Finally, a word of sanity about wash water temperatures
- Thread starter tomturbomatic
- Start date
I'll stick to Consumer Reports advice rather than unknowns and continue washing my clothes in coldish to warm water. quote "
When It Comes to Water, Keep Cool
Some people don’t believe cold water can clean well, but at CR, we’ve found it gets clothes just as clean and can preserve items longer than warm or hot water. In fact, most modern detergents are designed for cold water, and at CR, we test them using cool water. It’ll also save energy. If it makes you feel better, you can use hot water when you need an extra germ-killing boost. Outside of that, chill out.
I never wash clothing/fabric in tap-cold water. 85°F to 90°F is the lowest I'll go for some types of 'sensitive' items that may bleed or shrink.
I washed a couple jackets yesterday.
One states a choice of "Machine wash warm or cold, do not spin or wring, hang to drip dry" OR "Machine wash warm or cold, complete cycle with spin, machine dry at 160°F." Rather much disparate choice of methods! If it can handle 160°F drying then it doesn't require a cold wash.
The other says "Machine wash cold, gentle cycle, tumble dry low." Low on dryers typically is 125°F to 140°F.
I washed them together on the AquaSmart's designed Bulky/Jackets cycles, which is hard-coded for Warm fill (ATC of 50°C/122°F!). I set the water heater to 105°F, which makes the machine throw a hot-water fault code when it can't attain the ATC target but it doesn't stop filling while beeping in distress. Low/300 RPM final spin but I canceled it after drain and restarted Spin Only at medium/670 RPM.
I have oily hair and tend to sweat to some extent during sleep. Pillow cases develop and retain a shadow-stain if washed at less than a strong warm temperature, 112°F to 116°F is my minimum for that.
I've shared pics of the greasy brown smutz accumulation in my mother's washer via her everything in cold "because that's what you're supposed to do."
I washed a couple jackets yesterday.
One states a choice of "Machine wash warm or cold, do not spin or wring, hang to drip dry" OR "Machine wash warm or cold, complete cycle with spin, machine dry at 160°F." Rather much disparate choice of methods! If it can handle 160°F drying then it doesn't require a cold wash.
The other says "Machine wash cold, gentle cycle, tumble dry low." Low on dryers typically is 125°F to 140°F.
I washed them together on the AquaSmart's designed Bulky/Jackets cycles, which is hard-coded for Warm fill (ATC of 50°C/122°F!). I set the water heater to 105°F, which makes the machine throw a hot-water fault code when it can't attain the ATC target but it doesn't stop filling while beeping in distress. Low/300 RPM final spin but I canceled it after drain and restarted Spin Only at medium/670 RPM.
I have oily hair and tend to sweat to some extent during sleep. Pillow cases develop and retain a shadow-stain if washed at less than a strong warm temperature, 112°F to 116°F is my minimum for that.
I've shared pics of the greasy brown smutz accumulation in my mother's washer via her everything in cold "because that's what you're supposed to do."
Many programmed cycle washers did not fill with any cold wash water for the myriad of cycles they offered. Cold water came about purely as a means to save energy.
phillymatt53
Well-known member
Cold water..... Just another widely spilled bunch of propaganda that the masses will actually believe.
(Manipulation!)
Stop listening to propaganda, use your own judgement, freedom, and common sense.
Stop doing what "they say" you "should" do.
I wash my whites in HOT, and my colored in WARM, and I don't have any issues.
(and warm rinse for everything)
Tide is firmly pro-warm and pro-hot water, tempered by nods to fabric care labels, as you can tell by reading the "How to Wash Clothes" section of their US website. What do they stand to gain from this recommendation, other than customers whose clothes come out clean and keep buying Tide?
But what about odors?
I have found that hot water is the only way to remove odors from fabrics, especially very dirty and smelly clothing and towels.
I have found that hot water is the only way to remove odors from fabrics, especially very dirty and smelly clothing and towels.
I run one cycle -heavy duty... water level according to the load size, hot wash for whites, warm for everything else. If something doesn't survive, I don't really want it in my closet anyways... I even throw silk blend and rayon shirts in, and they do fine.
I use cold water rinses as a general rule, and wash cycles are either warm or hot. Tankless water heater is set to 135. I haven't measured the warm water temperature; I just feel it as it comes out the A712's flume. I have hot and cold supply valves set so that warm feels like somewhere in the 100-110 range. The same seems to apply to my 2004 Neptune, as I don't think it has ATC.
I mostly wash at 40°C (104F), which I've read is the minimum temperature for the hydrogen peroxide produced by the sodium percarbonate in the powder I use to kills 99.9% of bacteria in the wash and also keeps the machine clean and odour and bacteria free. If I was using a more expensive powder with TAED in as well, I'd probably try 30°C, as peracetic acid is supposed to kill 99.99% of bacteria even at 30°C.
Cold water washing is a factor in biofilm build up, leading to the corrosion and failure of the aluminium spider in front loaders.
Cold water washing is a factor in biofilm build up, leading to the corrosion and failure of the aluminium spider in front loaders.
thatwasherguy
Well-known member
I don’t generally use cold water for anything.
I’ve seen first hand what cold water does to a washer, and I don’t want that happening to anything I own. I have also found that cold is just about worthless at actually cleaning any sort of grease or oil. The only time that I ever use cold is when I’m running a washer in the garage off of the garden hose, and even then, I’ll heat the water with one of those sketchy CFL-shaped immersion heaters if I have time.
Thatwasherguy.
I’ve seen first hand what cold water does to a washer, and I don’t want that happening to anything I own. I have also found that cold is just about worthless at actually cleaning any sort of grease or oil. The only time that I ever use cold is when I’m running a washer in the garage off of the garden hose, and even then, I’ll heat the water with one of those sketchy CFL-shaped immersion heaters if I have time.
Thatwasherguy.
phillymatt53
Well-known member
Yes, grease and oil need to be heated in order to be dissolved and removed from laundry.
Then the detergent breaks it up and suspends it.
Sadly, most people don't know, nor do they care to heade this advice. They think that it's wasteful to use warm or hot water.
What the heck? Are you serious? Are you for real? What about whites?
Exactly! And I don't wash or dry on gentle. I use normal! Some people are just plain stupid!Cold water..... Just another widely spilled bunch of propaganda that the masses will actually believe.
(Manipulation!)
Stop listening to propaganda, use your own judgement, freedom, and common sense.
Stop doing what "they say" you "should" do.
I wash my whites in HOT, and my colored in WARM, and I don't have any issues.
(and warm rinse for everything)
Exactly why dishwashers heat the water, even if you don't select high temp wash. Why? Because you're trying to remove food and grease.
