that obviously used cold water, scraping out layers of build-up formed by liquid detergent and fabric softener that has combined with hard water, lint, hair and other debris to believe that cold water is good for much except flushing the toilet and making ice cubes.

I'm sure I'm being "old and set in my ways" given the advancements in detergents, but other than for wool sweaters, blankets, etc., we'll keep that hot water heater cranked up on wash-day!

 

[gizmo]

I'm with Gansky1

I have seen so many machines ruined by cold water washing. Some machines seem fine with it, most Australian made machines are not affected as most Aussies wash in cold so the machines are made for it. Trouble starts when an Aussie gets a newfangled imported front loader and sets it to wash cold...the residues build up and eat away at aluminium drum supports which snap during spin - the damage is often horrific. In hard water areas the residue sets like concrete around the outer edge of the basket. F&P machines have very small perforations in the basket which clog up with lint/detergent residue mix which causes poor emptying and out of balance.
I suspect true cold water formulated detergents may be much better but many cheaper detergents, especially when slopped in without measuring, destroy machines in cold water. Even washing once every week or two in warm or hot would help break down the residues and protect the machine.
At the recycle centre I haunt there are often front loaders where you can open the door, put your hand inside and feel the inner drum rattling loosely around inside the outer drum. This is the result of the drum supports (spider) snapping and I have only ever seen this happen on machines with a thick crust of detergent residues eating away at the drum support arms. There is an LG Intellowasher there now with that fault, I'd guess 5 to 8 years old.

Chris.

 

[jasonl]

Phooey on energy saving.

Towels/sheets... CRANK IT UP! Hot water all the way!
Light colors... warm
Dark colors... COOL (Oasis for not tap water cold)

 

[lavamat_jon]

Never used cold water personally - lowest I go is for clothes at 40*C which i call cool; whites get 50*C if they're not that bad or 60*C if they're heavily soiled. Then sheets get washed at 60*C; towels washed at 60*C every week and a 95*C wash every month. Just a habit I guess; I prefer using higher temperatures as I feel that they seem to be more thoroughly clean and towels don't smell after a while.

Jon

 

[toggleswitch]

Yes, I too have become a warm-water convert after learning a few things on this site.

Still, the ATC (automatic temperature control)for a reasonable cold is nice for those "emergency" items that need cool, but not BRRRRRR winter cold!

 

[sudsman]

using cooler wash temps but do not like it

I am from the old school , When I became a Certified Hospital Laundry Manager , 160 was the standard , Its changed a lot since the 60's but I still like the heavy soil stuff in HOT water The hotter the better. The kind where you can smell the steam!!!!!!!!!1 Sudsman

 

[askomiele]

I never use cold water to wash. Even on delicats its not good. I've learned that our water is between 15°C-20°C and is not good for any liquids or powder detergents. So only good to refresh clothes. Hidden dirt only gets out with a cool cycle 30°C. 40° is good as wel (is'nt that warm??). 60°C (140°C vintage hot!!) is used for colored towels and colored sheets. All whites are washed at 95°C... Cold water is from my point of view just good for rinsing...
O yes and only for a thing of cours we start always with cold water to get blood,... out of the clothes. Then a bio-cycle for enzymstains and then all the way up to the selected temp to sanitize and or start the opticalbleachers in the detergent.

 

[lavamat_jon]

95*C may be good on whites; but it can wreak havoc on a lot of white items such as elastic in socks, whereas 50 or 60*C is a safe temperature whilst still having good performance on whites.

Jon

 

[sudsman]

Cold Water can set blood 2

If the water is too cold It will set the blood just as fast as hot water will . We have found that 95F is the best for blood about 5 to 8 min. Then go to a good ole HOT wash

 

[oxydolfan]

I'm getting into it again.

I remember in Quebec, many people even do their whites in cold with bleach and I remember thinking that was strange, but their stuff did come out very white, so...

They have (or had) a powder called Arctic Power, that was popular, by Colgate-Palmolive.

In what way are the Australian top-loaders differently constructed that the slime doesn't build up? Don't many of their machines have the Japanese-style impellers?

My main concern with the powders and cold-water washes really comes into play when I use the gentle cycle. Since it agitates on a low speed, the clothes don't get agitated as vigorously as on regular, and sometimes the less expensive powders don't dissolve, and it can't be good for it to be in direct contact with the fabrics and dyes for such an extended period.

I haven't had this problem with Coldwater Tide, or even regular Tide for that matter, but I don't want to get hooked on such a costly product to begin with, even though it works well.

 

[pulsator]

I use cold water only, not by choice of course. The hot water valve in the laundryroom snapped off and so hot water has been shut off to the laundryroom. I can get away with using regular Tide with bleach powder in the warmer months, but in the winter the water can get to be about 35-40 degrees so I am forced to use that ucky smelling Tide Coldwater...

 

[foraloysius]

I'm washing my laundry in the warmest water possible. Cold water washes aren't for me. When you enter my bathroom you are almost blinded by my white towels. I want to keep it that way! LOL

 

[appnut]

Nope, warm, "Medium" and hot are the laundry order of the day for me. Cold rinsing is ok. At least my LK's ATC kicks in for the cold rinses too.

 

[zipdang]

I wash in temp-controlled cold water all the time. Works great. Of course, it's not every day that I mine coal or rebuild a transmission, so my stuff really isn't that dirty in the first place. Which makes me wonder about all of you who fear cold water: what exactly are you getting into?

 

[peterh770]

Once a hot water boy, always a hot water boy. Give me hot water, or give me a self-heating Miele.

