Washing temperature and saving money...

[letim]

In these ecological times and with ever increasing electricity prices I'm re-assessing my laundry habits. In the good old days I'd wash coloureds/clothing at 40°C and bed linen and towels at 60°C and then I'd put most of it in the tumble dryer.

The coloureds/clothing now get washed at 30°C and never go near the dryer and I'm happy with that. My indecision is about the bed linen and towels. If I reduce the temperature to 40°C will they be as hygienically clean? Washing them at 60°C does the job and everything smells fresh and lovely. Would any bugs still get killed at 40°C and the washing still smell fresh and lovely!?

I've recently switched to Sainsbury's Colour and Bio washing powders and have so far been happy with them.

I've put up a washing line so I'm probably saving a small fortune using that!

My machine is a 3 year old Bosch front loading machine and is A rated. Is there really a significant saving to be made between washing at 60°C and at 40°C? Any recommendations?

Apologies if this has been discussed before but I couldn't find that it had...

Thanks for your advice!

Tim

 

[neptunebob]

In America, they tell us to wash in cold water, but I find it does not remove odors. I think the people who say this, I might stay away from them.

 

[thomasortega]

Here in Brazil people were always used to use cold water only, for everything.
Of course, this changed a little in the last 15 years with the internal heater.
But only TOL washers have a heater, all other are cold fill only.

I recommend hot water for towels IF there's someone ill but, for normal loads, you can just use cold water (maybe warm if they're too dirty).

 

[thomasortega]

By the way, My towels never had odours. don't forget the sun is perfect to kill bacterias and germs.
Here most people don't have a dryer just because it's not necessary.
jeans and towels can dry perfectly in 1 hour in a line. Cotton T-shirts in 20 minutes..
Ok, we have the job to carry baskets of wet clothes but... It's free, it's ecologic, our clothes smells much better it's faster than the dryer and our clothes last 10 times more...
I just use my dryer to remove the wrinkles. aprox. 8 minutes/load, low temperature.

 

[jwilson00]

I'm a bit obbsessive with changing towels , towels are changed every other day and always done on 60o, and then recently to cut my energy bills i've been half line drying and half tumble drying. I read study performed on towels, that showed high amounts of bacteria on a towel used 4 times, in some cases they found the same bacteria that causes food posioning (something to remember next time you use someone elses hand towel lol ), the bacteria count will also increase if the damp towel also comes into contact with the bathroom floor.

As with bed linen i usually change the bottom sheet twice in a week and sometimes the top sheet/duvet cover if there have been some hot nights, i believe the aim is to kill any mites and bed bugs but also kill the eggs, which study's have shown these can now withstand temperatures of 40o.

Jay x

 

[thomasortega]

Jay.
I agree with you in parts.

Of course nobody in this world would like dirty things or dirty foods. I'm also a little paranoid with higiene.

But we also must be carefull, because some bacterias are useful to humans and the excess of care can kill them too.

Remember the Unilever's detergent (Ala, skip, persil, omo, etc, depending on the country) slogan: Dirt is good?

In fact it IS true!

If you ask any doctor or other health professional, the answer will always be the same: Yes, a little dirt is good to exercise our defense cells, specialy for kids.

As I told before, I almost always use cold water, but to compensate that I use desinfectants like Lysoform (I don't know if you have it branded like this in your country or not), I dry my clothes in a line and then I finish drying in the dryer to remove the wrinkles.
The low temperature + desinfectant + the detergent is enough to kill most of them.
Of course I wouldn't do it if there's somebody ill. in this case, i'd wash all the clothes separatelly with the highest temperature possible and the longest program available, using 2 doses of desinfectant and dry imediatelly in high temperature.

But, there's also another factor to analize. How is your weather? here, my weather is really hot and dry, with temperatures reaching 51°C in the summer. our "cold" water temperature is almost always near 30°C, but it can reach 45°C.
If I were in London, for example, with a cold and wet weather it's obvious I would choose hotter temperature to do my laundry.

I remember in london, many minutes after a shower, my bathroom full of steam and mold in almost every bathroom I used.
Here in Iguassu, 3 minutes after a hot shower (I love really hot showers) the bathroom, including the granite floor is completely dry. if I hang an used towel in the bathroom, it will dry completelly in 1 hour.
My local weather helps to break the life cycles, so it's difficult to bacterias and germs to survive.
(By the way it's so terrible for bacterias that it's very difficult to bake home made breads and a beer factory would never work in my region.)
Our winters are the same... very cold and very dry.
this dry weather is useful. If you can't have it naturaly, so this is a good motive to use the hot water.

 

[pulsator]

I tend to wash everything in warm (40 C), I can't stand cold water washes, things just don't come clean! I only use a towel once and then it is dirty. I will wash sheets in "very warm" water (50 C) and whites in hot (60 C). The only thing I use the "sanitize" temp for (95 C) is the rags which are used for general cleaning and and accidents our poor old dog might have had. The one temperature I refuse to EVER use is cold.

