So we should be washing our pants at 60 degrees.

[BenWillbondsPants]

This morning cleaning expert says our pants should be washed at 60 degrees. How does that work then? If you've to wash the rest of your gear (apart from towels etc which I wouldn't wash with ma pants anyway) at a lower temp, are we just supposed to save up 50 pairs of dirty pants until you have a full load of dirty knickers? It's all very confusing you know ...

Stella McCartney would disagree. She recently declared that we all wash our clothes too much.

We shove absolutely everything in together on a 40deg wash, nothing is separated.

I have no intention of washing at 60 except for those very few, brief weeks of the summer when mine and dh sheets go on a 60 because of profuse sweating.

As for bras being washed daily, why would anyone do this?

Everything washed on 40 deg here, mostly all shoved in together because there's only me and I'm not wasting half a washload by sorting it all into colours and whites and such guff.

Only thing I wash hotter is bedding, which I put on at 90 deg because I have a dust mite allergy and it kills them off in the bedding (pillows, duvets etc outside in the sun and periodically in the freezer).

I wash everything together. I don't shit myself so I figure it's fine.

Nappies and bum wipes go in at 40 too with some nappy sanitiser. We are all alive so far.

We do

Tea towels, dishcloths and facecloths at 60
Delicates/wool on the delicate/wool cycle (20)
Towels (separately to everything else to stop them making clothes bobbly) at 40
Everything else at 40

When we had little DC in cloth nappies, they got washed at 60

I've never used a 60° wash in 50 years of doing laundry, rarely used 50°, and usually use the 30° quick wash for everything bar bedding and towels that get done at 40°. Using bio powder you don't need hotter washes ime.

Why? I'm not eating my dinner off them I'm sticking them back on my arse

I wash pants with everything else.

Why? I'm not eating my dinner off them I'm sticking them back on my arse

Exactly! And I have absolutely no intention of washing my arse at 60!

Why? I'm not eating my dinner off them I'm sticking them back on my arse

This is why I love MN!

I do knickers, dishcloths, tea towels, towels and sheets at 70 or 90 degrees.
Have a lot of cotton knickers, so I don't run out.

I think these items all need to go in on a very hot wash to effectively remove germs and bacteria.

Would never do them at 40, its not hot enough to clean them properly.

I’m in Stella McCartney’s camp, and am sick of reprimanding the dc for chucking clothes in the laundry basket after only one wear (undies excepted) when they are still clean.

I wash everything on 30, except for an occasional batch of whites on 60 when the dc socks and school shirts need nuking. Then everything is dried outside on the line, which works wonders.

I just burn mine

You lost me at "This Morning expert".

I wash everything together at 40C, I'm never ill. I only wash dog towels and cleaning cloths separately.

Stella McCartney would disagree. She recently declared that we all wash our clothes too much.

Too right. Come on people, think of the planet 🌍

Everything on 40 here. Washing at 60 or above is inefficient and bad for the environment. Washing machines in Japan only use cold water and I haven't heard that the Japanese population has been wiped out by an epidemic of cool-washed knicker germs.

When DC2 was a baby, I had a problem with my washing machine and called out an engineer. He announced that the heating element was bust, and the machine would only wash cold from then on. I was skint so said I'd call back and arrange for a time to have it fixed, knowing it would be a very long time before I'd have the money. I have been washing cold ever since, and the laundry is nice and clean. If I want a hot wash (my eugh is towels after the swimming pool), I just add a few kettles if boiling water. All good!

Monday pants, socks and pjs wash at 60
Tuesday towels, wash cloths and mop heads 90
Wednesday uniform and outer clothes - 2 washes - one white one colour at 30
Thursday or Friday sheets at 60 - 2 washes - one whites (which the white pants and socks go with) and one colour.
Saturday or Sunday a repeat of Wednesday

Bras are swished in the sink.

Family of 4. Always use bio powder.

I read a Which? report on washing machines which concluded that very few of them actually reach and maintain the stated temperature for any significant time. So even if you think you’re washing at 60, you’re quite possibly not.

Wonder if laundry “expert” knows that.

I wash mine at 40 at least once a year, whether they need one or not

Everything at 40 here, I would use the lower temp but I have to use non-Bio and it doesn't work if it's too cool. Never made me ill so far.

Everything on 40. Everything in together incl. tea towels and pants. And I chuck coloureds in with my white.

go me.

I always rinse underwear and socks and trousers before washing

Everything gets chucked in together here - bedding, towels, underwear, jeans and T-shirts, regardless of the colour. It all gets washed at 30. We're still alive and have no terrible skin diseases etc. Laundry is a neverending pain in the arse job as it is without adding to it and making it even more annoying!