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?

Yes. With soap. Always.

I wash everything in cold.

Everything at 40. With a stain remover
But if something said 30’ , i would do it at 30

Everything at 30 but we pre-treat heavy stains with vanish first.

Everything at 40.
Bedding at 60 occasionally when I remember.

40 but we all wear clothes for several days (not undies obvs!) so clothes need a proper wash (non-bio)
Pants, bedding and towels at 60 (bio washing liquid)
30 for sports wear (non bio and no conditioner) but if it's particularly niffy it might have to go through twice.
30 for down and outer wear with a soap rather than detergent based wash.

Mainly 40 here with non-bio powder. 30 is there are any period pants in there.

Whites, sheets and towels at 60. But my new machine has an eco wash 40-60 cycle which I have been using but don’t really understand - it is supposed to set the temp according to the needs of the wash, but I think it washes mainly at 40 rather than 60 as I’ve noticed DD’s white school socks aren’t coming out as clean.

Drum clean once a month with washing soda crystals.

Towels and drying up cloths at 60,
bedding at 40,
everything else at 30.

This is my concern.
Most of the stuff I wash says 30 delicate on the label. Some I can see its delicate but most looks reasonably robust.
I'm guessing the lower wash temperatures on the labels aren't to do with the fabric, but more to do with a drive to use less energy? ( which is commendable but often with not very clean results!!)
I've also noticed some brands my dc wear say handwash only on the label, regardless of the label....a ploy to appear more exclusive????
I'm bamboozled- but reluctant to conduct experiments on all our clothes, which is why the wisdom of the wise women of MN is invaluable 😁

Sorry I meant to say 'regardless of the item', not 'regardless of the label'

On reflection, I think scabies would be one thing ... it's apparently rife at unis and DS's house share has been plagued as have many at his uni. 😬

Anything that says handwashing gets chucked in a pillowcase and tied up and put on the delicates cycle at 30.

Wool wash is at 30.

Everything else is at 40, I did notice that the eco setting at 40 that took 3 hours was washing the life out of everything so don’t use it except for bedding and towels and at 60.

I pretty much wash everything at 40, towels and bedding at 60. Only if it's expensive and says 30 then I do it. With 2 youngish kids and dh work clothes I wouldn't think the stains wld come out at 30.

God no. The 'wash at 30' propaganda and quick wash facilities used on regular clothes and bed linen are the work of Satan. They don't get items thoroughly clean, they don't remove stains or smells and it makes your washing machine clog up with black gunge.

I use my eco wash for most things. It's 30°c. Nothing smells or comes out, not clean.
I do a white wash hotter, and my machine has a sports wash, I think it is 40°c so running and gym gear goes in that.

I wash everything at 40 on a proper (i.e. not short) cycle and bedding and towels at 60 on a 1 hour cycle. I think 30 for not too smelly clothes would probably be ok as long as it's on a proper cycle. I don't think quick washes are sufficient for actual cleaning. They just get stuff wet.

Recently I've been treating myself to service washes at the launderette for bedding & towels as we have so many visitors and it been a game changer. Never had a service wash before this year and I have been missing out!

Our lodger washes all his stuff (including work gear he's been outside in all week) on a 30 quick wash and it absolutely stinks. I have no idea why he won't use a longer wash as it won't cost him any extra. But I refuse to be a replacement mother to him by educating him on laundry so I just leave him to stink as he has his own separate bit of the house so apart from his smelly washing he doesn't otherwise impact on me.

I do most things at 40, towels and bedding at 60, delicates at 30. Used to do darks at 30 and sometimes still do but I found that it just didn't get the smells out as well without adding antibacterial stuff. Definitely doesn't get teenager smells out or stains as well as a 40 wash.
Personally I think detergents are rubbish these days too especially pods and liquid. I use a good old fashioned powder

The ones that make washing smell funky

Doesnt smell really clean at 30 imo

I use 30 most of the time , plus stain removal powder, and everthing is properly clean and smells nice. Perhaps you have a smelly barrel? ( not being personal here!)

The gunk is often from liquid or capsules, they don't disolve properly at short washes and lower temperature.

I use wash sheets and my machine is clean, doesn't smell and there is no residue compared to my old one where I used a lot more liquid.

I found that polycotton fabrics are the worst in getting clean and not smelly. DD has a couple of jumpers she wears to school and they are a disaster. DH and I wear mainly pure cotton and there is nothing which smells when dried.

I don't think the washing machine of my childhood in Germany had a 40 degree setting and my mum used power at 30 degrees and line-dried if possible. No issues at all.

30 does not get rid off bacteria on knickers/sports clothes/sheets etc. I wash most things at 40 as it's cheaper than washing 2 lots at 30 and 40. Uniform at 60 to be sure it's clean. I hand wash woollens though.

I wash in cold water, and I've never had a machine clog up with black gunge in my life - I've never even seen black gunge. My clothes are also clean and don't smell.

Most colours at 30 unless there has been a “food blob attack” or something is particularly dirty.

Whites at 40 generally.

Bedding at 40 or sometimes 60 depending on how much active service it has seen.

I always clean the filter on the first of every month, remove the drawer, give it a scrub and run washing machine cleaner through the machine.

I agree with you & believe you @NattyTurtle but no one else on MN will.