Would you wash at 20?

[lavamat_jon]

Pierre...

Nobody is telling you how to wash, nor asking you to change how you wash, however this thread is discussing UK/European machines that all have heating elements, always have heated and always will.  Please do not get offended as we are discussing the way we wash here.

 

Everybody's opinion has a value, and there isn't one right way about doing things.  The world would be boring if we were all the same - imagine if the entire world had one brand of washer, one brand of detergent, one water temperature...  We understand and appreciate that you like to wash in cold water, but do not take other's preferences to wash in different temperatures as criticism on your part.  I will get criticised by some for washing on 30 deg C (which I have found from my personal experience and experimenting over the past couple of years, gives superb results on dark/coloured laundry - identical to 40 degrees), but as long as the way you do things works for you then who cares what anybody else thinks, acceptance is the key to harmony in today's world.

 

Jon

 

[optima]

If washing & 20c is bad get ready for a maximum 1600 wattage limit on Vacuum Cleaners. It's all going mad mad mad but i'm more than happy with my classic low powered 600w Panasonic.

 

[dj-gabriele]

600W vacuum cleaner?! I faint... ahahahha

My oh my!
It's not the power limit on vacuum cleaners that makes me go into panic but the limit on all the other appliances that we take for granted if I were to move to the US or Canada!
Like a 3 kW kettle or a 3,2 kW steam iron+steam generator or a 2,4 kW hairdryer or a 3kW indoor grill or the ability to plug in a clothes dryer virtually everywhere! And go figure, here by code you can have standard 20A power points!

 

[logixx]

I think 600 watts is okay since this vacuum has no hose, which usually reduces air flow. Our Vorwerk has only 700 watts and a 100 watts power brush - cleans superbly. But it is true about the lowering of total power draw. Here, most large appliances are now only 10 amps, which means 2000 to 2500 watts of heating power. In the past, most appliances had 3000 watts at 16 amps. My washer, for example, claims a six kilo load to be washes at 40C on the one-hour cycle. Only recently did I find out that the heater isn't capable of heating the amount of water (at only 1900 watts) to the selected temp and the main wash will just time out. So bring back them powerful heating elements!

Back on topic. I'd only use 20C to refresh things that have been in the closet for too long and need a rinse, basically. I tried the Ariel gel and after two washings in 18C water, all my darks smelt and I had to rewash them in warm water. Coincidentally, our consumer magazine also reported about temps in washers and how hot each machine got on its 60C cycle. They said that, by the end of the year, only A+ efficiency machines are able to be sold.

 

[dj-gabriele]

Here, most large appliances are now only 10 amps

Go figure that the new Candy Grandò have a total connected power of only 1500W, talk about lowering instantaneous power use!

 

[gorenje]

Sure it can be an individual choice, but ...

my answer is NO WAY!

Never below 40°C, simply because even the body temperature is almost 40°C.

Any extra chemicals or extra time or extra vigorous action added to achive the same result will leads to higher costs, harm for the environment, harm for the clothes, than if a higher temperature is used.

Regarding on washing habits in North and South America where a considerable percentage of people wash in cold I was wondering if it could be possible that the water chemistry over there is significantly different from ours here in Europe which is generally quite hard.

It could be that washing a same load in cold over there or over here would lead to a different result, just because of the water.

Mine is just a hypothesis.

Ingemar

 

[mrlavadoro]

Is stupid wash a 20 º

I wash at 30, 40 or 60 degrees but NEVER i going to wash at 20 degrees it´s not higienical and is bad for the clothes.

 

[aquacycle]

Optima, I love that Panasonic! I grew up with a slightly later 700w version in a house with 4 cats and 4 kids and it never let us down!

Here is my Panasonic collection.

 

[retromania]

Next.....

Before long we will be back to beating our laundry on a rock in the river!!!
When I got my HE front loader, I had to get use to the less water thing. It took a while. I just wasn't convinced at first that my clothes were really getting clean. That was five years ago now and it does fine. My clothes don't get soiled because I have a desk job, but there is a heavy-duty setting on the machine to make it run a long time. Also you can add an extra rinse. Well, anyway, blah blah blah blah blah. Y'all get the point.

 

[rolls_rapide]

Also...

