For the guys that ONLY wash in cold water

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@gorenje

That's exactly the point!

Of course we all here in the club wash in warm/hot water, as said above, we're more careful than the biggest part of the population, the average housekeepers.

Brazilians can get excellent results using cold water (considering the coldest cities, even during the winter). As I said above, this is so "normal" here in Brazil that most people never heard about using warm or hot water to do laundry. (and i'm talking about water so cold that we can't stand).
Even I wouldn't mind doing my laundry in cold water if I travel to Gramado, for example, during the winter. I know it would come out of the washer very clean, no nasty odours, no spots, no nothing. simply clean.

In London, for example, I wouldn't even think about having the same result using the same parameters.

So... what is the parameter changing? Maybe the water? Maybe the detergents?

The first test would help us discovering that. everybody doing a load following exactly the same parameters.

Second test: As we love laundry, we all know it's possible to get perfect results even using only water (maybe the machine would have to agitate the clothes for weeks, non stop, but sooner or later the load would be clean even without detergent, right? Then, the second test matches with Dj Gabriele's question.

What are the procedures/aditives we would have to do/use in different parts of the globe to get perfect results, with only one parameter in common, the cold water in exact same temperature.

A very nice example is darks. Here in Brazil nobody (including me) would think about heating the water to wash blacks or darks (considering very cold water again) The load leaves the washer perfect, using shortest cycle, dry ok and NEVER get smelly.

The same load in Europe, even after the longest cold cycle, would leave the washer smelling bad as a wet dog. (considering same temperature). and if we change only the temperature parameter, it comes out great as in Brazil.

So... Why that? That's what i'm curious to discover.

It would also be fun, a big project, with as many people from the club we could gather, averybody doing exactly the same thing at the same time.

Also, it would be nice to understand more about the average laundry habits from each country, not considering our perfect habits, but the habits ordinary people have to get the clothes cleaned.

As far as we all know, even the sorting habits change from country to country/ region to region.

Got the idea?
 
One other thing I'm sure.

Brazilian Omo is different form australian Omo, portuguese (from Portugal) Skip and UK Persil. Each coutry has different formulation, maybe to match the habits or the water.

portuguese Skip cleans better than Omo here in Brazil. But If I send a box of Omo to Portugal, it will clean much better than Skip. (Perhaps Unilever should swap the formulas LOL)

We're always talking about STPP. Here in Brazil it was also banned (not officially by the government, but manufacturers decided to do it. and guess what... our Ariel WITHOUT phosfates clean better than the STPP loaded old version.
Most people don't even know what is phosfate, but everybody knows they have to get the boxes that say "STPP free" on the supermarket to get cleaner clothes.

The same american Tide many people here say that doesn't clean as well as the old versions, here cleans like any other brand. odd, isn't it?

Surprisingly, some results are better here if we use cold water, instead of warm or hot. (now that's really confusing, even to me, and i simply can't understand why). More than hundreds of times i thought about throwing ice cubes in the washer to get better results, but never did it.
 
There is nothing wrong in washing in cold water

Hello everyone,

Me i wash everything in cold water and there is nothing wrong in washing in cold water, for one thing washing in cold water is safer for clothe and second you even save on your electric bill and second when i wash in warm water this is very rare and i will never use the hot water setting on my washer if i have to use this temp it will only be if i am recovering from a cold other wise i will wash my bed sheets in warm water and most or all the detergent i use are cold water formulas and i can also ad that washing in cold water your clothe get even cleaner and here is something that i have read on the web *cold water is usually adequate to clean white and colored clothes. In fact, washing clothes in cold water allows fabrics to retain their color and strength longer.* i for one thing will always have my washer set on cold water wash and cold water rinse and this is my 2 cent on this matter
 
A subject I'm very interested in....

Okay I walked on the Cold side a while ago.

I researched this for ages and ages and experimented with different methods.

I am a single gay father of 2 children (complicated coming out) lol.

So...my dear boys throw me some pretty heavy food stains and everything else on occasion.

I wash clothing at 30degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in my Hotpoint Aqualtis cycle times average 1hr 30.

If you do alot of research you will establish even from manufacturers of cold detergents that you should still wash towels and sheets on a hot wash and use powder detergent. You should also run a monthly maintenance wash at maximum temperature once a month to stop any build up and gunk in the machine.

When I began washing at cooler temperatures I had an LG steam which my darling ex fiance kept and wouldn't let me have back! Grr! I used the cold water option which in the height of summer is roughly 15degree's Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit) I used Detergents specific for cold washing (Ariel Excel Gel & Formil Powder) and I also used standard detergents to see how they worked.

I was skeptical at first and was amazed at the results. Things came out great every time.

