Here we go again, the mantra of washing laundry in cold water

[ryner1988]

Warm water most of the time over here...

I wash most of our clothes and linens in warm water, don't use hot or cold very often. We have almost no whites so no real need to worry about dye transfer or anything like that. I don't really understand why most clothing labels say to wash in cold now, and on items that in my opinion aren't that special or fancy. For instance I bought a couple pairs of cotton track pants from Old Navy, just basic elastic pants, and they say to wash in cold. What the heck for? I've washed them on warm several times now and they've been just fine. Now I am pretty careful with the dryer, drying most things on low except towels, socks, and underwear. Hang drying really isn't much of an option here except for items that absolutely require it, because we have no yard and minimal space inside.

 

[stan]

Nasty

Maybe I’m the only one in the free work that still hand washes dishes using a dishpan, but can you imagine what the dishpan would look like if one only used cold water?
Top or front loader washing machines are going to be gunked up with pure nastiness with constant use of cold water, liquid detergents and fabric softener! (I don’t use)
Many of us here have taken washing machines apart and have seen what can build up on outer & inner tubs.
Yes we all have to wash certain things in cold, but for everything?
Nope

 

[ea56]

Stan My Friend

You aren’t alone in washing your dishes by hand. I’ve been washing the dishes by hand for over four years now. And I wouldn’t dream of using cold water to do it either. And BTW I can’t ever see myself going back to using the DW.

At the very least warm water needs to be used for doing most of the laundry, with the rare exception of certain fabrics that would be adversely effected by not washing them in cold water.

Eddie

 

[stan]

Hi Eddie

That’s what I get for assuming I was alone with my dishpan!
I’ve never had a DW so I don’t know anything else
But I’ve not heard of someone having a DW that gave it up?
Prey tell?

 

[ea56]

Stan,

In April 2018 I’d started the DW with a full load in the afternoon while I was getting dinner ready. When the cycle was complete I opened up the DW to put the clean dishes away. What I found was a dirty load of dishes with the food baked on them. The pump apparently had gone out and the water just sat at the bottom of the tub with the detergent undissolved because it hadn’t been recirculated with the water, and I’d used the heated dry option.

So in the middle of dinner prep I had to wash 3 days worth of dishes with baked on food and detergent by hand, and I wasn’t a happy camper. Since the DW was just under 1 year old and still under warranty I called Whirlpool to make a service appt. The soonest they could get someone out to repair it was over 3 weeks out.

In the meantime I of course had to do the dishes by hand and I found that I actually liked doing them by hand better! I always had every pan, bowl and implement clean and ready for use whenever I wanted to use them. No more stopping to remove a dirty pan from the DW to wash it by hand. And no more having to unload and put away dishes an hour and a half after I’d finished dinner and have to disrupt my evening after getting comfortable watching a movie or show. Leaving them until the next morning doesn’t work for someone OCD like me, plus I don’t like to start my day with work, I want to read the paper while I have my breakfast and tea.

And I found that the whole process of doing the dishes by hand was oddly calming. While waiting for the DW to be repaired we had family over for Easter dinner and even doing all the dishes for lots of people and a big holiday meal wasn’t a deterrent.

After the DW was repaired I decided to just keep on doing the dishes by hand and I like it so much better! I wash and David dries and puts them away. Its a pleasant ritual that we both enjoy. And it takes all of 10 mins or less using about 2-3 gals of water. I don’t let the water run only turn it on very low to rinse and I let the rinse water go into the dishwashing side of the sink. By starting out with only 2” of hottest water in the sink washing the cutlery first, then the glassware, next plates and the bowls pot and pans this way I use a minimal amount of water to save water. When I’m finished there are maybe 6” of hot soapy dishwater in the sink, which I then use to clean the stove top and wipe down the counters. I save this water to wash the dessert, coffee and tea dishes later on to save water.

I also took the garbage disposal out too a few years before starting to wash the dishes by hand, we compost instead.

I use the DW to store the dish draining rack and drainboard and the coffee can we use for the compost, so I still use the DW, just not for its intended purpose.

I know most members here think I’m crazy as a crap house rat. But at age 71 I’m entitled to my do it my way.