I dry everything in the dryer on low heat, but I also use my spin dryer (3,200 RPM) which cuts the drying time to about 30 minutes in the regular capacity dryers and 45 minutes in the Bosch and Miele smaller dryers.

 

[launderess]

Well with electric rates zooming here, the Miele hasn't been above 120F aside from monthly "boil washes" to clean and sanitize the wash tubs in months.

If one uses a good top drawer detergent such as Persil, European/UK Ariel, or even Tide, warm and even cold water washing isn't a huge problem

Of course one has to know good laundry technique, and sum up what one is laundering. For my money, 100F for colours and 120F or even 100F for whites is about right. The purpose of hotter water temperatures was to help loosen and keep suspended one of the main components of soiled laundry, body and other oils/lipids. Enzymes work quite well for this purpose, and they are most happy at around body temperature, which is 100F to 120F range.

Bleaching with oxgyen bleach will happen faster at 120F than 100F, even with activated oxygen bleaches. However even on the most badly stained laundry or linens, the "short" cycle on my Miele and either Persil alone, or any good detergent with any of the various oxygen bleaches in my stash hasn't failed me yet.

Regarding Sanitation of Laundry and Hot Water.

Merely swishing soiled laundry in clean water removes many germs, and the addition of detergents shifts even more. True these live germs are suspended in wash water and go down the drain, they still are off one's laundry. To really sanitise laundry requires temps of >160F held for at least ten minutes, and that will only take care of E Coli and a few others. There are other germs which would require near or boiling wash temps for the same amount of time. Needless to say subjecting one's linens to that sort of treatment often enough will cause premature wear.

Normal laundering at 100F to 120F or in extreme cases 140F is fine for most household laundry. Sick room laundry should always be laundered separately from anything else.

Even if one was able to render one's laundry "sterile" from the washing machine, soon as it came into contact with anything else in the household, it would soon pick up new germs. Much like using the sanitation cycle on domestic dishwashers, then putting the dishes away the same cupboard they came from.

Energy Savings:

When the Miele first arrived, did most all whites at 140F and even 180F. Colours were done at 100F, but allowed the machine to fill with cold or tepid water and heat to the proper temperature. Then came that first electric bill which soon put a stop to that! *LOL*

Depending upon one's electric rates, there can be a considerable difference in rates by turning down the temp dial. Now for warm washes, I let the machine fill with warm water from the tap, and the heater automatically shuts off. If the target temperature is 120F or 140F, allow the machine to fill with warm water (100F), and heat from there. In cases where one wished to boil wash anything, I do a warm pre-wash first, then fill the main wash cycle with hot water from the tap, which ranges from 120F to 140F, depending on time of the year (if the boilers are making steam heat in winter, hot water of of the tap is hotter).

 

[jeffg]

Tim, the only thing I'd add to L's advice is, if you have a problem with dust mites (some people are terribly allergic to their droppings, which can cause stuffy noses, dry/sore throats, headaches etc), stick with the hottest wash temperatures you can get for your bed linens and towels. The hotter the better in this case.

If that's not what you meant by "bugs", L's advice is correct. No one has ever gotten sick catching E.Coli from their clothing, towels or bed linens, regardless of what temperature is used to wash them.

 

[sudsmaster]

I have noticed slightly better washing of whites in the Miele at 160F than in the Neptune at 130F. All things, of course, are not equal, because I use different detergents in each, but I don't mind doing the tidy whities in the Miele once a week at 160F or 170F (the highest the 1918A goes). I feel this is appropriate since I mix in kitchen towels with the undies and washcloths for the hot Miele session. I haven't noticed a spike in the electric bill, despite the fact that the Miele sits in the shop where there is only cold water. But the 1918 is rather frugal with water so of course that helps a lot. Frankly, it seems like it doesn't heat more water for the wash than a big pasta boiler or a boiling water canner. The 1065/1070 is a different matter, I suppose. One, you can heat up to 200F if that pleases you. Two, it uses more wash water than the 1918. Although the 1918 can be reprogrammed to use as much water as the 1065.

 

[sudsman]

Water Temperatures

While I must admit I am from the old school and it was always the hotter the water the better , It is not true anymore. I process between 4500 and 6000 + lbs per day here. We did run all loads at 160 until about a year ago..We now use 120 on almost all loads. After over 100 lab test we found that the work done at 120 was just a clean as the work done at higher temps. What we did find is that overloading the washer by as little as 2 lbs will raise the bacteria count to unheard of levels. The test done on some 20 different classifications ranging from surgery to ambulance linen were all the same . IN ALL soil levels.. We have had no problems with whitness or rewash in the lower temps. and no longer use ANY chlorine bleach. ALL bleaching is done with Hydrogen Peroxide and the whites have NEVER looked better. Our linen is lasting much longer and there is far less lint in the tumblers. The colors are staying brighter and the scrubs and surgery gowns smell clean and fresh. All the tumble work has a softer hand to it and is drying with less wrinkles.

Our Chemical rep has told us that most of the products they now have will NOT work well at temps over 135 and not to let the temps reach over 125 is best.. It sure works here.

