For the guys that ONLY wash in cold water

[gorenje]

Even back in the late '60 and '70 our front loaders had the bleach cycle at the first rinse and not in the wash water (for those who wanted to use it).
Today's front loaders (at least here) have all long ago abandoned this feature.

One think I know for sure is that Chlorine Bleach and detergent foams a lot.
Once I was hand washing something very dirty with powdered detergent. Than I added some Chlorine Bleach and everything has become so foamy, almost like a shave foam. I've also noticed that Chlorine Bleach alone take stains out easily than in combination with detergent.

(the other thing I also know for sure is that Clorine Bleach should not be mixed with Ammonia because it releases highly toxic Chlorine Gas, but this fact is already well known by everyone, it's also written on the bottle)

 

[joe_in_philly]

As far as I know, Whirlpool designed FL washers, including my Kenmore HE3t, dispense bleach in the first rinse.

 

[pierreandreply4]

not related to cold or hot water wash and i am not hitting o

yet another proof that for me fl washer is a bad choice for me my duet washer has that feature and i hate that feature as it damages my clothes with a top load washer this is not a problem because if i have to use bleach witch is very rare 1% of the time i would put it as the washer fills in the wash tub for the first wash the rinse portion of a cycle is meant for rinsing clothes not adding bleach and in case you do not know this when you see this symbol on a care label guide that means do not use bleach i for one thing can say that my bed sheets can not take clorine bleach because they get damage if i have to use some it will be the color safe non clorine type like clorox2 color safe bleach.

 

[ronhic]

Pierre...

...well you go right ahead and wash the way you prefer.

 

On the other hand, most of us here will listen to those with many many years of experience and far greater knowledge in order to learn how it should be done to improve our results. Launderess is one such person you can learn from as are all the manufacturers that dispense bleach either at the END of the wash portion of a cycle or in the first rinse.

 

Personally, I like to know how and when a product should be introduced even if I don't use it - Only Speek Queen front load machines sold in Oz are likely have a bleach dispenser, no others do and only a few top load machines have one.

 

[gorenje]

Since also here only few front loaders have the Bleach dispenser the manufacturers of washing machines and also producers of Bleaches advise to those who would like to use it to add the Bleach (cca. 220 ml) in the prewash cycle without the detergent and than to proceed normaly with the main wash cycle with the detergent.
Otherwise if the machine has the dispenser it is dispensed in the first rinse (just a few ml).

Ingemar

 

[launderess]

Top Loading Washing Machines And Chlorine Bleach

Adding chlorine bleach to the start of a wash cycle by whatever method one chooses still isn't a wonderful idea. Again most of the bleaching including stain removal will have occured within five minutes or less, longer wash times in a bleach bath does nothing to shift soils/stains furhter and only serves to wreck havoc on textiles.

Many top loading washing machines dispensed bleach during the last portion of a timed wash cycle and the better designed dispensers sent the bleach down between the tubs so it could be mixed with water. Indeed cannot think of anyone "silly" enough to design a bleach dispense that would *dump* the thing directly onto laundry, but I could be wrong.

Chlorine bleach is *very* difficult to rinse out of textiles especially cotton. Most American top loaders only offer one rinse with some in the past or perhaps even today have two. If chlorine bleach was used for laundering regardless of the cycle the wash needs to be rinsed until one can no longer smell LCB. If you can still detect even a whiff of the stuff then it is still there.

Chlorine bleach residue in textiles continues to work upon the goods if not rinsed/neutralised away. This is can lead to yellowing, weakening, holes and the other damamge so often associated with it's use. Commercial laundries and or professional laundry workers have long known about various chemcials that act as "anti-chlors". However their purpose is to deal with the final traces of bleach after the wash has been properly rinsed.

Europeans have long known about the dangers of "eau de Javelle" and is one of the reasons oxygen bleaches have long be favoured on that side of the pond. However the shorter wash cycles and diluted water conditions of top loaders have long favoured chlorine bleach. Even with P&G and all it's research and advances in activated oxgyen bleaching systems Amercians still pour chlorine bleach into wash loads that use "Tide With Bleach" or any of the other oxygen bleach containing detergents, totally cancelling the benefits of both.

Also as American housewives moved away from pre-soaking/washing and boiling laundry chlorine bleach went from the occasional use to mandatory for a "whiter than white" wash.