NYY Article on Using Cold Water For Laundry

[filterflo58]

i dont even rinse in cold water,it doesnt remove detergent as well as a nice warm rinse..
wont happen.

 

[lordkenmore]

what is the environmental impact of these detergents?

That's something else I've wondered about.

Also I wonder about health issues--is there going to be some health problem crop up due to long term skin contact with the residue of some "miracle" chemical that miraculously cleans in even ice cold water?

 

[launderess]

Cal Ben "Seafoam" Laundry "Soap"

Is not a pure soap product.

According to their own website the product contains wetting agents (surfactants usually non-ionic), washer protection agents (silicates),and dispersing agents.

What you've got a hold of there is a soap *based* laundry product but that is nothing new. White King had a similar product for ages before that company went belly up. Have a box of it in my stash.

 

[sudsmaster]

It's a rare occasion when I wash any laundry in tap cold.

I usually wash things like throw rugs and perm press in warm - which in the Neptune is 105F. I figure this isn't much above body temp and if the fabrics can't take body temp then they shouldn't be worn in the first place.

Otherwise stuff like towels and sheets get washed hot - which in the Neptune is 130F. The tidy whities etc get washed in the Miele 1918A at 160F. Although it seems to me they get just as clean in the Neptune at 130F, although I've been known to "trick" it into an extra long wash cycle by programming in a hot pre-wash, and the longest wash cycle (34 min) as well.

Where is the energy savings if someone must wash a load twice in cold to get it clean?

One note about the hand washing story: yes, hands wash a lot faster in warm water. However, one's body temp will warm up a water and soap slurry on the hands rather quickly, so I find I can still wash my hands in tap cold and get them reasonably clean. And I do that frequently since the hot tap in the kitchen takes a while to warm up after a period of non-use, and I don't like running the tap forever just to wash hands that are already relatively clean.

 

[sudsmaster]

PS- "NYY Article"?

When did the Yankees start writing articles on laundry?

;-)

 

[hunter]

gotcha

I couldn't remember. I DO wash in pure soap (sometimes). In any case, it isn't really harsh...and it does seem to clean well.

(Their bar soap can't be beat either).

 

[launderess]

To Be Clear

Never meant to imply there is anything wrong with using true soaps for laundry. Like yourself have tons of the stuff in my stash (Ivory Snow, Kirkman's Borax bars, P&G White, Fels Naptha, etc...), and yes all clean most laundry quite well.

Long as one understands what one is doing and the limitations of pure soap for wash day it's all good. Still wouldn't trade modern detergents nor give them up entirely for the use of the thing.

Also understand whilst detergents can be pH neutral to slightly acidic or alkaline all soaps are by nature base. While some maybe more "neutral" than others simply due to their chemical make-up soaps will have some degree of alkalinity.

Finally there is pure soaps do not entirely rinse free of fabrics. There are things one can do to lessen the residue but traces always remain. This is why advertisers such as P&G made claims their soap products washed "softer than detergents" or had "built in fabric softener".

 

[miele_ge]

maybe drifting a bit but do any modern detergents not have O

Just noticed our towels (white and off white) have the phrase "use a detergent that doesn't have Optical Brighteners" Have been washing them in Persil for a few years and haven't noticed any ill effect. I have heard that OBAs can cause problems with dark colors - not sure why.

 

[launderess]

Optical Brightening/Bluing Agents

Are becoming increasingly normal standard in *all* detergents on both sides of the pond, including those for colours. Don't know what bright blub decided this but one can only imagine it is some sort of effort to counter just how badly some modern detergents clean. I mean if things are blindingly bright they must be clean even if the effect comes from chemicals rather than actual results.

IIRC in the United States many "green" detergents do not contain OBAs, nor do certain types of "Cheer". On both sides of the pond most if not all detergents for "darks" (Miele FEWA/Black Magic", Woolite for Darks, etc...) do not contain bluing agents.

Regarding the use of bluing agents and ecru/off white/champange,natural coloured linens/items:

Brightening agents can acutally cause such things to look "bleached" with long term use. Many European linens of such shades have explict directions on their care tags about not using detergents with bluing agents.

 

[kimball455]

Sanitary Cycle

When I upgraded from the Kenmore 'apartment size' washer/ 120v dryer I got the Duet HT washer and matching gas dryer. They fit in exactly the same footprint at the Kenmore 'apartment size' units they replaced but have so much more capacity. No more 4 towels at a time. I got the Duet because of the hi temp sanitary cycle and the heavy duty cycle that also uses the built in heater. Towels, whites, and bed linens get either the heavy duty or more frequently the sanitary cycle. Yes, the cycles take a while but I just start it and let it run over night. Not too sure that I like the idea of using cold water for those items. In fact I have never used a cold water wash in the over 5 years that I have had the Duet Twins.

Harry

 

[rolls_rapide]

Dawn French, the company’s director of North America laundry

Clearly, they are having a laugh!

Dawn French is a UK actress/comedienne (The Vicar of Dibley, French & Saunders).