Do you wash everything at 30?

[FindingMeno]

It seems pretty much everything now says to wash at 30°.
Do you follow this, and are you finding clothes are still stained/ have odours? Or that your washing machine smells?
I am wondering if washing on a 40° instead will solve this or whether it will ruin things.
I'm not sure if the 30° is for environmental reasons or because so much clothing is particularly delicate lately.
I do service washes and the odd hotter wash for towels etc, and it seems to make no difference what products I use.
Any wisdom to share please?

I do everything at 30 - darks, whites, colours, towels, bedding... Everything!

Almost never wash at 30 unless wool or delicates.

In my view, just because you can wash at 30 doesn't mean you should. I don't want smelly clothes or a smelly, blackened, mildewy machine.

If you are using biological washing powder,which will kill most bacteria, then washing at a temperature higher than about 30-40 it will stop it working because the active ingredients breaks down at higher temperatures .So I think the temp you wash at should be determined by he type of washing powder that you use.

I do most things at 40 but a few years ago noticed that lots of things shrunk and when checking the label either said wash at 30 or had two lines under the 40 symbol (which I think means delicate wash). So now, bedding I wash at 60, most stuff at 40 (t shirts, underwear, general clothes), and knitwear, linen, viscose type stuff at 30 just in case.

Have you noticed a difference in your electricity bills though? Our new washing machine has a “speed wash” button as the normal washes took so long. Like 2 and a half hours and then I have to do extra rinses on top cos of DS’s eczema. I work FT, it just took far too long. I looked up what the speed button actually does and basically it just uses more energy and more water and therefore saves time that way, it’s not that the rinsing or washing quality will be worse.

our previous washing machine billed itself was very eco. But the washes took forever as it had a timer which did the cycle according to the weight, said it used less water etc. God it took AGES to wash a load especially towels or bedding on 60 and you definitely had to use multiple extra rinses as I’m not convinced it was using enough water to rinse thoroughly.

I’m afraid I’m so over eco washing machines. I just need a washing machine to get my stuff clean without leaving residue which irritates DS’s skin and which doesn’t take over 3 hours.

the washing machines of yesterday used to use a lot more water and I’m convinced they rinse far better because of that.

Yeah, I don't like washing on such a high temperature really but so far it's been ok. Xx

There is absolutely no point washing things at 60. 40 is fine.

Who remembers their mum boiling white knee high school socks in the early 80s in a pan on the hob? 😆

Towels at 60, bedding at 40, all clothes including husband's running stuff at 30 with laundry cleanser. All smells fine. Set the machine one a clean once a month at 90

Don't do it at night. Fire risk

Same here!

This setting is about 1:13 as opposed to 1:03 or something. I'll do longer eco cotton washes if I time them to be ready to hang out in the morning.

I'm fine with eco settings though 🤷

40 kills more than 30 so all underwear. 95 once a week with washing soda for teatowels e clothes kitchen towels etc.

I did try washing at 30, washing wasn’t clean enough, switched back to 40 perfect.

60? That's high - what if you want to wash woollens, 60 would shrink them!

Or do you mean 60 minutes?

40 in general
30 if delicate
60 if unhygienic
90 if a very nasty event, like dog shit

I personally think bedding feels cleaner at 60. I don’t use any softener. I just want crisp clean cotton sheets. I used to wash bedding on 40 for years. Sometimes pillows particularly didn’t feel fully crisp-style clean. Must be our sweaty, hair producty, face creamy heads 🤢

so I started washing them on 60 every few washes and they’re much better now.

I do most things at 40 degrees, and bed linen and towels at 60.

Not a fan of using the harsher detergents needed to enable a 30 degree wash. 60 degrees and a non-bio detergent is my default and my favourite after bad experiences of odours when ironing after colder washes.

I do this, but sports fabrics like football kits at 30.

I wonder why people think UK clothes are so much dirtier, smellier, and germier than in Australia/NZ ?
I do most of my washing at 20 or even cold on the eco cycle, using laundry liquid that i put straight in the drum. Our clothes are fine and so are we.
Towels and sheets I occasionally do at 60

UV light kills a lot of germs. I’m guessing you have LOT more than that in Aus than in the U.K. And the clothes dry much quicker on your washing line? Not hanging around for days on an indoor airer taking ages to dry, which some people have to do.

Everything goes on a quick wash at 30. Occasionally particularly dirty bedding, whites or whatever get a 60 or a 90.

The machine gets gross inside and needs cleaning often, far more than it ever used to. I hadn't put 2 and 2 together that it was because of the lower temperatures, but that makes sense. As well as manually cleaning inside the seals regularly I buy a washing machine cleaner and run it through every 3 months or so.

All clothes at 30. All comes out clean and hygienic and fresh

Bedding, towels and cloths 60

Bio washing powder, two tablespoons for an 11kg load. White vinegar for softener (bedding and towels only)

I'm in the UK @CurlyhairedAssassin 😆
and quite a wet part!
I use a dehumififier