The Cool Wash Temperature

[daveamkrayoguy]

Why is it COOL for new washers to have?

 

What does it do that an ordinary Cold wash doesn't do?

 

When do you use it and for what kinds, colors and/or types of clothes?

 

 

 

 

 

— Dave

 

[lakewebsterkid]

Cool

I find it half way useful, though rarely used it. The average person likely would use it frequently. The GE TL we did have at a rental for a brief time had it. The ATC was a more appropriate temp versus cold, and did not fill with tap hot like warm setting would at times. My grandparents Maytags have it as well, but just adjusts amount of time spent filling with hot water rather than a goal temp. Most here won’t use it often, but still a decent option to have.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Yes, there is also Tap Cold which my washer has too, but never used...

 

Thought I had selected that Cool temp. but my washer is washing on Cold for my colors...

 

 

 

-- Dave

 

[logixx]

My Duet's lowest temp was 20°C or 68°F, although I hardly ever used anything below 104°F. Don't know why I would want to wash anything that cool - I might as well hang it outside in the rain.

 

[henene4]

Fact is many US users wash in tap cold water.

That worked well with non HE systems.
But with the very little water newer machines use, adding even a bit of hot water can make a HUGE difference.

I think GE has had models in the past that had tap cold, cold, colours cool and brights cool before even getting to warm.

Now they have either Tap Cold or Cold Plus (which appears to be similar to LGs ColdWash setting, so tap cold with additional wash time basically) on any machine.
Then cold, cool, colors (or mild on some models), warm and then hot.

Whirlpool sticks with Tap Cold, Cold and Cool.

Many others and especially TOL machines no longer label anything between cold and hot - just different levels close to either or.

Heck even Miele dropped warm to 86F and shifted 104F to "Warm+".

Found that what would equate to cool or such (20C/68F) with a longer wash or a soak works really well for outer wear like jeans, sweat pants and hoodies.
With a good enzyme detergent the typically light, less hygiene dependent nature of that cleaning job works great.
I still use at least 86F usually, but low temp washing can be an option in certain contexts with little to no drawbacks.

 

[jamiel]

recently used tap cold on my Amana VMW when I wasn't able to get the hot tap turned on due to a drip---could continue to do laundry (here in the desert it's not so out of the question----I wish I had ATC on the machine in Detroit to moderate the rinse temperature!

 

[DADoES]

 
Dave,

Cool mixes in a bit of hot (or warm) water so the resultant temp isn't fully at tap-cold.  The ATC may not add any hot or warm if the tap-cold supply is already at or above the target it wants for Cool, in which case (tap-)Cold and Cool provide the same temp.

 

[user 12105]

Even when I choose a warm water wash on the 74 Kenmore 70, the water tends to be cooler. This machine has no Auto temp control that I know of.

 

[bpetersxx]

does manually doing a cool wash or rinse count here

That said any of my washers hooked up to the laundry tub faucet have that option

 

[Chetlaham]

In the Northern part of the US tap cold water can be near 32*F during the winter and near 68*F during the summer. Having the ability to add hot water during the winter on a cold wash is of a major advantage. During the winter when washing delicate items I will often let the washer fill with a bit of warm water before switching to tap cold. My washer does not have a 3 coil valve, ATC or a thermostatic inlet valve so its either a 30/70 warm fill (~90*F tub temp with a 142*F water heater temp) or tap cold. Cool makes a difference and if my machine had it I would use it.     

 

 

Low/Mid end TL GE washers at one point had a triple inlet valve system:

 

 



 

 

Cycling the right valves gave cold/cool/warm and hot. I like this concept and thank GE for doing it on their BOL and MOL models.

 

[william8]

tap cold water can be near 32*F

Where do you get this nonsense? I live in Northern Michigan. In the winter, the tap water is 55 degrees. In the summer, the tap water is 55 degrees. Read a science book.
We don't draw water off the surface...

 

[mattl]

Water lines in my area of MI are about 8' deep or more water temp is pretty consistent in the 50's.

 

 

 

[launderess]

Cold-Water-Wash-Technical-Brief

"Household hot water wash temperatures in the United States are determined by the
temperature set point on the water heater. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Council
recommends that water heaters be set to 120ºF in order to avoid scalding household
water users, which sets the upper limit for water temperature in a household (CPSC,
2012). “Cold” water wash temperature, referred to as “tap cold” on some machines,
is the inlet temperature of water delivered to a residence from the water mains.

The actual temperature of cold water entering a household varies significantly based on the source of the water (e.g., on-site groundwater well versus public water supply), the time of year, and how deep pipes are buried between the source and the residence.

The average inlet temperature can range from 37ºF in Anchorage, AK to 82ºF in
Phoenix, AZ (GTX Technologies, 2001). The scale of potential temperature variation
is reflected in Figure 2, which shows how average groundwater temperatures vary
across the U.S. These values do not necessarily represent water temperature in a
residence, as noted by the delivered temperature to an average household in Mesa,
AZ, a suburb of Phoenix. Figure 3 further underscores the difficulty in accurately
describing household cold water temperature by providing the temperature of water in Phoenix, AZ over the course of two years when stored at the surface or conveyed to a household in pipes at three different depths (Burch & Christensen, 2007)."

https://www.cleaninginstitute.org/s...ts/1/Page/Cold-Water-Wash-Technical-Brief.pdf

Carry on...

 

[gelaundry4ever]

cool washing

I think cool washing is stupid. How will you remove sweat smells and stains? What the heck? I can understand if you're washing colors.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

reply #13, GE LAUNDRY:

I think that would be the problem you'd have if you're using Tap Cold--making the water the same as what comes directly out of your faucet but isn't that what Cold wash/rinse is anyway?

