Is it never HOT enough?

[Acerone]

If this chart is correct "Below"? What in the hell do you wash in temperatures over 158*F? I would think 158*F would be more then sufficient.

30*C - 86*F
40 - 104
50 - 122
60 - 140
70 - 158
80 - 176
90 - 194
95 - 203

I'm in the market for 2 sets of the Asko W/D but I'm not really sure if I would need a washer with temperature cycles that high.

 

[toggleswitch]

Looks OK

Celsius to Farenheit

C temp x (9/5) + 32 = F temp

9/5 = (1.8)

Chart looks Ok to me!

Beats me also why you'd need such high temps, I have heard boiling whites makes them whiter and I have also heard it yellows them.

Regards,
Steve

 

[launderess]

Not much made today

Can withstand repeated or even one washing at temps above 160F. Good quality linen and even cotton bed/table linens would be fine,especially if they are vintage. Launder my vintage linen sheets and Wamsutta Supercales at near boiling temps and they seem to be fine.

The key is not to use aggressive laundry products, I use soap or Cheer Free and Gentle. You want to keep the pH near neutral, but just alkaline enough to get out the soils/oils.

High wash temps are needed to activate pure oxygen bleach and reall helps get out oils. Remember oxygen bleach works best at 120F and above. Sodium perborate really needs 140F, but both hit their stride at higher temps. Have boiled some horribly brown linens on the stove and you should see how the gunk literally vanishes at higher temps.

The beauty of higher temps is one only needs about 10 minutes, verus the extended time required the lower wash temps get. Laundries in Europe/GB used 160F and above washes routinely for linens and towels.Of course there chlorine bleach is not much used, rather the old tried and true method of boiling for whitening and sanitising.

Oh yes, boiling kills lice, bed bugs and other vermin, which is why bed and body linens were always made sturdy enough to withstand that sort of treatment. Sometimes shirts and every thing else was boiled as well. Think Mammy in "Gone With The Wind" boiling all those soilders clothes! Miss Sue-Ellen say's "Mammy, I think it is indignant the way you speak to those soilders" Mammy shoots back "you'd think it was lot more indignat if one of them lice got on you".

Considering bed bugs are once again making an apperance on both sides of the pond, one shouldn't chuck out that copper just yet! LOL!

Launderess

 

[alr2903]

hey Laundress

I saw that on the news about the new plague of bed bugs, Oh it made me itch like when you hear one of those stories from a co-worker about the latest epidemic at their child care center. The news story mentioned travelers that often take their favorite pillow on vacation, of course contaminating there own bed/home upon their return. Have these damn bedbugs mutated/ become resistant to pesticide control? or is it international travel. ohhhhhh it gave me the creeps. The segment I caught was of course, while getting ready for work, and I didnt get the whole story. alr2903.

 

[MrX]

We wash things like towels and tea towels (used in kitchens) at 95C and they come out perfectly ok

The very high temps are used for killing bugs completely on bed linen and towels basically.

Quality cotton and linen will not shrink or discolour at those tempratures.

They're also great for cleaning kitchen clothes etc..

All european machines can do a 95C "Boil Wash"

However, the vast majority of washing is done at 40C.

 

[MrX]

Boiling whites does whiten them!

If you wash white linen (The fabric type not using the generic "bed linen" terminology) or cotton items at 95C they will whiten signifigantly! (Speaking from experience)

 

[launderess]

Bed Bugs

Apparently the return of the critters is blamed on several factors, according to a NY Times article read awhle ago.

First was the use of less toxic pest chemicals which are less effective against bed bugs. This is probably because many people do not like the kind of toxic chemicals that must be used all over the house/bed room to really deal with the critters.

Next, is the trend of people bringing home beds and mattresses from thrift stores, second hand stores, and even off the street. People bring these infested mattresses home, they get bed bugs, and soon they're spreading anyplace they visit, and when you visit them.

Gross,isn't it?

Launderess

 

[toggleswitch]

I have seen so much use of essentail oils and artificial air-fresheners, (and the plug-in variety as well) to mask dirt. [Personally IMHO why would you allow greasy oil to be dispensed into every room..do we not see that a kitchen is hard to clean because of greasy oils? ]

I am not surprised that critters have made a come-back at least in this country where generally good old-fashined scrubbing appears not to be in fashion, currently.