There were cases of spontaneous combustion of towels in beauty salons' airing cupboards, due to the flammable essential oils not being properly washed out of the material. Low temperature washing was blamed as one of the factors. (Ideally, such establishments should be washing at much higher temps to combat cross contamination of clients!).

The best "cleaning-to-economising" ratio seems to be around 40 degrees Celsius, where oils, greases, ointments and body soils are usually taken care of in an efficient manner.

 

[haxisfan]

If you wash at 30 then you might as well turn a blind eye on

Washing at 30 is unhygienic too... even washing at 40 is for that matter! The bottom line is... if you guys can put up with 30... why not 20? Besides, most modern detergents are designed to wash at such low temperature.

Having said that, I use the 20 degree program on the Hoover Dynamic 8-Pulse for some dark daily clothes (provided that they're not heavily soiled) that I used to wash at 30 degrees and the results are brilliant... or rather, they are exactly the same as when I was washing them at 30 in the other washer. I've done this for 6 months now and I'm still getting no bad smells or moulds neither in the washer or on the clothes.

Actually I could say that in my older washer, if I washed too many loads at 30, I had to do a maintenance wash after 3-4 months cos' I could detect some unpleasant smell in the washer (nothing overpowering... I had to stick my head in the drum to smell it). The dynamic instead smells as fresh as ever! This machine on the 20 degree cycle uses a different mechanical action compared to other machines and it's wash performance on such program is comparable to a normal wash at 40 degrees C (laboratory tests proved it).

Thus, my guess is that if they decide to include such cycle in other machines, they will make sure to alter its wash profile accordingly. Still, I keep washing my everyday lights at 40/50 and my towels at 60/70... sometimes I even boil-wash some bed linen.

On a different note, I wouldn't use the 20 degree cycle continuously and for everything, I'm afraid but that could potentially be some users' unfortunate choice for the sake of saving some penny... and that could make some of your worst fears come true (I'm thinking of that watchdog episode, some time back on UK TV, when Ann Robinson was showing the horrifying state of some Indesit Moon washers swarming with thick black mould - having been used on quick 30 all their lives no doubt).

 

[mrlavadoro]

I put 30 grades..

In my AEG when i wash delicate things for example:Curtains and winter sheets
I put 35º in my balay becose is not mine and my grandma decides to put at 35 becose before the clothes are washing in a sink.
I put 40º in my AEG with a normal clothes.
I put 60º to towels.
I put 90º in a cleaning cycle with vinegar
At 20º degrees the action of the detergent is nule

 

[rapunzel]

This is one funny thread

The Japanese are known for their cleanliness and they almost exclusively wash their clothes in cold water. Australians aren't dirty people and know the value of clean laundry and most of them wash cold. I do cold washes sometimes if clothes aren't all that dirty and the results are neither icky nor unhygienic.

For people who don't get all that dirty, who shower and change their clothes daily, washing at 20 degrees is more than adequate. They won't get sick from it, their clothes won't stink, nor look or feel dirty. They also won't have to wash their clothes for hours to get them clean. We have very good detergents these days that give good results at 20 degrees centigrade.

Of course nobody is being forced to do all their laundry in cold or tepid water and I don't really understand the emotional outpouring over this issue.

It is an option that consumers can use if they want to.

I appreciate the benefits of doing boil washes with grandma's heavy 19th or 20th century linen and heavy cotton shirts and underwear. I don't own stuff like that and almost everything I've got can't be washed hotter than 60 degrees.

Over the years I have found that what cleans at 60 degrees will also clean at 50, what cleans at 40 will clean at 30 and so on - I find this preoccupation with five or so different temperature settings a waste of time that I simply don't have. That is not to say that I compromise on clean clothes.

 

[fl1012]

No

I can't see the point, at all. Might save a few pence, but big deal. Washing machines cost pennies in electricity compared to many other household items (dryers, ovens, kettles, electric showers) and dropping 10 or 20 degrees and no doubt running for longer to compensate (if our dishwashers Eco cycle is anything to go by) will probably save so little it'll be pointless. Especially since washing machine manuals already say that if using low temperatures, run a 90c maintenance wash each month, thus probably wiping out the savings.

