Because I am ignorant. Why is a 4 hour Eco wash better than a 1 hr wash?

[Unreasonabubble]

I saw a thread tonight about washing machine times and it made me think. I normally do a 1 hour 40 degree wash for most of my washing. Should I be doing an Eco wash which takes 3 times longer? Does it save me money? Does it clean better? I like to wash and go if that makes sense. I do not understand why I would clog up the washing machine for hours and hours. I would not be able to get all my washing done in a day if that was the case.

Genuinely unaware here so would appreciate your guidance.

I would never leave my machine on at night while everyone's asleep. Just never.
Someone close by had a house fire. They thought it was caused by a washing machine left on. Fortunately, the family were out. Unfortunately their dog died in it.

I put everything on the quick wash unless I'm doing DS2's wool mix school jumper, in which case it goes on the 30° wool wash.

Our stuff smells horrible at 30 degrees.

I also know that the eco wash wears out our clothes much faster. After a year of trying the most eco friendly possible combos possible, I'm back to shorter old school 40 degree mixed wash and 60 degree white cotton.

My Dds eco wash is 6 hours 6 ! Surely it uses more electricity ? Mine is 4 and a bit depending on wash weight I dunno I think there is worse things than a 1hr 40 minutes wash

SusannaM

All spin speed settings seem to do it.Wondering if it's time to get it looked at

Just done swim towels on eco setting.

Took 2.5 hours which wasn’t too bad and they came out smelling better than when using my normal 1hr daily wash cycle.

I’m converted for towels so will try clothes and check for bobbliness.

DH claimed the new machine was chewing up his clothes.😲

@gamerchick

I have never heard you shouldn't leave a washing machine unattended?

My quite old washer doesn't have an eco setting. Almost everything goes on a mixed load, 44 minutes, 30 degrees.

Can I ask those who put the washer on overnight, why they dont worry about a fire hazard when they are asleep in their bed?

[quote mumtoallbhoys]@gamerchick

I have never heard you shouldn't leave a washing machine unattended? [/quote]
Well you have now. There are multiple links in this thread alone.

Personally I think apathy plays a part. People take machines for granted and trust them not to break down and get stuck on a spin cycle while they sleep.

Wouldn't be me though. So no eco wash here ta.

Some people on economy 7 have cheaper electricity at night so putting it on at night/early morning makes it much cheaper for them

I often put my dishwasher on last thing at night

We have to put ours on at night because we leave at 7.30 and are gone for 12+ hours of the day. It would be gone midnight if we did that plus the eco setting. We time it to start in the early hours and finish before we set off so we can hang it up before work.
The room has a smoke detector and CO2 monitor and the route out of the house from our rooms is the opposite side to the utility room at the back.
Would love it if I could have it on during the day and hang it out, but we’ve got to work!

Like others said said less water and electric, I have a timer so ours goes on around 4am so its ready to hang out when I get up in the morning.

@ReviewingTheSituation

It's all to do with the way the water is heated, and how the water is used. Eco settings heat the water more slowly and use less water (reusing the same water several times in some cases). Your manual should show the water and power consumption on each cycle, but eco programmes will save you money on electricity and water.

I never understand why so many people want their washing done in an hour - just put it on and let it do it its thing, surely?

Really? You are completely incapable of thinking outside your own small experience to imagine a single reason why someone might want or need their washing done quickly?

• someone with a sick bug/kids having an accident and not having multiple changes of bedding
• big family needing to do several loads a day or even a small family/single person who only gets chance to do washing on the weekend
• someone working in a small flat (on the kitchen table in the same room as the machine) needing to make calls for work or sleeping for a nightshift without a very loud machine going in the background for four hours
• someone living in a flat who doesn't want to piss off their neighbours with the sound of a washing machine going off above their heads for four hours
• someone who needs to wash a particular item (school jumper, work shirt, quickly)
• wanting to be able to dry clothes outside - my garden loses sun by about 4pm, even if I put washing on the second I get up I'd have to go to work if I let it run for four hours and it would then lie crumpled and damp in the washing machine for another 4 by which time it would be dark outside. Not even considering the fire risk. Even if I do it on wfh/days off it would only get 4 hrs outside and unless in blazing sun wouldn't dry in time so would have to use a dryer. If it's on a 50 minute wash I can peg it out before 9am.

If people can use a eco setting then great but the arrogance of not being able to imagine why everyone can't, all the time!

Of course I can think of lots of reasons why washing might need to be done quickly, and of course I use the quick wash too, in many of the scenarios you describe. But that's not the same as doing every wash on a quick setting, using more water and power, just out of habit. Surely the best way is a balance?

One thing this thread has highlighted is that it's something lots of people have never really given any thought to, just working on an assumption that quicker is 'better'. And plenty of posters have pointed out that it's not necessarily the case.

@ILoveAGlassofFizzy

Can I ask those who put the washer on overnight, why they dont worry about a fire hazard when they are asleep in their bed?

I can't speak for anyone else but for the same reason that I don't worry I'm going to have a crash every time I drive my car, or think I'll get run over everytime I go out for a walk or get burgled when I go out.

These are rare events and I couldn't bear the thought if living a life where I was constantly worried

How many times are washing machines used every day, got to be millions, how many burst into flames, got to double figures at most. There is no increased risk connected to the time of day

I do 1hr cycles for everything. I have just the 1 baby but my washing pile is insane (especially right now she has puked on every bit of bedding/all her pjs). I would literally not be able to keep on top of it all faffing around with 4hr washes! Everyone else can be an eco warrior and i will carry on doing 3x 1hr washes and 3x dry loads daily.

Ok, so apparently much of the cost of running a washing machine comes from heating the water, and eco cycles use a cooler temperature.

But which would actually work out cheaper, a 45min cycle at 30° (which is what I use unless the clothes are particularly dirty) or a 3 hour eco cycle?

Eco uses less water and electricity. It's your choice if you want to use it. But don't just assume 1 hour good , 4 hours bad

Set ours to come on in the night when elec is cheaper. No spin so it doesn't disturb us. Spin in the morning.

Why all the washing machine takes so long?
I normally use quick wash, takes about 30 mins. With dirtier stuff like muddy clothes, I either prewash, or start the wash, stop and soak for while and start again and it does the job.

Just NO.

Ridiculously, NZ is getting rid of the cap for low user electricity and the daily charges are doubling in April. We are moving to a company who offer annhour of ‘free’ power everyday so will be using ( this country is dedicated to top loaders but we have a front loader) the non Eco hot wash at 60 degrees and because the hour is restricted to off peak, I will start using my environmentally unfriendly dryer .. after it has been standing dormant since I bought it over six years ago ( it’s pristine) so eco features no longer make sense here. So much for incentivising people to use less energy.

Thanks for the question, I’ve always wondered the same thing.

An hour - sorry typo