Four expesnive,fancy vacuum cleaners that are rearely used is still worse than a broom that is used every day!!

Ditto a dozen-and-a half cleaning products that sit under the sink, unused rather than a half-sozen that go to work ever week!

Sigh-- maybe I am OCD clean-freak!

At any rate I'm, going to whip out my huge SS stock-pot that I use to boil laundry and go back to the practice!

 

[toggleswitch]

ASKOs Boiling laundry

I was hot-into ASKOs conceptually for a while. They tout their ability as laundry boilers...

but some comments by Americans on them were that there was never a problem with whites yellowing until the water-hog T/L was replaced with an Asko....

Sorry about the local link. It is the default that I first got..

イチモツLab | イケオジの嗜み

40代に突入し体の衰えを感じ始める世代かもしれません。ただ、私はここからより高みを目指していきたい。そんな元気が出るサイトを作りたいですね。

www.askousa.com

 

[toggleswitch]

Laundress-es wherabouts

AHA A clue... NY Times you say?

Hmmmm that pretty much brings us to jump to the conclusion you are near me... or in another big city....

or you could say, as you appear to read flea-bay ads frequently, so too do you read the NY times online....and are in the stix.

What say you, then noble Laundress? Enquiring minds want to know.

For our international friends.. the Enquirer is a super-market tabloid (read "rag") that is worthy of perhaps being used as toilet-paper in an emergency or a bird-cage liner generally. I may be wrong about this rag, of course, if Elvis is indeed alive......

 

[MrX]

Never had an issue with yellowing whites!

I've never used a waterhogging top loader and I've honestly never seen whites turn yellow (unless they're washed with bright yellow noncolourfast clothes!)

The main thing with whites is to do a "white wash" now and again to ensure they don't absorb stray dyes. Regardless of what type of washer you use colours can run.

The main key to washing whites is to, where possible wash them seperately or at least with well-washed colourfast items that will not run.

and to use a high quality detergent at the correct doseage.

The best ways of brightening up whites that have faded due to dye transfer in a front loader:

Select the soak cycle followed by a reasonably high temprature wash.
Use a detergent for whites or at least a detergent that contains oxygen-based bleaching agents. (e.g. normal Persil, Daz or Ariel in the UK/Ireland)

Allow the machine to run (it will take hours, but it's worth it.. I'd typically let it run over-night.)

The clothes will come out back to their original snow-white selves.

There are also several excellent products available on the market here that look pretty much like dryer sheets except you put them into the wash.

They attract and absorb stray dye molecules in the wash water.

"Colour Catcher" (for mixed washes)
and "Keep it White" (For whites washes)

 

[kenmore1978]

white whites

hot water and a little chlorine bleach seems to work for me.

 

[agiflow]

I'm with you Kenmore78.

 

[toggleswitch]

white wash

..when using bleach.

I have been known to throw a pair of blue-jeans in with whites and bleach when they are not looking spiffy/clean.

The blue dye that is removed by the bleach ends up evening-out the color of the jeans and acting as bluing to visually offset the yellow in the whites.

Bleach works BTW by taking ultraviolet light from the atmoshere, lettign it bouce off clothes where it is changed by residual bleach into visible light. Hence whiterbrighter clothing.

This is why it does not clean (but it does disinfect) one must always wash THEN bleach. Or better yet IMHO pre-wash in cold to warm water to get out the majority of dirt and protein based stains that will be "set" by heat, then a hot water wash, then bleach.

BTW I hear a rumor that bleach turns into dioxin and is hugely toxic to environment? Can anyone de-fuzz my head on this?

 

[kenmore1978]

pre-wash

"Or better yet IMHO pre-wash in cold to warm water to get out the majority of dirt and protein based stains that will be "set" by heat, then a hot water wash, then bleach."

U've done this method, too. Often I'll wash the whites in with colorfast clothes in cold water to prevent hest sensitive stains from setting. Then I'll re-wash any white items that didn't come clean again in hot water and bleach. If any white items got dye on them from the colored clothes, it's removed along with the remaining stains by the bleach.

