washing at 30 degrees

[bonzo77]

Anyone else do it? I've got into the habit, but I've also noticed that some stains (poo and tomato based sauces) don't always shift, even with vanish / shout. I'm using Surcare liquid. If I washed hotter would things be cleaner? And how hot? My mum swears she does everything at 90, apart from delicates. I keep re-washing things, so it'd probably be more economical / ecological to do it once but hotter. I always do towels and bedding at 60 with bio powder and they come out clean every time, though they tend not to have poo or sauce on them....

[lljkk]

Yes, have washed at 30 for ...5-8 yrs? Everything in bio.
I don't understand how hotter is supposed to shift stains; heat can make stains set in, too. The trick is to hand wash stuff like ketchup-wine-chocolate ASAP after it makes contact with clothes, and certainly within 24 hours. Using almost any soap & tepid warm water is good enough. If I get to it quickly, very little stains. I use Napisan once in a while on the whites.

Ink, I think it's really hard to get ink out unless you get it in the first 5 minutes. And bike grease can stain forever.

Bio powder is designed to work best at about 37 degrees & at 60 degrees its performance is poor because the heat (60) breaks some of the enzymes.

90 sounds like insanity to me.

[Orangeanddemons]

I'm with you.

I find 30 degrees just doesn't get stains out of whites properly

[Scousadelic]

I do cleanish stuff at 30, stuff with marks on at 40 with a squirt of vanish first and towels, undies, etc at 60

[PunchHouse]

Before you try washing hotter, try the original Vanish bar (sold in a box like soap) on food/poo stains.

IME it's far more effective than any spray-on stain remover I've ever tried. Cheaper too.

[Orangeanddemons]

I would be surprised at washing powder not functioning well above 60.

All hospital bedding and other linens need to be washed at 90 to eradicate germs.

[DramaAlpaca]

I wash all clothes at 30 using bio powder.

I treat greasy stains by rubbing in Fairy liquid, and other stains with a Vanish bar (not the liquid). I give them a really good scrub with a nail brush I keep for laundry purposes.

If I can, I hang the clothes out on the line as sunshine seems to help with stains, I don't know why.

If the stains haven't come out, I just treat them again & they usually come out the second time.

I wash all bedding & towels at 60. Never wash anything at 90.

[e1y1]

Yes, wash hot. I do a fair bit of washing at 95 degrees. I can't be doing with this cold wash nonsense, you wouldn't wash your dishes/floors in cold water, so why your clothes?

It's more ecological to do one wash, along with not replacing clothes that are ruined due to a stain. Also this cool washing is wrecking washing machines (sludge, grease and grime build up)

I do wash cool for what needs it, and hot for what needs it.

[STOPwiththehahaheheloling]

The coldest wash i do is 40 but cant think what i use it for most washes are at 60. Towels and bedding at 90.

[lljkk]

30 isn't cold, it's hand warm/hot.
It's bio/colour powder that doesn't work well at high temps. Use non-bio for high temps. Read more.

[Bunbaker]

Is Surcare a biologcal powder? If not then I think tht is why the stans won't come out.

DD used to have eczema until I started using Ariel bio and washing hotter. The bio powder combined with the hotter washes killed off all the bacteria and mould in my washer and the eczema disappeared.

[bloodyteenagers]

How many of you washing at 30, also have a washing machine that stinks every couple of weeks?

[CMP69]

Infection control in hospitals say 10 mins at 60°c is enough to kill germs on uniforms. My shortest is 60 mins so that's what they get. Pretty much everything else 30-40°c for 30-60 mins

[joanofarchitrave]

If it's clean enough to wash at 30 it's clean enough not to wash it at all IMO. Ariel just want us all to wash everything every day. Wear more aprons.

[STOPwiththehahaheheloling]

CMP69 someone on another thread recently linked to study done on 12 (i think) modern washing machines and found that they were only getting to 40/60/90 for a couple of minutes in the entire cycle so you definitely wont be getting 60 minutes of 60 degree washing.

[lljkk]

Machine doesn't stink at all, well, my sense of smell may not be great. But I don't think so. DH gave it a 90 deg. wash last yr when he had a brief flirtation with being a Domestic God (SAHD spell).

Yeah, 60 kills things & 30 doesn't (unless you add napisan).

[mousmous]

30 is fine for most stuff.
you can also try soaking the stained clothes (overnight) in cold water + bio powder.
bio works so much better than non-bio. if you are worried about sensitive skin you can always do an exta rinse/spin.

[StrawberryCheese]

We have always washed at 30. I do put bedding and towels on a 60 wash if I remember but 30 degrees is our default setting. I don't have kids though so as yet haven't had to wash poo stains!

[CremeEggThief]

I wash everything on either 40°C or 60°C. I only use 30°C for things like sleeping bags or anything that's supposed to be handwashed. I just don't believe lower temperatures get textiles really clean.

[STOPwiththehahaheheloling]

Anyone worried about smelly machines just run a service wash at 90 degrees with no powder in it once a month. You can add white vinegar to the fabric softener drawer for added deodouriser and bacteria killing.

[SanityClause]

I wash at 30, except for tea towels and dog towels, which I do at 90, or 95 (can't remember which it is on my machine). It's good for your machine to have a hot wash, occasionally. If something has a potential stain, I put a little washing detergent on it, before washing.

I use method washing liquid, and hang out to dry whenever possible. I don't find I have a lot of stains, and have successfully washed blood stains out of knickers etc, with a couple of goes.

[TheOneWithTheNicestSmile]

I used to use Surcare/other non-bio all the time due to having one child with eczema.

When he left home I started using bio & the difference in both cleaning & odour was incredible.

If you have a specific reason for using non-bio, try doing a bio wash followed immediately by a non-bio (& with extra rinse if that's an option) once a month or so - it makes a massive difference

(DS1 came back from Glasto this week with clothes wreathed in mud. A long soak in bio in the bath didn't touch the mud stains but a subsequent 40 degree bio wash got them out completely)(& then I washed them again in non-bio as he's the allergic one)

[Mintyy]

Sorry, but its not really good enough to attempt to wash poo out of something in warm water.

[TheOneWithTheNicestSmile]

It works on hands...

[PigletJohn]

if you wash at 30C, you will build up a sludge of soap and grease in your machine, so you will have to do more hot hot hot service washes to clean it.

If you have white cotton towels and flannels, give them a separate hot hot hot wash, and add a cup of washing soda crystals which is good for dissolving soap sludge and grease. The cotton will stand up to the heat, and being white, there is no fading to worry about. Flannels in particular benefit from a hot wash to kill bacteria.

If, the first time you do it, the water goes grey and the machine smells, that is because you have disturbed the old sludge. Do it again with just washing soda crystals, hot hot hot, and no powder, until the water stops going grey and foaming up from the old soap.

[Mintyy]

Personally, I was my hands in hot water. I understand this to be at least 45 degrees, perhaps as high as 50. I'd only wash in lukewarm water if I had no choice.