 

[jwilson00]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but was wondering, is say Tide with bleach that you guys have in the states and other places the same as say persil bio here in the uk?

I know in the uk there is something which removes bacteria in the supermarkets at the mo, in a tablet form and claims to kill everything at 30o, cant remember what its called though, just rememeber the packaging has got drawings of little bacteria's on it might be called bugs away or something.

Jay x

 

[launderess]

Tide With Bleach is the Amercian top shelf, and market leading detergent in the United States, and yes it compares to Persil bio UK/EU. TWB contains enzymes and a patented activated oxygen bleaching system, similar to European detergents. Only difference is P&G uses perborate and NBOS (an oxygen bleach activator), and European detergents seem to be phasing out of perborate bleaches (where TAED was the activator of choice), in favour of percarbonate oxygen bleach with or without an activator.

UK "Sanitising" Tablets:

Are you thinking of Milton tabets? Milton tabs are commonly used in nursery and recommended by legions of UK mums, nannies,infant nurse's, midwives and nurse-maids.

Milton | Protecting what's precious for over 100 years

Protect and take care of your baby by giving them a clean and safe environment. Milton is here to help minimise germs and baby-proof their world.

www.milton-tm.com

 

[launderess]

Sudsmaster

American commercial laundry products are taking a page from their European counterparts, and indeed domestic laundry in "turning the thermostat down". Read a Henkel,Germany press release stating according to their research boil washing is all but dead these days in their main markets, and the average wash temperature is between 140F and 85F, with 85F rapidly becoming the norm. Indeed cold or warm water washing is predicted by Henkel to be the standard within say a generation or so.

Commercial laundries have huge expenses, and one of the largest is the energy required to heat water, weather it be by steam, boiler or even self heating washing machines. Hot and "boiling" water are also very hard on textiles, even the most sturdy pure linen. Ok, some will say "yes, but my gran boiled her linen in a copper and nothing happened to them". While it is true pure linen can withstand high water temperatures, it does not like being beat about a great deal. Boiling laundry in a copper for the most part involves laundry remaining stationary and soaking. Today's washers keep laundry moving while the water is heating, those long wash cycles, including the time it takes to reach hot or boil wash temps can take a toll on textiles.

Much of the heavy work in cleaning laundry today is done by enzymes, rather than high pH levels and heat as in of old. Also advances in oxygen bleaching systems mean they can work just as well at temps of 100F to 120F, instead of boiling or hot water washing. Yes, all oxygen bleaches will work faster the hotter the water, but for the most part 120F is fine.

Have noticed no difference in whites washed with a good TOL detergent like Persil or a non-bleach containing detergent with added oxygen bleach. And yes, have certianly notices textiles last much longer, and have fewer wrinkles. The last part is important for commercial laundry work and those of us at home who still iron.

Hot water causes textile fibers to swell and distort, not to mention threads used for sewing to contract. All of this means one has lots of smoothing, tugging and such to get items ready for ironing, and the task itself is longer as one has to deal with all those wrinkles. For this reason one rarely does dress shirts at wash temps above 100F.

 

[qsd-dan]

Peroxide

What is the ratio of " Hydrogen peroxide" to "gallons of water" for whites?

 

[sudsmaster]

One thing I have noticed: very hot temps (160F to 200F) will definitely fade some colors faster. For example, I have some black work jeans. As a test I washed a few of them at 200F in the Miele 1065. They didn't shrink at all, but the wash water ran black and they came out a few shades lighter than when they went in. But they were certainly clean! These were cotton denim jeans and evidently the mfg deliberately chose a dye that would fade - much like the indigo colored dye on blue jeans is "designed" to fade on most such jeans.

One plant-based dye that doesn't seem to fade regardless of temp is a medium brown stain that taro sap imparts to cottons. I ruined a number of shirts and shorts while pruning back the taro plants in the fish pond. Now I just wear old togs when I go wading.

 

[vintagesearch]

im the cold water captian!

i use alot of cold water for my laundry even towels i run them through a soak cycle and along heavy duty cycle and hang dry during spring and summer. i use hot water for sheets (even if colored) and whites. warm water for comforters. i get great results with cold water! and nothing comes out smelly granted certain things like whites towels and other ickies get an extra rinse all in our toploader.

 

[jwilson00]

Found a pic of the product i was thinking of, comes in tablet form, quite expensive though, at £1.99 for 8 tablets.

I think i expected the american detergents to be alot stronger.

Jay x

 

[hoovermatic]

With the announcement this morning that energy prices are predicted to rise by 60% in the next 2 years I think a lot of people are going to be turning down temps of all sorts of things including laundry. I have turned EVERYTHING down here in an effort to economise but the dishwasher is fixed at 65 degrees so might have to consider trading it in for a different model, so long as it is is cost effective.

There is an obvious problem with modern detergents in the UK and washing at 30 degrees in that after a while, the washing machine starts to stink mouldy. I didn't suffer this problem for months and then all of a sudden it arrived and has taken ages to get rid of. Can they not add something antibacterial to the detergent without the need to but yet another 'tablet' of chemicals to the wash water?