I think the europeans are on to something and can understand why their way may be superior

[appnut]

MG, I cannot believe it.  Maybe "boil washes" and super hot washes really do result in far superior results.  I had some white unmentionables which had some stains which had not ocme out and I do not thinnk all 6 of these pieces had been worn right before I did this last load, but may have had several washes and dryings.  SI was a bit dismayed, although I know I'd only set the water temp to about 130 degrees the last several loads.  So today it was a last ditch effort to rid the garments of the left over stains.  I set the wqater heater to 155 degrees.  I filled up the Fridgemore with hot supplied water and immediately drained it to warm up the SS wash basket.  Then I started the machine again with the said garments and  after the clothes started sloshing in a small amount of water I shut off the hot tap (Steve 1-18 had "engineered" my machine so that not only did it add more water but it tumbled during fill  (which required wiring the timer to sometihng else and timer runs even while filling)).  I had added a 3/4 full scoop of OxyClean.  I started letting said garments tumble in said hot water.  I also had a pot of water raching boiling point on stove top.  So, over a period of 30 to 45 minutes, I added 6-10 cups of boiling water to raise the water temp gradually and raised the water level.  I eventually "satisfied" the water level sensor and it registeed "filled."  During this time, I'd periodically stop the machine for a fwe minutes.  And then restart and add more boilding water too.  I think the garments were in that super heater water for almost an hour.  I then let the cycle complete.  I checked each garment, spot-free as if brand new.  I'm blown away.  My usual laundry concoctoin is Sears UltraPlus Stain Fighting formula and OxyClean, in hot water, after  a cold prewash with Biz.  I think the europeans are  really onto something and it doesn't involve harsh chemicals such as LCB.  Super hot washes (just like Laundress recounting days of old where nappies were boiled on top of the stove to get clean and white).  My next front loader will definitely have a supplemental heater and I wlll use the Sanitary Cycle for whites with Oxygen bleach (and I'm willing to put up with the long cycle when ya get this kind of results--no wonder people love their front loaders with the super hot wash cycles for getting things really clean).  And my whies have been lasting a lot longer since I ceased using LCB).  Far less harsh than using LCB and other chemicals in my opinion, and no the eleastic wasn't "shot".  the only other time I'd witnessed such a feat was at Steve 1-18s before the 2002 convention when we did a load of super, extremely dirty whites, in his AEG Lavamat 800???.  I couldn't believe how dirty the wash water was at the end of the heating period of the wash cycle yet evrything emerged spotless.  And I get better whites results out of my Fridgemore than I ever did with my Shredmore or Filter Flo. 

 

[thomasortega]

I always run the sanitary cycle at my Affinity to wash whites and the resulds were always amazing.

I use to walk inside home wearing only socks (white of course) and after some hours they are black.

I never rub or use stain pre treaters. just toss them in the machine with a dose of oxy and a dose of Skip from Argentina or Liquid Ariel from Brazil. My socks look like new after washed. I can't find even a tiny stain.

 

[kimball455]

Sanitary Cycle

One of the reason I purchased the Duet HT was the super hot sanitary wash. Output from the water heater is 140F and the built in heater raises it from there. Towels and other things that can be rather disgusting come out great. I start it at night and in the AM all is finished ready for the dryer. The extra high speed spin is another reason for my purchasing that model. Have not had any smell/mold problems with it. I do 4 - 5 loads/week; at least one is sanitary. Also learned that the water heater is on for the heavy duty cycle and the whitest whites cycle.
Harry

 

[appnut]

Harry, depending upon how old your model is and what model it is, if you have a stain treat option, the supplemental heater willl be used to boost water temperature on Normal/Casual also.  It will start out warm and raise it to about 122 degrees.  which in the "old" days, was considered to be "medium" temperature.

