To use a 1h 39m cycle for all my washes?

[RtHonNicolaMurray]

I read a Reddit thread last night on this topic and the vast majority of commenters were using a 30 - 45 minute cycle for all their clothes. Some people even using a 14 minute cycle which I find really surprising - I can’t imagine my clothes would be clean after such a short wash!

I use a standard 1:39 cycle (Miele’s “Minimum Iron”) @ 30 or 40 degrees, or a 2:30 cottons cycle @ 60 for bed linens. Am I absolutely overdoing it?!
For context we’re a household of two adults, one (very small, non-shedding) dog and two short-haired cats. Fiancé works outdoors and does lots of DIY and we both exercise a lot, so lots of sweaty gym clothes to wash. I am by no stretch of the imagination a clean freak, so very surprised that I’m the outlier.

YABU - 30 minutes is plenty to get your clothes clean
YANBU - Hour and a half is pretty standard

I always use at least a 1hr45 wash for clothes and towels. The only things I put on a 14min wash are things like the kids' teddies if they're looking a bit grubby. Invariably, the longer cycles shorten themselves anyway because we have a 'smart' machine. Pain in the arse when you're trying to wash cloth nappies though.

Most things go on on the eco setting, temp set to cold or 20.

Tea cloths go on cotton wash and either 60 or 95. Towels, cotton wash again but usually 60, maybe a 40. Bedding tends to go in on the eco wash, though I might bump the temp up to 40.

YANBU.

In many cases shorter washes use more electricity. And personally I don't trust them to properly rinse out the detergent.

Clothes are rarely dirty in this house so I usually use the 30 minute cycle. I then do an extra spin because the 30 minute wash only has an 800 spin. If clothes are actually dirty I use a standard 1hr30min wash. I wash everything on a 30 as well.

15 minute quick wash cycle at 40 degrees - full load with ecoball.

My quickest 40 degree wash is 1 hour. I use that for gym kit, towels, or anything that seems dirty.

For other stuff, I was at 30 degrees on the shortest wash which is 35 mins.

I have a quick wash setting on my machine and you can adjust the temperature and spin time.Its brilliant!!! Most used is a 40 wash that takes 45 mins. The hottest wash taked 70 mins I was on holidat recently and the washing. Machine took hours

Number 9 every time. It's a one hour wash and you can choose 60,50, 40 or 30⁰.

I use a one hour, 40 degree wash for everything other than handwash items that go on a 15 minute, 30 degree cycle.

I got into a habit of doing all my washing on a 45 min quick wash and just came to the conclusion that some clothes were permanently stained. Well last week I decided to put them through longer cycles and the stuff came out like new. Made me feel a bit sick thinking about how long I've been basically half washing our clothes.

Same here. I use same washing machine setting for everything, same oven setting for everything, same tumbler setting for everything. Life's too short to read manuals.

Mine does a full wash at 40° and takes 59 minutes.
It can also do a 15 minute quick wash which is very good for slightly dirty items.

My theory is "How long would I stand at a sink and hand wash these items for?" Well it certainly wouldn't be anywhere near to an hour. Therefore a machine which is far more efficient than me standing at the sink doesn't need these great long wash times. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it 😊

It's the 59min cycle in our house, or the 45, or 30 if its stuff that is not dirty but needs a freshen up.
It's like brushing your teeth for 2min or 10min, does the extra 8min make them cleaner?
Unless you use a pre wash it's going around in the same water!

Mines got a Daily Wash setting that takes an hour and that’s practically all I use either on 40 or 60. Only exception to that is when there’s been illness and I’ve gotta boil wash something.

I’m sorry ladies but we’ve all been conned, we switched to a 28min cycle at 30 degrees 5 years ago, never noticed any problems with any clothes at all

3 years ago I switched to soap nuts which cost less than £10 a year, don’t use conditioner. I occasionally use a stain remover in wash or white vinegar on towels

I have 2 teens, cats etc, clothes are clean fresh no stains, white have remained white, towels are still soft, we helped the environment massively and saved a fortune on wash powder/ conditioner

How dirty do your clothes get?

A quick 40 min wash will be fine.

I remember using a laundry when in America and they all had 30 minute wash cycles and things came out clean, so since then I wash about half the laundry at 40 degrees on a 45 minute wash. Bedding at 60 though.
A fair amount of things like school uniform go on a 20 minute 40 degree wash with 1200rpm spin cycle included. All comes out clean.

I too have a miele washing machine and I use the minimum iron programme but then use the option to make it shorter which is 59 min for 40° and 50° (I don't wash anything at 30°) and 1hr 04 min for 60°. (I wash pale colours and bedding at 60)

The shortest programme is a 30 min express one but I rarely use it.
However I don't wash clothes after one wear if they are not dirty (obvs I wash underwear and sportswear after 1 wear) and I don't wash bedding as often as MN thinks is suitable!!
We are a family of 4 with 2 cats (although the cats do not generate much washing!) And I do 3 , maybe 4 loads of washing per week.

I always do a 40 minute wash, it was 30 minutes with my old machine. My fuel bills are tiny.

Wow! I use a super short wash, all my clothes are lightly worn. 15-20m

The shorter cycles are only good for small loads, clothes that are not actually dirty, or they use a lot more energy due to heating faster and/or more agitation.

They do use more energy/water. There was a thread about this recently so I checked our manual. A full wash, but on a time saver setting, was most economical. It’s only 1hr 20 so worth the extra time for the savings.

With me even the eco cycle is 45 minutes on my machine.

The short cycle is 30 minutes.

With your life routine i.e. outdoors you might need a longer one.
Sure, if we have been to the beach maybe I might use a longer cycle.

But generally stuff like towels are used once (teen uses once and then leaves on floor annoyingly) and I can get away with half an hour.

I came to this thread thinking that you were questioning using the short cycle! My short cycle 'daily wash' is around this time, the cotton cycle is over 2 hours. We have a 30 minute cycle but i never use that.

If temperature is constant (30°) then how can a 30m cycle use more power than a 1h30m cycle?

Genuine question cos I see it written on here often but it doesn't make intuitive sense

I use a 30m wash for stuff that's just regular dirty and then a longer wash for stuff that's proper dirty