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 read the title to this thread and thought why would someone begin washing everything when they turn 30? 🙄😂

This is all very interesting and has now made me wonder the difference between a delicate and normal cycle.
I think I will ditch 30 and start washing at 40.

Wash at 60 because of 'commuter germs'? I despair of this planet

Most stuff gets washed at 30 here. Bedding and towels go on at 40 and the machine does an empty 90 wash when it says it needs to do one! If things are particularly muddy I rinse them in the sink before they go in and put the machine cycle on for an extra rinse, still at 30 though.

We use biological powder and no longer get the manky black slime build up like we did when I was using smol laundry pods.

I dry on the line as much as I can, and resort to the tumble dryer through the winter for towels and bedding as I don’t have enough indoor drying space for those.

I buy this multipack from amazon

If you are able to dry outside, the sun will kill bacteria and machines are less likely to become clogged in soft water areas. Which may explain why in some counties it is possible to wash at lower temperatures and not end up with smelly clothing.

If you live in a damp climate, have hard water and dry clothes indoors, bacteria will not be killed at low temperatures - whatever fancy detergent you use. Just because something looks clean, doesn't mean it is.

Am especially surprised that people wash sports clothing at low temperatures. Anything that gets sweaty, ideally needs washing at 60. Sport's garments therefore need to be made from fabric that withstands higher temperatures not anything delicate!.

I find 20.or 30 is fine with powder but can gunk up the machine with liquid detergent or if you use lots of softener

Delicates on 20 or cold

Normal on 30 but often with extra stain remover when needed (kids white school stuff mostly)

Bedding and towels on 40

Very occasional filthy stuff on 60, maybe 3 or 4 times a year

Towels at 40, DD’s minging nursery clothes at 40 with stain remover and the cat blankets go on at 40. Tea towels if they are grotty at 40.

30 for everything else.

It has a machine clean cycle which I do roughly monthly.

We use cheap Lidl washing capsules as we don’t have the room for powder. I preferred powder when we had a laundry room. I’d switch to the sheets but can’t afford them.

Clothes at 30.
Bedding at 40.
Towels at 60.

I've a decent machine that's 2 years old. Saying that cos it's not an old one. There is only one wash that does 30. The rest are all 40 plus, so I can't do much at 30 anyway

a few wears, no stains - 30
underwear, more soiled clothes - 40 or 60 from time to time
towels and bedding- 60 , and once in a while 90
kitchen towels - 90

30 for everything except:

• really dirty kids clothes 40
• dh's paramedic uniform 40
• if dh's uniform is really bad (sick, blood etc) then 60 but this isn't often thankfully

Bedding, tea towels and flannels at 60

Everything else at 30, but I put dettol antibac in with it.

My stuff would be OK at 30 because I'm not that sweaty but my DH needs 40. The underarms of the clothes still smell after washing at 30!

When I lived in Hong Kong many years ago, there were no hot or warm washes. Washing machines were made of plastic and every single thing was washed in cold water. Everything came out clean and fresh. No lingering odours. All my washing was done this way for two years. I wonder if we really do need to wash in hot or warm water?
Now I’m back in the U.K. Been back since 1985, I’m back to washing in warm or hot water, I miss my old plastic machine and my ‘Pow’ cold water washing powder.

How did you dry stuff, @GenerousGardener ? It’s v humid in Hong Kong, isn’t it?

@CurlyhairedAssassin it is humid but the sun is so intense the washing dried in no time. I had a whirly washing line hung on the side of my flat. You didn’t want to drop anything getting the washing in or out as it meant getting the lift to
tje ground floor to retrieve it.

30 is below human temperature and it will leave a lot of bacteria just bathing.

40 normal adult clothes
60 baby stuff, underwear and bedding
95 white children bedding/clothes, adult bedding every month or two.

I find it bizarre that washing machines go to 95 and and you cannot find single item in a shop that can be washed at that temperature lol

I'm puzzled about the bedding at 60 issue.
When I've looked at the labels on my cotton duvet covers etc they all say 40... though I know 60 is meant to be ideal for keeping sheets clean. Does everyone else simply put them in at 60 anyway?

No. I've yet to find a non-bio detergent that dissolves at 30. They all say they do, but they lie.

I wash most of my stuff at 30.

The kids and husband tend to be at 40, they sweat a lot more than I do.

Bedding and towels I do at 40; I think the only thing I do at 60 is tea towels and the service wash.

I use bio powder.

@LondonFox do you not use detergent in your wash as well? You're not relying on hot water alone surely?!

Obviously I am but don't think washing powders are labeled for killing 99% bacteria.

Mine are pure cotton so are fine at 60. I've even accidentally washed them on a 90 without a problem!

I wash non delicate clothes on 40, towels and bedding on 60, table linen at 90 (but that's only occasionally when we have a dinner party and I also treat that as a machine clean)