 

[jerrod6]

When I used a Tl without heater I would use LCB in the white load....even though growing up my family never used LCB...mother didn't like it and refused to use it in laundry.    With the LCB the elastic in the under wear was always giving out, and I still didn't have clean white socks or under wear. After moving to Fl with heater I began  washing  whites at 140F without LCB using a long extended cottons cycle and ended up with clean white items and long lasting elastics.  My machine will also go up to 190F which is sometimes useful especially on oil and grease, but I only use it about once a month on certain items.

 

Now most white cotton loads are done at 120F, but every once in a while I will go up to 140F to get everything squeaky clean.  So yeah I think there is something to the longer near boil wash technique at least for cottons.  

 

[thomasortega]

We aware that too much heat can also destroy elastics and damage some clothes.

Sometimes we may forget it... LOL

It happened to me when i washed my mom's wool blouse. It shrunk and deformed like those thermal suitcase wrapping they offer on airports.

Everything was great. bought a bottle of woolite just for it, washed it alone in the affinity washer... but i selected sanitary instead of ultra delicate cycle.

So used to wash only whites in it and toss the load and just press start to recall the last cycle that I forgot to select the other one.

Im sure my mom would throw me in the washer and repeat the cycle, but i wouldn't fit the drum.

 

[petek]

It's why I always avoided any white clothing..  But I did buy 12 pair of  white sports socks at WM a couple of months back and was really dismayed at how dingy they were looking so I did a hot wash, not a "boiling wash", added bleach and detergent etc. and they still came out barely any better than they went  in..

 

So next I tried just the detergent with some Oxy-clean and that wasn't any better either so I gave up.

 

It's no wonder Tide is now selling those stain-removing tablets now..   Don't those just prove the point that their detergents  don't work like their tv ads claim?

 

[maytagbear]

My white cottons are fine....

with 120F water, Sears Ultra Plus-orange box, and every other time with genuine Oxi-Clean. Softener once in a while. Maybe every third washing.

A recent gentleman caller even remarked on their whiteness, and these were one of my older sets (t-shirt and briefs).

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[launderess]

Hate To Be A Wet Blanket.......

But haven't "boil" washed routine laundry in ages. Mainly wash whites at 120F and only once in a blue moon at 140F.

When one first got the Miele did much of the wash at 140F and even 160F. However found this got me nothing but a very high electric bill and the results weren't any better than 120F.

Will say the key (at least for Moi) is to use the proper dose of a quality detergent, add more oxygen bleach if required or the product does not contain, starting from cool or lukewarm water and allowing the washer to reach the set temperature.

Like others I also wear white gym socks around the house, and they never fail to come bright white with this method. Methinks it has something to with the long wash cycle of even the "short" setting on the Miele, and beginning with cooler water. Indeed rarely pre-treat stains now, even blood and wine spots seem to come out with this system.

If one does have to boil something such as dish cloths or really badly stained napkins, I wash them first in the Hoover or Whirlpool, then boil them in my French "Lessiveuse" on the range.

 

[ronhic]

Well, as many of you know, I have an inbuilt hatred of LCB....

 

My Italian made Zanussi/Westinghouse is cold connect only, so cycles are 'European' in length.

 

A 'warm' 40c/104f cycle takes 68 minutes...and that's with the quick button engaged. Without, its basically 2 hours.

a 'Hot' 60c/140c cycle takes 74 minutes or 2 hours....

 

The wash component of the quick cycle is about 40 minutes

 

...but I can dial in a 90c/194f should I want it...

 

Personally, I wash colours at 40c and whites, towels and sheets at 60c.....generally with a top quality detergent only....and I can tell you that my whites dazzle....

 

[laundromat]

My first foreign brand washer,an Asko,had only cold water hook up because it allowed you to select a temperature instead of hot,medium,warm,or cold.Up to 200F!!! It also had a higher spin speed (1700 rpms) than any washer I ever owned before.I never had to use bleach. Just set the wash temp from 170F to 200F and all of any stains would vanish.At the time I owned that set I found at a local dealer,I was using Fresh Start laundry detergent.I had to switch to Wisk HE because the higher water temperature made the Fresh Start oversuds. Wisk HE never oversudses.I sold the set for $950to a friend who had real limited space.I had to have it shipped to her from Orlando,FL. to Atlanta,GA.She just recently replaced the set with a Bosch pair.