On the EU/UK's other obsession, Carbon Emissions, we can shave as many degrees of washing machine cycles as we like but with China, India etc doing just as they please then CO2 will continue to rise hopelessly so it'll be a massive fail on that front too.

Just an added cost to manufacturers that gets passed onto consumers no doubt at some cost, just like Particulate Filters (DPFs) on modern diesel cars that have caused so many problems.

Nope. Typically stupid EU decision probably made by people who know nothing outside of their little bubble. Just like the EU itself - a waste of time.

 

[mrb627]

Would I wash at 20C?

One word answer, yes. But not everything. Some things are better in hotter temps while other should be done at cooler temps.

Malcolm

 

[pierreandreply4]

this depends on the kind of fabric or shirt so in a way this can play on the chosen temp and do not forget that on some washer models its the selected was time that plays on the temp selection as there is no actual temp knob i know because in 2011 me and my whole family with my nieces we went to orlando florida i was the one doing the washer was a top load rebadge whirlpool roper washer straigh vane agitator and the wash temp was on the time knob there was a water level with extra large it look like this no hot water temp option but the warm water was more like cool water so a little piece of advice to aw members if you plan a vacation and rent a vacation villa make sure the washer in the rental is one that fits your needs or everyday wash use.

 

[washer111]

I think we'll have to agree to disagree rapunzel...

Until we got our Miele, our previous machine could only use cold water (The hot tap was not being replaced, as we knew we were getting an FL machine later and our water heater was on the fritz at the time). Even after hanging overnight in some instances, my clothes (and the others) all had a musty/B.O. smell to them, and we were dosing detergent correctly and using a cycle adequate for light soiling. 

 

I've also noticed that we were catching colds 3-4 times a year. I had on in the Summer (last year), then 2-3 in the Winter that I had transmitted to someone else and caught it back. This happened a couple of times over the years Since we've had the Miele, I've not had a cold, and I've been washing in Warm - Hot water. Clothes don't stink, machine doesn't stink. Mind you, the Simpson before didn't smell, though leaving the lid open practically all of the time tends to do that - so I think there was some buildup hanging around in that thing. 

 

The other "issue" is our Miele seems to have enough "intelligence" to lengthen the cycle as you choose colder options. The "standard" Cottons 60º programme is about 1hr 40mins. Drop below that, and right away the cycle is extended almost an hour. Down to the straight Cold option (or tempered to 24º, I don't know), and its basically an hour longer. Of course, if the Miele senses a light load, this "added" time is generally cut back substantially. 

Going up from 60, we see mild time increases, but nothing drastic over here. I think it has more to do with heating the water with the "mega-element" than anything else. I can't imagine the Main-Wash being extended at 95º. "Over 2 hrs of boil washing is absolutely guaranteed to kill germs, bacteria, mould, mildew and the all the clothes in the wash. New, from Miele."

By Miele's standard, Cottons Cycle should be 60º and anything else must be a "special" cycle...

 

Above, I stated why I wash hotter. I would probably do darks at 30º, but my use of Fabric Softener causes me to do otherwise. Besides, its more hygienic, so I might just wash hotter anyway. 

 

[mrlavadoro]

In my opinion..

I think wash at 20 degrees for delicate clothes is good but .For example: in chile the mayority of the people wash at 20º or cold becose the water is hot (i think).But i think is a little stupid wash all at 20º because some of the clothes need more temperature for good results, for example: very diry towels or sheets with bloods spots.

 

[pierreandreply4]

it depends on the type of stain me other than paint stain when i wash i notice that in cold water the paint stain go away and i use resolve spray and wash first and also i think that also depends on the washer brand if you look closely at the picture i am posting these are one of the last few direct drive washer that offred a 4 wash rinse temp including the hot warm rinse option after that the hot warm rise option was remove from all direct drive top load washers see picture number 2 for other exemple for us and canadien members of aw who set the wash rinse temp to a hot warm rinse when they had that option and who think that the hot warm rinse temp should be on front load washers of today?

 

[pierreandreply4]

picture number 2

here is pic number 2 i think this was not a wise idea when they remove the hot warm rinse option from direct drive washer because if i would of had that option and would wash something in warm water i would switch the temp know when in the first spin to fill for a warm rinse