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Washing at 40 or cold is not a good idea

252 replies

Stangerthings · 27/11/2022 11:29

There is an advert for washing clothes in cold water. I think this is wrong. I washed a load of towels at 40 degrees and had to wash them again as they smelled dirty so how is a cold wash going to remove bacteria?

OP posts:
CurlyhairedAssassin · 27/11/2022 16:02

KnittedCardi · 27/11/2022 13:52

Do you wash yourself at 60oC - no. Most people opt for 40ish. Bit of soap, bobs your uncle. Do you add Dettol - no.

You would die if you saw what comes out of your bellybutton when it is swabbed, only you don't, die. It just lives there, quietly, humming away 😂

Except when it doesn't and goes into an infection. I've had a couple of navel infections because I've got quite a deep inny. Might be a coincidence but they took a while to go away when I washed towels at only 40. I've switched to towels and bedding at 60. The bedding has been a revelation, feels properly crisp and clean.

Cornettoninja · 27/11/2022 16:04

HumourReplacementTherapy · 27/11/2022 15:44

Someone said you need non-bio at low temperatures and another poster has said you need bio Confused which one is it?

As far as I know it’s bio that isn’t as effective at hotter temperatures than 40. If you want the benefits of bio (which I think is mostly the bleach component but I could be wrong) that’s the temperature you should be sticking too.

If you’re not particularly fussed then you can use either at any temperature but the bio isn’t making any difference at hotter than 40.

EmpressoftheMundane · 27/11/2022 16:06

NHS guidance:

www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/infections/can-clothes-and-towels-spread-germs/

I choose to follow it. When I’ve lived in sunny places, without tumbu flies, I’ve considered hanging clothes in bright sunshine to be a disinfected, and been happy to wash with no heating at all (so colder than 30.) But here in the UK, I wash towels at 60.

SupposeItDoesnt · 27/11/2022 16:08

I have washed everything at 20C for years, except historically cloth nappies which were washed at 40C. Everything smells clean and fresh, we are never unwell.

RampantIvy · 27/11/2022 17:33

My washing machine doesn't have a cold wash option. The lowest temperature it washes at is 30 degrees.

It was in the house when we moved in 19 years ago and is still going strong.

I occasionally run a hot cleaning wash through it using soda crystals, but as I wash towels and bedding at 60 degrees, and use washing powder it rarely needs a service wash.

Emotionalsupportviper · 27/11/2022 18:00

Why do people wash their towels and bedding at a higher temperature than normal clothing?

Bedding gets sweated into (and absorbs other bodily fluids) for at least a week in most homes. Towels can lie around damp (mine don't get very wet because I use a flannel to remove the excess moisture first - but DD and Mr Viper manage to soak theirs, and occasionally there may be a bum mark . . . 😬) So I use a higher temperature for these.

FatOaf · 27/11/2022 18:04

As far as I know it’s bio that isn’t as effective at hotter temperatures than 40. If you want the benefits of bio (which I think is mostly the bleach component but I could be wrong) that’s the temperature you should be sticking too.

If you’re not particularly fussed then you can use either at any temperature but the bio isn’t making any difference at hotter than 40.

The enzymes in biological laundry detergents (i.e. the "biological" component) have optimal temperatures below 45°C, so if you use them much above 40°C you'll lose the biological action and just have the normal detergent (also known as surfactant) action.

Detergents dissolve lipids (fats, oils, waxes, etc.), so they will break down bacterial/fungal/viral membranes and detach any lipid-based substance from your laundry. Modern laundry detergents are specifically formulated to work at low temperatures (20-30°C). Adding enzymes to produce a biological detergent will allow it also to break down some proteins as well as enhancing the lipid-digesting action. But the enzymes won't do this at high temperatures.

New washing machines are required by law to be capable of washing at 20°C.

Where you get stagnant water pooling (e.g. in washing machine seals and detergent trays) you're likely to get microorganisms proliferating. Because the laundry will have been rinsed, there will be very low concentrations of detergent remaining at the end of a cycle, so any standing water will be hospitable for bacteria & fungi to grow in. (Viruses can't grow outside a host organism's cells, so this doesn't apply to them.) The bacteria will form biofilms that are quite resistant to detergents, so the next wash cycle won't necessarily get rid of them. A very hot wash (i.e. 90°C) might help to get rid of these, but manually cleaning the seals & trays will be more effective.

EmpressoftheMundane · 27/11/2022 18:14

You sound very credible to me @FatOaf . Do you know how to get at seals to clean them?

Chikapu · 27/11/2022 18:50

EmpressoftheMundane · 27/11/2022 18:14

You sound very credible to me @FatOaf . Do you know how to get at seals to clean them?

