High Temp Wash Question, New Washer In the Works

[ironrite]

After 5 1/2 years my Frigidaire F/L is starting to get its death rattles. Had the shocks replaced under warranty, but when it goes into the high speed spin the drum bangs and clanks. I'm going to run it until it does finally go.

But in the meantime, I'm looking at new front loaders. We're planning on getting a large capacity machine, right now the tango red Samsung is looking good as well as Bosch. The Bosch 500 series has a 3 minute boost up to 170 degrees.

So here's the question. I know you can wash white clothes and use that temp boost, sanitary boost and get them to come out white. I'm allergic to chlorine bleach, so that's not an option for keeping whites white. Can you use the temp boost on say colored cotton/poly blend shirts, pants, knit type pullovers to help get stains out. Usual stuff like food stains, deodorant marks, etc? Any problems with clothes shrinking due to the hot water temp or fading of the colors?

 

[launderess]

Polyester like most man made fiber is thermoplastic, that is high heat will cause the fiber to distort and or crease. If your washing machine has a permanent press cycle then laundring poly or poly/cotton at 120F would be the highest one would go. My Miele adds cold water towards the end of the PP cycle, then drains a bit,then repeat about several times. This cools down the temp before the complete drain of the wash water. It also give three rinses without spins in between to further in sure fiber protection.

Personally have found no difference in whites done with Persil or a good regular TOL HE detergent and a dose of oxygen bleach, done at 120F versus 140F or higher. Only time will use temps of 140F is when laundering towels and such to "sanitise". Am here to tell you that repeated laundering of most of today's textiles at temps of 170F or above will greatly shorten their lifespan.

Problem is the very long cycle times, coupled with high heat. One shouldn't "boil" laundry for more than 10 minutes; however most front loaders with heaters have very long wash cycles, especially those running on 120V. Forty-five mintues of being beaten about is not great for many things, especially at temps of 160F and above.

Shrinkage normally occurs with very hot water washing AND hot drying/over drying. However hot water in general tends to cause more wrinkling and "shrinkage" due to fibers and threads constricting during the wash process.

 

[toggleswitch]

Usign this mettod and pelnty of rinsing I no longer get the

~I'm allergic to chlorine bleach, so that's not an option for keeping whites white. (BASE/ALKALINE)

Even if the laundry is rinsed in white vinegar which chemically neutralizes the bleach? (ACID)

ACID + BASE => (yields) SALT + WATER.

Oven cleaner is composed of lye, and is higly alkaline/ base.
Rinse is done with vinegar (or lemon) and water.
Resulting streaks are salt, which need more rinsing.

Harsh chemical is by this method gone and neutralized, and the oven is one again safe for food.

Should be the same with bleach.........

You want to see an alergic reation? So waht I did years ago... reverse the bleach and softener in the dispensers of a machine that does not have the slots marked.......... OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. Every time I'd sweat it would reactivate the bleach and burn my skin... AIIIIIIIIII.

 

[ironrite]

It worked for my Mom!

Launderess, I had to laugh! My mother used her brew of Tide, Clorox, very hot water and other various laundry aids in her Maytag wringer. Clothes got washed for at least 45 minutes, sometimes an hour. Starting with the whites, she would reuse the water for a couple of loads, adding more Tide and bleach as needed. She did my laundry until I moved out of the house when I was about 21. She wouldn't let anybody touch that washer of hers! Didn't want an automatic because in her opinion, they didn't clean very well.

Steve, that may be it! I think I just figured it out...I have Clorox posioning! All those years of Tide and Clorox must have done it! Even using an extra rinse and high speed spin, it takes 3-4 washes through the Frigidaire to get rid of the bleach residue. And I only use that small amount the dispensor holds. Have also tried the vinegar in the final rinse, but no help for me. Still itch like crazy from the bleach.

What got me started on the heated wash was one of our members at the Tucson 2005 Wash In had on a very white tee shirt. Was not new, but he has a Bosch and uses the higher temp cycle for his whites. And if I recall he didn't use bleach.

Looking at the owners manuals online for these new machines, it seems like they all use some sort of sensors, programs, etc. to measure the dirt in the clothes, check the water temp, adjust the temp with the heater from a cooler start to a hotter wash, then back down. Plus many have a prewash or a soak cycle, things my current machine doesn't have. Those things may help with getting the stains out.

So keep the comments coming! As always I appreciate the help.

 

[launderess]

STPP - Nuff Said

If you want to keep whites "white", there is nothing better than a good "hot" wash (120F is fine), and some phosphates, along with a good detergent either with oxygen bleach or added seperately.

