To think the Ozzies are mad (washing question)

[beautyspot]

Living in Oz and renting. Our beautiful and expensive flat comes with a cold fill only washing machine!

(OliPolly's recent thread re washing her smalls by hand made me think about this)

My neighbour was in the other day and shocked to see me filling the washing machine with hot water from the shower (carrying buckets!). Most of the people I know here are happy to wash in cold water and says it protects their clothes and the environment. I say it can never clean clothes properly.

Am I being unreasonable to think that a cold water wash can never clean properly? My neighbours here think so.

Hanging your washing outside to dry (as most Australians do) completely sterilizes it, due to the ultra violet light. The uv also removes most stains that don't come out in the cold wash (even when using Napisan etc). I have family in Australia & visit frequently. Last year I washed a load of babypoo & food-stained babygrows, popped them on the line, and even the worst stains were completely bleached out by the sunlight in a couple of hours

Fayrazzled Sun 13-Mar-11 08:09:38
A cold-fill only washing machine doesn't mean the washing is washed in cold water. My Miele washing machine here in the UK is cold-fill only but the washing machine heats the water to the required temperature (as opposed to hot-fill where hot water is drawn off the central heating system).

was going to say exactly the same!!

I have been laundering under the impression that washing at 60C kills dust mites - only do the bed linen at that temp tho.

Aussies cannot be washing at low temps for enviro reasons unless they're massive hypocrites as there are a hell of a lot of apartments where they all have tumble driers as it is usually a condition of apartment lease that you cannot hang out washing visibly on an apartment balcony. Also lots of people seem to just use driers anyway - remember lots of discussion at mums' groups about which brand of baby clothes shrank the most.

I've found that I have far more issues with stains here than previously in the UK - the laundry powder does not seem up to much & the sun doesn't seem to work for me

Was going to post what cornflowers said.

Bright hot sun = sterilising and bleaching properties.

If I tried washing the clothes here in cold water and then air-drying them inside the house they would be filthy and would stink

Washing only in cold water means you will get e-coli building up in the washer which then gets spread throughout clothes. No cold laundry washing liquid is designed to kill that bacteria.

I remember a How Clean is your House? episode where a woman took great pride in her washing and machine ( it was the ONLY thing she took great pride in, mind you bleeeeeerk!) and Kim and Aggie explained about the e coli. They said no point having a lovely washing machine and washing at 40 as it would ruin the pipes etc.

Napisan elvisgirl, pink tub for colours and white tub for whites.

My sheets smelled so good this afternoon that I put them straight back on the bed instead of putting another pair from the cupboard on.

Lovely.

All washing machines in the UK are now only cold fill.

I purchased my machine six years ago and thought it was faulty as it was only cold fill.

Not so.

There is a difference between cold fill with a heating element and cold fill that washes cold.

Why are they all cold fill now? Surely it's more energy efficient to have the hot part from the boiler if you have gas, than heating it electrically inside the machine?

SardineQueen one of the arguments is that washing machines use so little water now, that they almost fill up before any hot water actually reaches the machine. (the hot water takes a while to work it's way through the pipes in the same way that you have to run a hot water tap for a while before you get hot water out)

That's interesting tyler.

(Honestly it is I like learning this stuff!)

That makes sense tyler - I can put just a couple of items in my machine and the water level adjust accordingly. LOVE my Miele machine

Thanks Morloth - I do know about napisan but I can't be arsed to add more stuff to the washing machine. I just want to wash & go, I don't bother with softener either. Maybe I will get some when DP's work shirts end up with more area stained than not!

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, I'm not a pedant, but Australians are not Ozzies (that would be Mr Osbourne), they are Aussies.

Top loaders actually wash more vigorously than front loaders due to the friction created by the agitator. If your machine smells, you probably need it serviced.

If you really have a problem with cold water washing (despite millions of antipodeans washing their clothes this way since time immemorial, and not all dying from e coli), then go to the hardware shop and get a new hose that fits over both taps - it'd probably cost you about $20.

My ex's ancient hot-fill washing washing machine used to drive me up the wall - the water that came out of his taps was so hot, that even if you did a 30 degree wash it might as well have been a boil wash.

The first time I used my current machine (came with the flat, so I didn't choose it) I thought it was faulty as it hardly filled up with water .

Aren't you supposed to leave the door of a front-loader ajar when not in use, to air it out & keep from smelling? Though of course there's a child-safety issue ther.

Ours is hot and cold, and I need the hot to wash nappies. Are you cold washers not cloth nappiers? I think it's necessary then.

I grew up with cold only clothes washes (as did most people I know) - never known anyone to suffer from ecoli from it, not did we walk around wearing dirty clothes. Most of the time clothes would be dried on an outdoor line & the sun plays a part too I guess.

Napisan tortoise, the clue is in the name.

I didn't use cloth though, way too lazy.

All the cloth nappies come with instructions; no soaking liquid or special products needed, just a cold rinse and then a hot wash with a bit of normal detergent.

I think Napisan belongs to the last generation of cloth, although we have used it on occasion when things get a bit stinky. But the point of the hot wash is we don't have to use it every time.

YANBU!

I wash clothes according to what's going in - something delicate or not very dirty - 30 degrees short wash. General washing - 40 degrees relatively quick wash. Vomit - 60 degree longer wash etc...Once a month, I do an empty 90 degree wash. Usually choose this to be after I have washed something particularly filthy!

I believe that the machine's instructions suggest a 90 deg empty wash once a month/fortnight or somehting like that.

We had Australian friends in S ENgland who took an Australian top-loader with them and only ever used the cold cycle. They were quite eco so I thought it was just them.

I used to wonder if they ever smelt but they didn't. However my own clothes are less than fresh if I don't wash at 40. Hmmmm.

"Australians are not Ozzies (that would be Mr Osbourne), they are Aussies."

I agree with RJRabbit

Re the Aussie/Ozzie thing - the Aussies themselves do chant "Ozzie Ozzie Ozzie Oi Oi Oi" tho. I don't believe they take special care to pronounce the first bit "Aussie Aussie Aussie"

My friend told me that with top loaders you can leave things in soak before washing for hours/days & keep adding stuff which helps with stain-removability.

I occasionally run a 90C wash with a bit of white vinegar in an attempt to keep things running smoothly when I remember but I feel guilty at putting the temp so high & the fact it takes ages to run through the cycle. I once used a special appliance cleaner solution I got from Lakeland that suppposedly maintains your dishwasher/washing machine. Our washing broke the week after - I think it must have removed all the crud that was holding it together.

I have never (in 5yrs being here) seen it written by anyone as 'aussie aussie aussie, oi oi oi' it has always been "Ozzie Ozzie Ozzie"

And it is referred to as 'Oz' not Aus, hence ozzies!