Eddie

 

[stan]

Eddie

After reading that I’m glad I never had one!
We kind of do the same thing but I just have one big old sink
(reason for the dishpan)
Dinner clean up is shared. When cooking I have dishpan filled with “hot” sudsy water and clean as I go.
That way there’s not much to do after dinner. I try my best to save water too, but sounds like you have it down to exact Science.
I don’t compost Per se
Scraps are separated…some for the chickens and the rest go in news paper or whatever I can find and taken straight to the alley garbage can. The rats can have what’s left. LOL

 

[angus]

Interesting issue - and one that is definitely very personal with no single correct answer for everyone. I grew up without a dishwasher until 1975. So my mother had to do dishes three times a day and when there was a holiday dinner, that was another production altogether. I can see both sides - when I am alone I don't use many dishes so it makes sense to keep up daily by doing them by hand. Right now, though, I have my sister living with me. She is a first class slob who believes every drink of water and every snack needs a new dish or glass- and not paper or plastic. Also, since she has limited mobility I'm the one doing the dishes after every meal, not to mention cleaning up after her constantly, shopping and preparing all meals. So for now, it's the dishwasher.

For larger groups (dinner parties, holidays, etc..) it's definitely the dishwasher. I'm not a big fan of washing tons of water and wine glasses by hand and that's where the dishwasher excels. Glasses are hard to get perfect by hand...

By contrast, one of my friends (a self professed genius, engineer and OCD) has never used a dishwasher. He claims to have "invented" a foolproof process that results in dishes as clean as a dishwasher gets them, using much less water and in a fraction of the time. That would normally be fine but he uses his platform to "dishwasher shame" his friends into hand washing and his results don't pan out. On several occasions I have had to eject him from my kitchen during a group dinner for starting to unload the dishwasher and wash things by hand. And his "foolproof" process is only correct on two counts - speed and water saving. As OCD as he is about everything (his house and yard are immaculate), I have never had dinner at his house where I didn't need to wash a glass before using it. When I point it out to him, I am being a "drama queen". Sorry, but I refuse to drink from a glass with someone else's lip prints on it.
So while there is no one correct answer for all, my only non negotiable is immaculate drink ware...

 

[ea56]

Reply#25

I don’t blame you for not wanting to drink out of glasses with someone else's lip prints on the rim, thats nasty.
I use an old fashioned waffle weave cotton dish cloth when I wash the dishes, a fresh one daily. I go over EVERY surface of EACH item I’m washing with the dish cloth to be certain that nothing is missed.

Since I grew up without a DW and didn’t have one until I was 36 years old I’m well schooled in proper dishwashing technique. Some younger people that have never been without a DW may not have the skill set to wash dishes properly by hand, but it can be learned.

Everyones different, but I can assure you my kitchen and everything in it is spotless. I don’t like anything to be dirty. When I still used the DW I almost always had to hand wash at least one or two things that hadn’t gotten clean enough to suit me.

Eddie[this post was last edited: 8/12/2022-11:09]

 

[sudsmaster]

I hate washing dishes.
 
Back in the 60's in SF, radio station KYA had a DJ named Ed Hider. His thing was to intersperse music with humorous clips he'd collected from God Knows Where. One of my favorites was the one with the sound of dishes breaking and a woman screaming, "I hate washing dishes!" over and over. Somewhere I might have a tape of that, but it might have been lost when I played it back in a funky recorder. But I did make a little loop of it to play in unusual locations. One such was in a set of caves we used to frequent. The tourist reactions were priceless.
 

 

[mrsalvo]

I, too, have been washing more dishes by hand. I like to get done and not wait on the 2 hour dishwasher, then have to go back and unload. I still use the dishwasher when Im baking or cooking a lot but since I live alone, I have to save up enough dishes for a full load and that takes nearly a week, and then the dishwasher gets odorous!!! It’s just easier and faster to wash them and be done with it.

A good top shelf dish soap is worth its weight in gold. I did find that a few lower-or-middle-shelf dish soaps can leave an unpleasant aroma on the dishes, and you have to use a lot to cut the grease. Ivory can smell like a wet dog, and those soaps that are “seasonal”, ie. pumpkin spice smelling etc. is just weird. Palmolive has a strong disinfectant scent, that too can linger on dishes.

As for laundry I’ve been washing more in just warm water and getting better results. Think they have reformulated the detergents. Someone had observed the same results and posted. It’s hard to not use hot water on whites though, just learned behavior.

Barry

 

[sudsmaster]

Sudsy bath towels

Yesterday I ran a load of bath sheets, and although I added far less detergent (Kirkland Ultra Plus liquid) than usual, the suds wouldn't go away. Finally I had to run almost 10 rinses in order to bring the suds down to a manageable level.

This is in a Neptune 7500.

The next load I run (I wash ~ 1/2 the total number each time) I won't add any detergent. We'll see.

 

[cleanteamofny]

What's best???

