30 minute wash cycle - yay or nay?

[EmmaGrundyForPM]

Very boring I know!

Our washing machine has a 30 minute option, at 30C. This is what I use for 90% of the washing. DH washes everything on the "normal" programmes which I think is a waste of time and energy. He thinks the "quick wash" options are for things that have barely been worn. I think it's for everything except towels and heavily soiled items.

Does anyone else use the 30 minute/quick wash programme as their default?

The mixed cycle is meant for a smaller loads generally. On my machine it takes 4kg while the standard cotton wash takes 9kg.

So you'd need to do two mixed loads instead of one standard eco one, using more than double the energy.

I can't say that I've ever smelled stinky clothes - other than on someone who just smoked a cigarette.

But I don't do that so I'm not using double the energy.

I use the 40 deg, 30 min wash all the time, with powder and a disinfectant. Everything comes out feeling clean and I've never had any problems. I wash my clothes quite frequently so I've always thought it was the best thing as it's short, so using up less leccy/water. Not too sure now! I've always used the longer eco-cotton wash at 60 deg for sheets and towels though.

Well then you must be overfilling on the mixed load.

Me too! 60s child, still alive...

@Screamingabdabz I’d say smelly people are a result of poor hygiene and infrequent washing of clothes, rather than the temperature and wash cycle which they chose. My clothes always smell lovely when I take them out. I do ensure however that the machine gets an empty, hot wash every month.

I agree with Dh. My 40 degree wash is 51 minutes long. That seems about right for bog standard washes.

But I do have a 15 min, 1400 spin on my machine which I use after every wash (apart from wool/delicates), because I have to dry all my clothes indoors. Everything comes out almost dry. I'm sure it's using up a lot of electricity though

Our machine has a 38-minute 40-degree wash. I use it for everything except bedlinen and towels. Have done for years. I chuck in some laundry disinfectant if I'm washing PE kits and do an empty boil wash with white vinegar and Zoflora every month or so and the machine smells fine.

Id only use the 30 min cycle on a few items that needed freshening up but never for a full wash.

My washing machines last ages even with
heavy use, and in a hard water area, so bite me. Am only on my third in 25 years, and that is only three because we thought Hotpoint were still good (my mum had hers 20+ years) and that first one lasted only two years.

I have a 15 min option that i use for single smallish items, such as a white tee i want to keep white, or new items that i suspect need a few washes on their own to wash out excess dye, or just to wash out the new clothes smell that i loathe. The rest of my clothes go in for the 30 min wash. Towels and bedding go in a 1 hr wash at 40. My dh boil washes nearly all his things on long washes, but I prefer to baby my clothes! I have healthy skin, my clothes don't get heavy use.

Do what you want, I'm only answering the questions on this thread.

If you put more clothes on a cycle than it's meant to take, it won't clean as effectively as if you used it the way it was intended.

If you use quick washes instead of eco cycles, they use more electricity and more water for a smaller load, that's simply a fact. If you don't care that's fine, but this thread isn't only for you.

I'll refrain on biting you, thanks all the same.

I use the 30min cycle for guinea pig fleeces.
Everything else is done on an eco cycle as standard unless occasionally time is very tight.

I used to live in Australia (10 years ago) where I knew lots of people who had cold water only washing machines. My friend had a washing machine that would heat up but she never used hot water. I don't know if that's changed now...more people were getting front loaders when I left 😜

The 30 minute wash is harder on clothes than the eco wash, it agitates much more.

It's not a 30 minute quick wash though, as the OP is using, it's an hour long wash at 30C, with a slightly slower 1200 spin setting also, FWIW. I'm suggesting it might be a good common sense compromise between 30 minutes and the very long cottons cycle. Which may well not be suitable for fabrics which are not cottons. I like cotton and wear it a lot but do have some polyester, acryllics and wool. Without doubling the number of washes as you separate out every type of fabric - also not very eco friendly or always very practical, but probably what washing machine and clothes manufacturers would recommend.

I’ve just replaced my ancient Bosch machine with another one. It served us well for 23 years mainly because I didn’t work it too hard. 30 degrees wasn’t an option but I used the shorter synthetics programme for most things, with only towels and bedding getting a hotter wash. Happy to report our clothes look and smell just as clean as everyone else’s.

My machine has a variable temperature (I use 40deg as standard) 59 min wash that uses less electricity but more water than the ECO programme (which takes nearly 4 hours). The very quick wash (15/30/45 mins) has a very low load capacity, so can't really be compared, and I only use these for emergency washes of one or two items.

I don't have a water meter, so it's a no-brainer for me to save both time and energy using the 59 minute wash. I've never had any clothes damaged, so I can't see that it's particularly harsh on clothes.

Sorry, missed the very important point that the 59 minute wash has the same load capacity as the eco wash/standard washes.

Just had a look at my machine - anyone know what is the actual difference between the cottons and the synthetics washes? I can choose the temp, spin and length of time for each - so what do they do that's different?

Same with Wool, lingerie and delicates - aren't they all delicate?!(I have 3 cotton cycles too - eco, cotton, and cotton intensive. Wtf!)

I think I have too many options so Quick wash is my go to. Should probably rethink my strategy!

check the manual.

the eco cycles usually heat the water up slowly. and use less water. which means less energy used.

I use the quick wash at 30 degrees with an extra rinse so it takes about 40 minutres. I only use longer hotter washes for towels, bedding and particularly dirty stuff.

I have always assumed that cottons programmes were potentially more 'aggressive' than other washes, purely because cotton is more robust and can stand up to anything. But the cotton wash on our machine is the most economical, so that's what we use for everything. I make all my own clothes, so they don't use industrial manufacturing techniques, and everything survives a cotton wash (many washes - I've been sewing for years). So I'd have no qualms about putting anything in a cotton wash, regardless of what it was made from (most of my clothes are not made from cotton - mainly from viscose, tencel, linen, denim (granted, that's cotton)). If I'm not wearing home-made clothes, I'm in running kit, and that goes in the same cotton wash too. As do PJs/loungewear, and all DH's clothes (which are not homemade apart from his hoodies).