Would you wash at 20?

[pierreandreply4]

yes but not for all items of clothes i use hot water for bedsheets no bleach of course bath maths but the max i use most of the time is warm water but my washer is a model with no water heater so when the washer starts to fill the water may enter cool as the hot water must go up true the pipes to the second floor where my washer is

 

[aquarius8000]

Wash at 20?

I don't wash stuff colder than 50*C excluding woolens/silks...

It's just horrible, all my family have mouldy washers and they wash at 60 occasionally, tho at 20*C.....

 

[dave886]

@foraloysius SORRY TO HEAR THAT YOU SUFFER FROM SHORTNESS OF BREATH. ITS NOT A NICE THING AT ALL TO SUFFER FROM SOMETHING LIKE THAT

PS I KNOW IM WRITING CAPS.

 

[foraloysius]

Thank you Dave, that is very nice of you. Now let's go back to the topic we were discussing.

 

[launderess]

Would you wash at 20?

No, I wouldn't.

 

[logixx]

Oh, um, washing at 20C is perfectly fine, actually. You just add a biocide to the final rinse like the stuff Henkel graciously provided shortly after they introduced a cold-water gel detergent to the market. ;-P

 

Alex

 

[pierreandreply4]

there is nothing wrong in washing in cold water but this means cleaning the washer with something like afresh or tide cleaner or any strong cleaner after word as i have notice that if i was a normal light soil load with the cold option setting tends to leave my washer with a mild smellof humedety and i usaly clean my washer on a full cycle with afresh or tide cleaner once every 3 months look closely at the following picture what is the mistake in this pic the answer is pretty easy no warm rinse witch also means that this washer as no water heater me if i have the choice even if i prefer a topload washer but had no choice in buying a front load washer in case one day in case of reno done in the bathroom where the washer dryer is is stack i would look for a washer with a warm rinse in case i need a warm rinse for certain things that i have wash

 

[rapunzel]

"You just add a biocide"

Yup, a small amount of chloroxylenol does the trick and very effectively. I use it in laundromat machines. About 30 ml (approx. 1 fl oz) in the deep rinse works really well.

 

[mickeyd]

Once read

that it is the detergent which kills bacteria when they eat it in the water, suggesting that cold water is okay. I don't know if that is absolute fact or not. Think of washing your hands. On the other hand, it is always insisted that dust mites in bedding need really hot water to die. I guess it's all up to what kind of micro life you're trying to kill. Then again, sunshine can kill all manner of nasties, even rust stains. Hanging laundry in the sun works wonders.

Once while camping, we washed our clothes in a cold stream, and I was struck by the brightness of the colors as the clothing swirled in the stream.

I use the whole arsenal of temps, sometimes even turning the tank up to HIGH, and sometimes even rinsing in hot water. In winter, however, our cold tap water is very cold, well below 20 C. and it works well on colors, and many here have been using it for years on certain loads. So by default, the answer is yes.

Honestly, for me, water temps are more a function of mood and whim, but if I really want to kill, I use scalding water and Clorox, and, Man, do those mean little bugs scream.

 

[MrX]

At least in Europe, most of these things are options rather than something compulsory like in the US with very low water levels.

There are still machines available in Europe with "water plus" type options on them should someone want deeper rinses.

Likewise, this just means that the machine will have the option of doing a cold wash. You don't have to do them and I seriously doubt most people would.

I wash a lot of t-shirts and stuff like that at 30ºC and it works absolutely fine. I've never really seen any difference between that and 40ºC

However, I do towels and bed linen at 60ºC.

Since none of my family have any horrendously nasty contagious illnesses, I have never really felt the need for 95ºC as it tends to wreck clothes. Even towels tend to loose their bounce if you do it too often.

...

With washes under 60ºC, the strength of the detergent and the length of the wash cycle probably kill more bugs than the temperature. If anything, 40ºC would probably encourage them to grow as it's a nice warm temperature ideal for multiplying.

A normal wash will reduce the number of bugs on clothes as you're flushing them out with lots of detergent which normally should remove quite a lot of them. Certainly, enough to make it fairly hygienic anyway.

I think we're you've a problem is with these very short washes. They're not long enough to adequately let the detergent and the washing action flush out the gunk from the fabric and certainly not long enough for enzyme or bleaching actions to work.