Very high wash temps are fine for removing some stains,but find, as stated before 120F to 140F with a good detergent (I add STPP on it's own, but sometimes don't when using the German detergent Persil), and there is less stress/damage to textiles. Noticed no real difference in normal laundry results when cranking up the temp to extreme temperatures verus the lower range of "hot" water.

Trick for good laundry and stain removal when using hot water is to either start with warm and let the machine gradually bring the water up to temp, or, have cool to warm pre-wash cycle first then a hot wash.

L.

 

[seamusuk]

Chlorine bleach in Euro type front loaders..

Isnt needed- simple.....

If you use a decent detergent no front loading machine should require chlorine bleach- especially not Miele and other models with inbuilt heaters and longer wash times. The only UK market machines that have a bleach compartment are some AEG models and its labeled stain treatment not bleach!

Seamus

 

[tumbler]

Hi temp f.l. machines

My Duet HT has a heater which is used only in the "Whiter Whites," "Heavy Duty" and "Sanitary" cycles. In the first two, it will only come on if needed to maintain the wash water temp at around 128 degrees F. In the Sanitary cycle, it heats the main wash water to 154. Rather than use chlorine bleach on my whites, I use Ecover or 7th Generation all-fabric bleach which is actually nothing but a strong concentration of hydrogen peroxide. I use it with the Whiter Whites cycle (and deselect the extra rinse option) and add it both to the main wash detergent and to the bleach dispenser. Works great. I wash my greasy, filthy work clothes using the "Sanitary" cycle.

 

[ironrite]

Decisions Decisions

So far the Frigidaire is still holding up and have decided will just wait until it finally goes. Have been looking at all the machines out there. It's worse than trying to buy a new car!

Saw a commercial last night for the Fisher Paykel top loader that doesn't have an agitator, so now there is another one in the mix. And that new Miele large capacity looks good too! For now, will just keep reading the websites and the thread here and will probably toss a coin when the time comes for the new machine.

 

[lederstiefel1]

Washing time - Ironrite

Hi! To tell the truth: there is a big difference between washing an hour in a tub-washer with agitator not pulsator (wringer-washer or TL) and in a tumbling-washer with reversing drum (FL or TL). Tumbling is much stronger in rubbing, milling/fulling and kneading than any agitation is; even than pulsating action! One-way pulsation is no good when used for prolonged action because of its very vigorous drive that tears so much on fabric-fibres.
And with tumble drying it's the same; rubbing dry fibres is the strongest abbrasion possible! Therefor I do not use tumblers at all, only cabinet dryers!

Ralf

 

[lavamat78800]

In my dryers manual is written that the biggest abbrasion is while washing clothes and that the smallest abbrasion is while drying in a tumble-dryer.

 

[panthera]

Ralf,

I am not quite sure tumble drying is as bad for clothes as all that. I live in a "Beamtenghetto" in Munich and the old biddies don't let us young things (jeder unter 70 ist "jung") use the clothes line.
Because of this, I tumble dry everything. Lots of my silk shirts are over 10 years old, many cotton shirts from the 1980's.
(I have no fashion sense, none).
Of course, I don't dry wool and knits are dried at a very low temperature.
But nothing has been destroyed yet.
I think too hot of water, chlorine bleach, too much harsh detergent and too long washing are much worse than drying just until ready to go in the wardrobe.
Oh, do you remember the old Siemens symbols for "Shranktrocken?" I think I lived in Germany for 10 years before I figured out that that was supposed to be a wardrobe!
Maybe it was the same idiot who did the picto-gramms for the '72 Olympics

 

[lavamat78800]

Clothes only can be destroyed in dryer, when they´re overdried.
I also put everything in the dryer, even woolens!
When I dry woolens I put every piece seperate in the dryer, so none piece of the woolens can get overdried, but don´t forget to reduce the temperature and choose a cycle which doesn´t dry too dry..lol..

 

[irishwashguy]

I use high teps with Persil or Oxy clean

This is a great way to do it. It works well for me.I just have to rememmber that when I am washing jeans, the highest I will go is 120, on anything coloured, that is a rule of thumb.My Miele has a setting that is called sturdy that can be a do it all program at 105 and an 800 spin speed, or Wrinkle free that does fewer interm spins to reduce wrinkles.I use bleach sparingly and only when I have to. I have a bleaching pen for spots only. I would never put bleach in a whole load of wash. My stuff always looks great with out it. I would suggest a Miele or the new Bosch. I have many friend that love their Bosch, I love the new dryers with the windows, and they are 6.7 cubic feet, that is massive for a dryer.The washers are so quiet, you can't even hear it. I love the tumble pattern as well at the front of the program. Always use good soap, like Persil or the Sa-8.The Tide will ruin the pumps in your machine, as well as fade your clothes and make them look old.I have pants that are from the early 90's that still look like new.Just my two cents