 

 

 

-- Dave

 

[Chetlaham]

Reply 13- That is the whole point of cool wash. Say that you have to wash delicate colors. You have Tide Professional. Its winter outside, tap cold is somewhere at 40*F. The water is really cold. Cool wash lets detergent work by adding a little bit of hot water to the wash water raising the temperature to say 65*F. Cool wash is not ideal for towels, sheets or whites however cool wash is a much better alternative than tap cold water when washing colored delicate items. you get the advantages of cold water without disadvantages with really cold water. Basically raising the water temperature just enough so that its not super cold but not warm either.  

 

[william8]

reply #15

Why do you continue with the nonsense? Tap water IS NOT 40 degrees. Read a science book.

 

[DADoES]

 
<blockquote>The average inlet temperature can range from 37ºF in Anchorage, AK to 82ºF in Phoenix, AZ (GTX Technologies, 2001).</blockquote>I have measured initial tap-cold at the 90°Fs in summer ... considering the route from the well-tank in my not-climate-controlled detached garage and through the house attic to the target faucet ... until it reduces after some minutes as the attic lines purge and the tank is refreshed from the pump feed which is a long route from the well at front right corner of the property through a buried line that runs around back of the house to the garage on the other side.

 

[william8]

Reply #17

Right, where there is permafrost (AK) the temp will be lower. Wherever it freezes, we do not run pipes above the ground. Even most hot states don't do that. It's not up to code.

6-8ft under ground, is 55 tp 60 degrees across most the United States. Poorly designed systems are an anomaly.

 

[qsd-dan]

I've said it a million times, get a tempering valve, set to at 85F or higher and watch cold/warm cleaning performance skyrocket in top loader machines.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

chetlaham

What about colored sturdy cottons? I think warm ATC would make more sense.

 

[Chetlaham]

Nonsense

William, just have a look at Launderess's link. And when you factor in other variables, water can easily drop to 40*F under worse case scenarios. Not sure where this zeal comes from to prove me wrong when most everything I say can be verified by a few mouse clicks. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not my pic, but it proves my point and my lived experience-

 

 

 

 

 

 Just because 40*F isn't the mean or median average across the nation doesn't mean it doesn't happen in some parts of the country. For the sake of discussion these consumers would benefit the most from hot tempering.   

 

[Chetlaham]

Jerome, forget ATC. William and the 3 upvoters who agree with him are saying tap water can't reach 40*F. I am now opening some science books for the first time in my life while denouncing all my past memories. Oh, how could I have let myself be deprived of this beautiful  knowledge for so long?

 

With a 50-60 inlet temps and a 40/60 mixing I think you'd have much need for ATC. The goal of Whirlpool's ATC on the warm setting was to achieve 100*F tub temps by cycling the cold valve on and off. This would compensate for very cold inlet temps or low water heater settings or a combination of both. Warm rinse was targeted at 75*F.  

[this post was last edited: 3/5/2025-15:06]

 

[william8]

chetlaham

Read the text for the chart you posted. NEAR SURFACE WATER. We don't draw water from the surface, or near surface. And a rando pic from Reddit. Probably has his pipes on an outside wall...

Try harder.

 

[Chetlaham]

And you think pipes are always buried at a perfect 6-8 feet? You can also draw from water towers, wells, pipes buried on private property. Other variables come into play.

 

 

Read the comments as others are experiencing the same thing. I know I have in the past. 

 

 

40*F is not in the realm of impossible.

 

 

 

[william8]

https://journeynorth.org/tm/tulips/...il can hold heat better,about 55 degrees F.).

 

[Chetlaham]

Right. Now factor in water being delivered from open lakes and reservoirs out in the open, 100,000 gallon unheated water storage tanks, exposed piping at regulating and pumping stations, unheated manholes, ect. The frost line is only part of the equation.

 

As long as the water keeps flowing it won't freeze. 

 

Nobody is going to waste energy heating millions of gallons of water per day to match temperatures at 30 feet below grade.

 

 

 

[Chetlaham]

Water Towers Often Contain Ice

Water towers themselves rely primarily on water movement and are only heated just barely enough so they don't freeze 100% through. Water towers can and do contain solid ice in cold climates. As long as the tower does not become 100% ice, its common, acceptable and economical to have solid chunks of ice in addition to liquid water inside a water tower. Water being added, removed and re-circulated is what prevents the ice from becoming to thick. But it is still present in appreciable amounts chilling newly added water.

 

 

Water tower levels rise during periods of low demand, and then fall as demand peaks. 

 

 

With many people drawing water at once during peak periods water doesn't have enough time to sit around in underground pipes to reach equilibrium with the surrounding earth temperature. So instead water has a tendency to take the temperature of the chilled tower and its exposed piping. 

 

Again, its not economical to heat this water to 50*F or remove all ice where it forms.   

 

 

https://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/structural/water-tower-freeze.htm

 

[johnb300m]

Color me surprised and shocked but yes I agree with Chet on this one. And Laundress.
My own tap water will fluctuate from the mid 60s in the summer, to damn near 50F in winter. Sometimes colder when we get our January deep freezes. My own tap water pipe is only 5ft under ground. That’s where it comes in at the basement level.
I’ll use Cold for darks and delicates but yes it’s ATC Cold. And my Electrolux washer will definitely add warm water to a Cold cycle in the winter.

 

[frigidareu]

I live just outside of Cleveland Ohio. I just tested my cold tap water. It's 43 degrees F.