 

[lavamat_jon]

For "sturdy" whites (socks, teatowels, dishclothes, pillowcases etc); I always prewash and do a 60*C minimum wash (depending what machine I'm using). In the prewash I always use a liquid detergent (e.g. Ariel green liquid) or a Persil green liquitab, and always 100ml of Persil green powder in the mainwash (I use less detegent in the mainwash than if I would be doing a mainwash only, as there will still be quite a bit of detergent int he load left from the prewash). No softener at all. The cycle I use is:

* Bosch - 60*C+Prewash - Rinse Plus - 1400rpm
* AEG - Energy Saving 67*C - Pre Wash - 1600rpm
* Miele - Cottons Hygiene 75*C, Pre Wash, Intensive, Water Plus - 1600rpm

For more delicate whites (i.e. clothes you wear, the ladies of the house's smalls etc), I always use the 50*C cottons wash on either my AEG or Miele. Before I had both, I had to use the 40*C wash, and whilst that was OK at getting most whites clean it didn't fare well with in-ground dirt. For this load, I use again liquid in the prewash and powder in the mainwash; but usually Fairy liquid in the prewash and Persil Non Bio powder or Fairy Non Bio (tabs or powder) in the mainwash. Cycles I use:

* AEG - Cottons/Linen, Easy Care 50*C - Pre Wash - 1600rpm
* Miele - Cottons Universal 50*C - Pre Wash - Intensive - Water Plus - 1600rpm

I often pour some Ecover percarbonate bleach in with the mainwash detergent too if it's a particularly stubborn soiled load with both sturdy and more delicate white loads.

I have my first load of sturdy whites in the Miele at the moment at 75*C, but the delicate whites load I washed yesterday turned out great. The AEG is also a good machine for white; however sometimes with the Bosch more often than not socks in particular come out dingy, and also some stains in teatowels remain..

FWIW,

* Bedlinen always gets cottons 60*C-75*C (depending which machine I'm using)
* Flanellete sheets and fleecey blankets always get easy care/minimum iron 60*C
* Towels always get 60, 75, or occasionally 90/95*C
* Woollies always get 40*C on the handwash cycle
* Clothes always get Minimum Iron (Miele)/Easy Cares (Bosch)/Fashion (AEG), or, if it's a particular sturdy or heavy soiled load, Cottons 40*C
* Jeans always get Cottons 40*C

That's more or less all the loads I'll wash in a week. I usually do about 30 loads a week - 10 loads of clothes (delicate whites/coloureds/lights/darks etc) or so (sometimes more sometimes less), 5 of "special" clothes e.g. woollies, jeans, 5 loads of towels, and 10 loads of linens (bedlinen, blankets, kitchen linens etc). All this just for a family of 5... I'm glad we have 3 machines (well, 2 plumbed in at the moment)!!!

Take care all,

Jon

 

[MrX]

I'm beginning to think that the HE detergents in the USA are pretty basic. The normal detergents here contain oxygen-based bleaching agents and optical brighteners that make whites look great.

There really shouldn't be any reason to use CL bleaches.

The fabric bleaches that are available here e.g. ACE are all oxygen based. ACE contains a good % of hydrogen peroxide and it does an excellent job on really badly stained whites.

There's also VANISH wash booster, seems to be broadly similar but is a powder rather than a liquid.

You can actually pour ACE directly onto clothes and it's even safe on wool!

 

[lavamat_jon]

Mr X;

The likes of Oxi-Clean and Ecover percarb powders are available here too - I use Ecover sometimes if my whites are really grubby and it really does seem to help. However I usually only use it along with non biological detegents that dont perform so well on whites (with the white clothes I have to use non bio as one or two family members have sensitive skin), but the biological products do fine on their own.

BTW I was reading off the Ariel/Persil packets today and found out that they still use phosphates...

Take care,

Jon

 

[kenmore1978]

bleaches

"I'm beginning to think that the HE detergents in the USA are pretty basic. The normal detergents here contain oxygen-based bleaching agents and optical brighteners that make whites look great."

All detergents here have optical brighteners. You can buy detergent with or without the oxygen bleach already in it.

"There really shouldn't be any reason to use CL bleaches."

I've found while oxygen bleach does help greatly, it's simply not as effective on certain stains and such as chlorine bleach. I'n not a big user of chlorine bleach, but I will use it if I feel it's needed as a last resort. I've washed some stained items 2-3 times in hot water and oxygen bleach, and the stain would still be there. One washing with chlorine bleach and the stain was GONE!