<h2> </h2>
<h2><span id="When_to_wash_towels_in_cold_hot_or_warm_water">When to wash towels in cold, hot, or warm water</span></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">As earlier stated, towels are meant to be washed in cold or warm water. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">But, does this mean that we are never to use hot water on our towels? </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Surely you must have come across a label on some towels that reads “hot water-friendly,” what then do they mean? </span>

 

<span style="font-weight: 400;">There are specific times when you might have to choose a different water temperature like hot water for instance, over the ideal cold or warm. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Hot water is perfect for your towels to get soaked in when they are extremely dirty and heavily infested with germs and bacteria. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">How do you know your towel is contaminated with germs? </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Various research has proven that a bath towel most especially, is home to over 80% of bacteria and disease-causing germs. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">The more you use a towel without washing it, the more germs you collate, and the more the towel fibers are rendered useless. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">When your towels get to this point, what it needs goes far beyond just a cold or warm water wash. At this point, the towels are actually yearning to be rejuvenated. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Hot water helps in loosening the fibers by softening the ingrained dirt clogging the pores. Asides from that, it kills the bacteria and germs and expels that damp odor.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">On the other hand, cold water is perfect for a first wash and subsequent weekly wash. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">It is advised that you wash new towels before even using them. This you are to do with cold water and a very tiny amount of detergent. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Cold water easily removes every form of dust or debris and wash towels clean. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Warm water can be used to treat towels periodically and rid them of day-to-day bacteria.</span>

 

<span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span>

<h1><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Tide Hygienic Clean and Bounce every third washing.</span></h1>
<h1><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></h1>
 

 

https://tauwel.com/should-towels-be-washed-in-hot-water/

 

[DADoES]

 
Being that 99.9% of my towels are white or colorfast, there's no logical reason to wash them in a separate cold-water load when they can all go together with the accumulated load of all the kitchen cloths and towels, socks, and other white cottons in hot water.  Less water usage is involved for a single LARGE load vs. multiple small loads.

 

[circlew]

Who wrote that article Larry posted? It sounds like something written either by a computer, or by a foreign person without good understanding of the English language. That's a very strange usage of the word "collate" - I think "collect" is the more appropriate word. Collate means to collect, sort, and assemble in a particular order - something that doesn't happen with germs in a towel.

I wonder who such a piece of information is aimed at? They must think their readers are total idiots. It's common sense to wash a new towel before use. Towels "yearning" to be be rejuvenated? That's a new one on me!

 

[cleanteamofny]

 

 

Tom,

let's just say it is a third-party Amazon link.

We must take this article with a grain of salt and march to our own drummer's beat.

 

<header class="entry-header">
<strong style="background-color: var(--global--color-background); color: var(--global--color-primary); font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);">Tauwel.com</strong><span style="background-color: var(--global--color-background); color: var(--global--color-primary); font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);"> is a full-time participant of the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.</span>

</header>

 

 

[bradfordwhite]

The more plush a towel is, the more care one has to give them to keep them fluffy.

That tends to mean not using hot water, not using to much fabric softener, and making sure to dry them in a tumble dryer vs. air drying.

Certain sheet set will quickly deteriorate if you wash in hot water...I've learned from experience.

 

[bpetersxx]

more on this

now I'm in the group

new T shirts I got have to be washed in cold water

no fabric softener

Are they kidding

T shirts are worn next to the skin you have to wash them in warm or hot water

or cold water and ludicrous amounts of detergent oxy clean snowy bleach or some such rubbish

and wash them for ludicrous amounts of time

 

[appnut]

I've learned that most likely so much indicates being washed in cold water is to avoid liability due to shrinkage or other "damage" to fabrics. Most people don't give a tought about approaching laundry. They just toss clothes in the machine, throw in some chemicals, and push a button that gives them the same settings repeatedly. I recently bought a new set of towels. Instructions said wash cold; gentle cycle tumble dry low. I washed them in luke warm water dried on medium when I brought them home. After using them for the first time I upped the wash temp to about 130F and dried on medium high. the last time I washed them the hot temep was about 140. No issues whatsoever.

 

[thomasortega]

Los angeles, California....

In my laundry room hot means HOT.

I cook my clothes (towels, whites and light colors) in freaking hot
Blacks and darks, eventually, warm (depending on what loads im washing together, it deplets the water from my heater before it has a chance to recover).

Wool or anything extremely delicate, ok, i may consider a cold wash.

And regarding rinses.... if I see a tiny bubble when the asher is draining in the laundry sink, that is an extra rinse (or 2 or 15) before the final rinse with a capful of downy april fresh.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

cold washing

Cold washing will never go away. Nothing has changed.