Offer them a bucket of fish?

Cornettoninja · 27/11/2022 18:54

That’s a very comprehensive explanation @FatOaf - thanks!

Emotionalsupportviper · 27/11/2022 18:57

Chikapu · 27/11/2022 18:50

Offer them a bucket of fish?

LOL!!!!

😂😂😂

Blowyourowntrumpet · 27/11/2022 20:44

My washing machine doesn't have a 30° option. It has 20, 40, 60 or 90. I always go for 40 and have never had a problem with towels or anything else smelling. I might try a 20 degree wash.

echt · 27/11/2022 20:50

I wash everything cold (Australia) except the tea towels, dishcloths and scrubby things which will have old food on them. They're all saved for a big wash then done at 60.

Talkwhilstyouwalk · 27/11/2022 22:02

I wash most things at 40, although 30 is probably sufficient as well.

The only thing I wash at 60 is cloths, and even that's only when I've been cleaning toilets with them...

Theoldwoman · 28/11/2022 07:47

Wash it all at cold, it won’t kill you.

RampantIvy · 28/11/2022 08:08

I think some posters don't realise that we don't have a cold wash option on most washing machines in the UK.

HeraldicBlazoning · 28/11/2022 08:11

No, my fairly new machine doesn't have that option. 30c is the minimum, labelled as an eco-wash.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 28/11/2022 08:35

OP, try doing a 90 deg empty ‘wash’ with just a cupful of soda crystals, to give it a good clean.

If you use pods, and/or conditioner, you may well find that you’ve got a build up of gunge. (Tip came from Piglet John on here.)
I had to do the empty/90 deg wash with soda crystals twice, before dirty grey foam stopped appearing.
I now just use powder, and less than I once would have, no conditioner. Laundry is fine.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 28/11/2022 08:36

Powder plus soda crystals, I mean.

Workinghardeveryday · 28/11/2022 09:12

USaYwHatNow · 27/11/2022 12:13

I wash clothes, underwear, towels all together on a 30C wash.

Kitchen towels, cloths etc on a 40C

Baby's clothes are washed separately as they are kept in a separate laundry basket (can't bear the dog hair on his clothes 😢) and washed at 30C

Bedding at 40C or 60C. Or anything stained by the baby on 40C with a stain remover.

Dog bedding at 90C with a pet hair dissolver.

Nothing has ever come out still stained or smelling grim that I can remember.

The only time I've had an issue is when weve accidentally left something in the washer and have tried to dry it. It would always need another wash again after that if we did.

Pet hair dissolver?!

please tell me more, my chihuahua sheds hair for fun

Workinghardeveryday · 28/11/2022 09:15

I wash everything at 40 apart from towels that are 60.

I recently tried washing a load at 30 and it came out dirty. Used bio liquid and lenor. School uniform still had marks on that would normally have washed out.

sevenbyseven · 28/11/2022 09:20

RampantIvy · 28/11/2022 08:08

I think some posters don't realise that we don't have a cold wash option on most washing machines in the UK.

I'm in the UK and I didn't realise that to be fair! My washing machine has cold, 20, 30, 40, 60, 95.

FatOaf · 28/11/2022 09:32

I think some posters don't realise that we don't have a cold wash option on most washing machines in the UK.

No, my fairly new machine doesn't have that option. 30c is the minimum, labelled as an eco-wash.

EU law has required washing machines to have a 20°C cycle since 2013. Even if you've bought your washing machine since we left the EU, and even if that legislation has been repealed (which I don't think it has), I think it's pretty unlikely that manufacturers have suddenly started making models solely for the UK market.

HeraldicBlazoning · 28/11/2022 09:49

Really? Off to look now....

You are absolutely right! There is no "cold wash" programme, but there is a temperature button which allows me to adjust the temperature on one of the set programmes. So for the programme I usually run it on - 40c mixed load on an eco setting - I can adjust the temp down to 30, 20 or cold.

Interesting. In the summer when I can dry outside in strong sunlight it's definitely something i'll be trying. Our garden is north facing though and at this time of year the sun doesn't get high enough to get to the washing.

AnnGables · 28/11/2022 10:01

Not sure if there are any posters from East Asian countries on here but I'm pretty sure that when I lived in Japan, their washing machines only used cold water? There was no option to heat the water? I spoke to friends in Japan and they said this was standard. They said they would do pre-wash stain removal before putting it in the machine if necessary? Laundry, including towels and bedding seemed to be fine even being washed cold? Wonder if their detergents were different? Just thought it was interesting that an entire nation doesn't seem to use hot water for washing clothes!

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