 

[dj-gabriele]

I'm with Ronhic, never wash anything under 40°C, whites get done at 60°C and my whites are really white, not blue or fluorescent, just white!

And if there is the occasional tough stain on something that can withstand it, there goes boil-washing! Up to 95°C! No bleach added! I used only once as I had finished regular oxigen based one and the rags were really dirty and stained! I had to rewash them twice to bring the smell down to a tolerable level.

 

[hoover1100]

This is the main reason why

I cannot understand the aversion to long wash cycles and low water levels. Nothing, not soaking, not pre-treating, not bleaching, can rival them.

A long, vigorous wash in a very low level of water starting from cold and heated up to 60c (140f) with a top quality biological detergent containing oxygen bleach (or the required additives if such a product is not available) will remove almost any stain and keep whites perfectly white (if it doesn't come out using this method chances are it never will!)

The only time I struggle to get things clean is when I am asked to wash whites that have been dulled and grayed by other peoples' poor washing habits. This is the only time I will ever use chlorine bleach, and I use it in a soak in a bucket of cold water, then thoroughly rinse and add clothes to the machine for a wash as described above (sometimes at 95c rather than 60c in extreme cases) and it gets everything as white as possible.

Pre-treaters and detergent additives are only used in my household when difficult stains occur on clothes which cannot withstand water hotter than 40c (104f) and/or are too delicate to be put on a long vigorous wash (NOT on Silk or Wool though).

Matt

 

[appnut]

I guess the point I didn't emphasise enough was these  garments had most likely been washed and dried several times so the stains were set.  My amazement was the stains were all gone after this process. 

 

[toggleswitch]

I occasionally prewash whites in my front-loader. Then I do a boil wash, stove-top with DISHWASHER detergent and phosphates (STPP from thechemistrystore.com).
The water emerges coffee color!

The whites are then spun in the machine and washed as one would normally.

FABULOUS results.

I will cerainly be looking forward to a true boil-washer with stainless-steel inner and outer tubs at some point in the future.

 

[ronhic]

Toggs...

....then see if you can get a good second hand 240v Miele or Asko.....

 

[miele_ge]

have been doing 190 degree F washes for the kitchen linens f

Have tried doing them with the same machine (Miele 1918A) and the same detergent (Persil Megaperls) with lower temps in the past (155 and 140) but was ususally not pleased with the results.  Am now currently setting the machine to 85 degrees F with a pre-wash, waiting until the machine has filled and tumbled a bit in the main wash.  Then I cancel the cycle and set a 190 wash with a delay of 2 hours or so, letting them soak in the cool water and then letting the heater bring the water slowly up to temp.    That produces great results.  I will have to start experimenting with the same method only setting a lower temp for after the soak.  Will be curious to see the results.

 

Would be nice to get the same results using lower temps.  We will see.

 

 

[ironrite]

I agree Bob. I use the Sanitary cycle on the Samsung when I do my bedding. I keep a white topsheet over the bed as my Boxer sleeps up there with me. He leaves various stains on the topsheet, mainly from where he is scratching due to bad allergies. I'll do a prewash, wash and the Silver Care option. I've tried with LCB and just detergent alone. the LCB doesn't make much of a difference. The Sanitary cycle does get most of the stains out on its own. I'll have to give the Oxiclean a try.

 

[norgeway]

Maybe!!

There was a reason for my Grandmother boiling clothes outside in a iron pot!! My Mother said she remembered this when she was a little girl in the 30s and 40s, Even when I was a child she still boiled washclothes in a pot on the stove, she thought they were nasty unless boiled!! and this was in the 60s and 70s!!