The benefit of modern European machine's is you can extend the cycle to really get the use out of the detergent so there is nothing to stop you getting a comparable result of a higher temperature without turning up the temp.

I will never wash my towels and sheets lower than 60degree's Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit) and using a biological powder which contains oxygen bleach. This both is sanitary for the fabric and the machine.

More recently there are many additives which contain disinfectants which would allow you to wash everything at a lower temperature which are also good but obvious comes at extra cost.

I did an experiment with a load of towels in my LG steam washing them at 30degrees Celsius (86 degree's Fahrenheit) using the steam option which came out at perfect. This really showed the benefits of steam as the steam is very hot and penetrates fabrics 1600x more than water. I wouldn't wash towels at this temperature without the steam and I intend to buy a new LG as I have just started a new higher paid job.

Sorry if I am going on a little with this post.

In conclusion Cooler water is great for most normal clothing not for towels/bedding.

Darren

newwave1++10-13-2011-03-15-2.jpg
 
It's not the point I don't believe you.
I've already seen those commercials.

I think we should keep in mind a couple of things.

1) The water - We in Europe have different water than you in America or others in Asia and Australia (apparently).
2) The detergent - that's very important! If a detergent is specificaly developed to work in Cold conditions it's obvious the result is better. Quite all of ours European detergents are formulated with sodium perborate which does its best at higher temperature. It sanitise, whitens and removes stains. It is ineffective in Cold water!
3)The Bleach (LCB) - it's not hard to achieve whiter whites if you are using Bleach, but we in Europe don't use bleach to do our laundry. And please don't tell me that Cold water will save your fabrics if than you are using Chlorine Bleach. The Bleach will damage you laundry much more than Hot water.

Anyway the big difference in saving is the fact you are using top loaders and filling a top loader with Hot water is in fact much more expensive than heat the tiny amount of water in an European front loader.
So if I am turning down to Cold in my front loader I will save just a little and it is not worth it because on dirty whites the result will be catastrophic.
Darren shared his experience of doing laundry in Cooler water than usual with good results, but using Steem that we all know it's hot. The Steem replaced the Hot water.

I am very skeptical about one thing. The white washing! Especially the dirt one. I am quite sure if I wash some very dirty dish towels stained with tomato sauce, ragú, spinch, red vine, coffe and oily stains in a front loader with a profile wash on Hot WITHOUT Chlorine Bleach the result will be much whiter than doing the same load in America with a top loader set on Cold with a Cold water detergent WITHOUT Chlorine Bleach.

Maybe some day we will have also here in Europe detergents that will do a good job in Cold water but it is hard to belive because the thing is much more "cultural" than it appears. Our "modus vivendi" (way of living) is different and it will take a lot of time to change a thing.

Take a look at this P&G article on "scienceinthebox" web page.

"It should not surprise us, then, that the performance (i.e., results in terms of soil removal) of the laundry process is significantly higher in Europe (nearly two times better than in North America and more than two times better than in Japan"

Ingemar

 
I am confused

Is this a Cold water v Warm/Hot water thread

a

Front Load V. Top Load thread

a

Euro V. American detergent thread 

or Just a

Euro V Americans

 

The Mine's cleaner than Yours argument is solved just as easily as the Mine's bigger than Your's; Just whip it out.
 
@iheartmaytag

You're completely right!

I just wanted to know how people deal with cold water washing:
how it's done for them and what they do to get clean clothes as if it was me doing it, it would mean going out with dirty stuff to say the least!
 
Well, when I do 'cold' water washes...

...the water is tepid, but never tap cold. Though, the temperature is usually about 20 degrees centigrade and I wash with Cold Power. I prefer to raise the temperature from absolutely tap cold to tepid for better results. Towels, whites and colorfast stuff gets washed hot at approx. 60 degrees centigrade and I still use Cold Power. It is formulated for cold and hot washing and I find that it does a very good job; plus I like the original scent.

Water in Australia usually comes from above ground catchments or, if one lives in some parts of the outback, the Great Artesian Basin. It is generally soft and there is usually no need for water conditioners. The water that is sourced from the Great Artesian Basin ranges in temperature from 30 to 100 degrees centigrade and is even softer than the dam water. In many areas it has to be cooled before it reaches household taps and its softness allows people to reduce detergent use. It is fantastic for doing laundry.
 