 

[launderess]

Love "proflie" hot water washes as much as the next Miele owner, but electric rates this past summer have me reconsidering anything above 120F. Most loads are 100F (warm), with only towels and other whites at 120F. Will evaluate things if and when electric rates decline. Currently am paying about 21 cents per KWH.

L.

 

[sudsman]

Wow Launderess

I thought ours was bad at 15 KWH

 

[gizmo]

oxydolfan

Most Aussie top loaders have litle or no diecast components (not sure if they are aluminium or zinc) in contact with wash water. Several older machines in the 60s and 70s had some components made from diecast metal and they eroded over time. Simpson hubs which join the basket to the shaft were notorious (though cheaply and easily replaced), and Jap impeller machines too. Most Aussie machines from late 70s have stainless steel or plastic instead. Enamelled steel washbowls haven't been on Aussie machines for decades, usually plastic on base models and stainless on all other models. Plastic pump housings, plastic outer drums, stainless steel shafts are standard even on cheap versions. Where the diecast metal is used (spider ass'y on Hoover front loaders from the 80s for example)the parts are available as a spare. Australian Hoover FL's (Zodiac and Electra)had a replaceable spider (drum axle and drum support arms) whereas most other machines require a complete drum/axle assembly, which means the machine is not worth repairing. Fisher Paykels have stainess steel shafts, top quality seals, plastic drum hub, plastic and ceramic drum splines and stainless or plastic everything else. I don't think they have a single diecast component.
The little Jap top loaders are reliable and seem to hold up to cold washing fairly well, but the drum hubs are generally diecast and seize/corrode badly onto the spin shaft to the point of being non-removable. When the bearings eventually go these machines are usually a throwaway.

Chris.

 

[lavamat_jon]

Our electric here in Europe is more expensive I think than in the US; but that doesn't really deter me from using a 60 or 95*C wash if I need it. But I wash a lot of general laundry (clothes) at 40*C; so by rarely using higher temperatures I do my bit that way - rather than wash everything at 60*C (which some people I know actually do... yet complain that their darks are always faded!).

Jon

 

[cehalstead]

cost of electricity

Laundress,

I hate to share this news, but here in the hills and hollows of WV, my current electric rate is 5 cents per KWH......

 

[helicaldrive]

Never use cold

Hot for sheets, towels and underwear. Warm for clothes. If they are clothes that I don't want to fade, I set the machine on warm, and then turn the hot water faucet down so that the water is cooler, but still at least body temperature. That way, the body oils will dissolve and the clothes will get clean.

Body oils cannot dissolve in cold water. If the body oils cannot dissolve, the clothes cannot get clean. It's that simple.

People always give me shit and ridicule me whenever I say this, but I'll say it anyway. If you use Woolite, your clothes will not fade nearly as much (even though they get just as clean as with other detergents). A bottle of Woolite really does not cost that much more than the other detergents, and you don't need to use as much of it as you would the other detergents. Besides, look what your clothes cost! That washtub has hundreds and hundreds of dollars of clothes in it. So what if a bottle of Woolite costs 50 cents or a buck more. You aren't saving any money if you keep prematurely fading your clothes with Tide or dulling them with cheaper detergents like Purex.

Are the European detergents such as Persil and Ariel better at color preservation than the American brands?

 

[pulsatron]

Warm washing cold rinsing

We wash in warm water for all our clothes and I like hot for towels and this seems to give us the best possible result and don't forget I have a twintub so imagine plunging your hands in icy cold water in the middle of winter to transfer the wash into the spinner bbbrrrrrrr.
I must admit though we do our spin rinsing with cold water.
In regards to residue buildup from soap powder and the like once every 2-3 months I half fill the washtub with hot water and add half a bottle of white vinegar and run the washtub through a 10 minute wash and then just drain areally cleans all the gunk out of your hoses and scrubs the washtub as well.
I guess for owners of automatic washers you would simply put your machine through a standard cycle.
Cheers.
Steve

 

[launderess]

Only thing about Woolite that one would call "colour friendly" is that it does not contain OBAs.

Woolite is manily SLS, and while good for washing wool or silks in cold water, wouldn't bother with it for every day laundry, nor more than I would launder my towels in Persil Perwoll. Besides most hand/fine/Woolite type products sold in the United States are SLS based and create mounds of suds, thus a no go in my Miele or any other front loader.

American laundry detergents with the exception of a few like Cheer are full of OBAs, it is those optical brightening agents which cause coloured and dark items to "fade".

Today's top shelf detergents are full of enzymes, thus are quite capable of cleaning in warm water, and actually have a sweet spot at around 100F to 120F. Activated oxygen bleaches also work well within that range, so the need for hot water washing is lessned. Of course if one feels the need to use hot or boil wash temps, have at it by all means. Until electric rates decrease, am sticking to 120F to 100F for most items, and may even break out that box of Tide Coldwater detergent.

 

[frigilux]

I was using Woolite For Dark Colors, but found it didn't take care of ring-around-the collar very well. That and it made mountains of suds in my FL'er. I switched to Cheer for Dark Colors (or whatever it's called) and it cleans pretty well.

I don't use Tide CW (my daily driver) on dark colors, as it as optical brighteners which tend to make blacks and dark grays look faded. It has no problem eradicating ring-around-the-collar on my white shirts. I wear a LOT of black, gray and navy blue from September-May.

 

[launderess]

If one can stand the scent, Persil's "FEWA/Black Magic" is a very good detergent for darks and colours that bleed. Just very highly scented, and that scent is a cross between a cheap tart and hair dye. Have several bottles of the stuff, and still cannot bring myself to use it when I should.

L.