 

[launderess]

Persil Hygiene Spüler

Is all right for what it tis, and one uses it now and then (nabbed a stash from Germany), but the recommended amount (90ml) means one bottle won't last long. Plus the whiff packs quite a punch even after washing is machine dried.

There are many variations of biocide, bacteriostatic, fungicide, etc... final rinse additives sold to commercial laundries. If one wishes you can see those out here in the states but you may have to purchase a job lot. These products do the same thing as Persil's hygiene spuler, Sagrotan, Dettol and so forth... added to the final rinse provide an extra measure of sanitation and fungal control to washing. Same as with rinse additives available for commercial dishwashers used in restaurants and such when "low temp" washing has been carried out.

Other alternative is to add either LCB or phenol (old formula Lysol) to a wash load done in cooler water temps as both will kill germs and such even in cold water.

 

[dave886]

Persil Hygiene

@launderess, i'm sure the persil in germany is better than the one in england

 

[mrboilwash]

IIRC there was a study about European washing habits posted here on AW a while ago.

There wasn`t that much of a difference hygiene wise when 30°C and 40°C were compared. Even at 60°C with a bleach containing powder used did not give stellar results in germ counts. Maybe they used one of those modern machines where 60°C is actually only about 50°C to get the A+ rating, I don`t know.

 

[dave886]

on my samsung, 60oc cotton with intensive option selected, 4 rines cycles, takes 4hrs and 25mins thats is just crazy, is there reason why it would be so long, does it have anything to do with killing bacteria. with out the intensive option, the time will vary depending on the load sensing

 

[ovrphil]

To be or not to be 20C

Interesting thread with a maze of ideas...to answer the questions..

1) Yes, sometimes but who knows a real-time water temp reading? We don't have a digital wondermachine; only three selections of cold, warm, and hot with cold rinses. But, yes ..we wash cold if the fabric tags specify cold temp wash. Example : I have a WASHABLE wool fabric sweater, that requires cold and delicate (or hand-wash)cycles.

2)...no, the cost is insignificant

3)Low-water useage and washers with mandated temperature requirements = big brother is "washing" YOU.

 

[Soap-n-Suds]

Call me the Crazy American or..

..something else (Nice please!). But I don't know what 20c and 30c's are, but I'm pretty sure they are colder than the 120-170 degrees I was in. I don't believe you can get your clothes clean in cold water and just think of all the harsher chemicals you have to use to clean in that temp. Not for me. Nice to see that your governments want you to was a load of jeans with an ice cube while over here, our government wants us to wash a load of 35 bathtowels in 16 ounces of water! lol

 

[glenfieldmathk1]

20C is about 68F (according to Google)
30C is about 86F
15C is water that usually comes out of the average household tap (not sure if thats the same as the US) 59F.

The average UK household washes at 40C (104F) - Your machines call this Warm/Cool?

 

[Soap-n-Suds]

Thanks glenfieldmathk1

I guess I could have looked on google too! lol But 68 doesn't sound horrible. I was thinking it was something more like 20 degrees or something like that. I know I can't wash dishes in that temp and the grease just slides about. I don't know why they think we can wash clothes in those kinds of temp. That must have to be some really harsh chemicals in that laundry detergent to clean and then all those chemicals are going into our ground, lakes, rivers and treatment facilities?? I'm not sure that's the best trade off. Is it just me?

 

[dj-gabriele]

I'm not sure that's the best trade off. Is it just

Sure for me a heated wash with little detergent is much better than a cold wash with loads of additives which will never rinse away!
Also price-wise, a wash at 60°C with just detergent is much more economical than loading the washing machine with stain pre-treater, detergent and whitening agents in cold water!

And the environment is happier!

 

[wilkinsservis]

dont tell mum and dad they should be dead!

Since my mother bought the first automatic washing machine in 1970 she has washed almost exclusively in cold water. If one was to listen to the doomsayers and scaremongers on this site they should be dead....cold stone dead...rotting six feet under from fulminant multiple infectious diseases. They are however very much alive at 85 years old. At very least it would have been predicted that they would live as hermits because no one would come near them due to overwhelming issues with body odour but my mother's "candle lit suppers" make her the toast of the bridge club. I really dont see what the fuss is all about. Could some one please provide some scientific evidence to support or dispute the assertions in this thread?