I do use predominatley cold for colors and brights. Whites and sheets get a hot wash. I use typically liquid detergent color safe bleach extra rinses and air dry. Colored towels get a warm wash soak and extra rinse. And believe me my skin allergies are no more. I also do white undershirts in the warm wash and warm rinse and oddly they come out whiter. So 100% cold water washing no, but rags kitchen towels etc. Do get boiled. The only laundry load that gets hot wash is white socks, white towels, and white washcloths.
 
in my case me i am 100% cold water wash

i would say that me in my case i am 100% the cold wash type and if i had to wash my bed sheets in cold water because of my home water heater was faulty i will and do not ask me if my washer as an integrated water heater it do not but i do wash my bed sheets in warm water but i would never use the hot water temp on my washer.
 
We have hot water, our hot water is set on "extreme  scaulding danger".  I wanted to be frugal when we first moved here and found the dishwasher was getting "medium hot" water from the water heater, well that was the end of "frugal".  Long runs of pipe , and the water heater is downstairs, the pipes then run through an unheated crawlspace to the kitchen and one of our bath's. That said the top load Maytags are the first stop on the run of pipe I don't know about results but i do not like to wash in cold water.  Sometimes in the winter I mainly use the older Maytag with the warm rinse. I can not tell the difference in the gas bill except in the bitter cold of winter, and thats the furnace burning up gas in cold weather. My brother farms and i can tell you, his jeans and overalls look much better when run all the way thru in cold to rid of the grass and cow manure stains then we run them again in hot for the machinery oil and grease.  Do the new fangled FL machines have a program to deal with something like this? Farming soils are challenging.  In short warm would suffice for us.  My brother's laundry  needs both a cold and hot wash. I guess there is a reason people do what they do, my late mother  wore out washers on a 3 to 1 ratio, as she used the clothes line in summer. Her dryers lasted a very long time. To be honest,  folks with electric water heaters, i don't blame you for using warm or cold. alr
 
Answering your question, no, front loaders don't have any problem with hot water.

When I'm on the mood to perform hot washers, i can set my tankless water heater to minimum flow and maximum power. it reaches 75C and the water goes straight in my Ecoturbo. (more than that the heater's safety valve cuts the flow)

The user manual says to set the heater to "at least" 50c so.... why not 25C more?
and my machine never had any problems with it.

Most, if not all, front loaders heats the water up to 90C. Some models reach the limit: 95C more than that the water would boil and evaporate before the end of the wash.
 
In order to make a decision whether you are going to wash in cold water or not at least some knowledgy is necessary.

In my not so humble opinion, the law of physics still apply. When doing laundry one should never forget that there are four important factors that help your laundry get clean:

Time
Temperature
Chemicals (detergent)
Mechanical action (Agitation or tumbling)

You can make a formula out of these factors:

Time x Temperature x Chemicals x Mechanical Action = Clean laundry

If laundry is being done at a lower temperature this has to be compensated by increasing one or more of the other factors. This means longer wash times, more chemicals or/and more mechanical action. When it comes to detergent, it's possible that detergents for washing in cold water are more agressive than other detergents. Or perhaps the dosage is higher than of regular detergent. But somehow that lower temperature needs to be compensated otherwise laundry will not come clean. Just a matter of physics!!

An exception are dustmites. If you want to kill dustmites you need to use hot water (at least 140*F or 60*C, and the laundry needs to be kept at that temperature for an hour). Detergent can help a little but can't compensate for washing in cold water. Dustmites are very strong creatures, they can survive a lot of circumstances.
 
Years ago detergent packets and or laundry manuals advised if one was washing in cold water to add more product to compensate for lack of thermal cleaning power.

Tide Cold Water liquid and powder are slightly more concentrated than their warmer water cousins. Indeed the liquid bottle and cap are slightly smaller to reflect one uses less product but still gets the same amount of washes as the other types.

Now will grant you that detergents of old may have required a longer contact time when washing in cold water, but today's choices are a different animal.

Loaded with "frankenzymes" and modern surfactants, polymers and god only knows what else, cold water detergents today are prefectly capable of shifting most soils and stains in the same time alloted as warm or hot.

The only fly in the ointment will come from certain stains that no matter what the detergent will require bleaching for total removal. IIRC Tide Cold Water powder contains a special activated bleaching system that allows it to work even in cold water. Gave my box to Mama (who in turn gave it away) so cannot try this theory out in person.

Regarding Dust Mites.

A recent study (it can be found on the Internet) states that while washing temps of 140F or above kill dust mites, the same affect was also had by washing at lower temps (warm or hot) and followed by several cold water rinses.
 
Loaded with "frankenzymes" and modern surfactants, p

That is exactly what I mean. More chemicals!

As for killing dust mites, are you talking about the linked article?

If you read it carefully you will see that only hot water will kill dustmites. Hot water is also better at removing pollen. The alternative, washing in warm water and rinsing with cold is an alternative for removing pollen, not for killing dustmites.

The little critters like warm water way too much and can survive a warm wash and two cold rinses without a problem.

 

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