….to wonder if 30 degrees is enough?

[Dora26]

In an effort to minimise energy bills DH is questioning everything- including the temperature I wash at - 40 degrees. Is 30 enough for eg towels and underwear? I suppose our clothes would be categorised as “lightly soiled “ - but still?

I always wash our clothes at 30 degrees on an express wash. Honestly never had any issues with them not being clean enough.

Aren’t some of the liquids effective at 15 degrees now ?

@catwithflowers
same here with some stain remover spray before hand if you have marks

40 here as water is very hard and 30 requires loads of powder so 40 is better , 60 towels and bedding as allergies and dustmites set them off
Occasionally wash 30 if something very lightly worn but generally just 40 degrees here , no intention of washing lower

This. You don't want to have to replace your machine.

Agree a longer, eco cycle will use the least electricity.

How so?

As i have a pre payment meter I don't notice huge savings on 30 quick and 40 eco

@HarryPotterDucks because a lot of powders , liquids don't dissolve well I think , just because you can't see i
Put your machine on with no powder / liquid etc and you will still see a lot of bubbles

Also I read for germs too every now and again you need a hot wash to kill those lurking in your machine ???

I've never understood this either. They're the cleanest thing I wash! Everything goes in at 40 here

Where I live people wash in cold water - with no obvious ill effects! I can never understand all this angst over the washing temperature in the UK.

My favourite is the intense cold wash. Throw in a bit of laundry sanitiser if you're worried.

I only washed at 40 or 60 when I was washing cloth nappies. 30 all the time now.

I always do 40 or 60 but we have heavy messy clothes because of babies. Can't imagine it makes any difference. Probably better off washing during the low rate times.

Only need a 700 spin in this weather no need for a full fast spin. Dry in no time on the line. Saves electricity.

I used 30 for a long time, but sweat never washed out properly. Have been washing at 40 for a few years again and all fine.

Tried different bio and none bio and nothing worked until I changed back to 40. No problems since then.

Only one way to find out. But if only using 30 make sure you do a hot wash every few weeks to clear through the machine residue in the pipes.

Because people don’t shower every day and rains a lot.

I have to wash at least at 40 or I don't feel its properly clean

I wash most things in cold now but I do peg them out in the sunshine

Well yes actually they did die. Ok maybe disease took them. But still we died in huge numbers when we washed in rivers.

Yep

the heat is to help remove dirt. 60° plus kills bacteria.

the cloth nappy group I follow recommend washing at 60° if you use non bio detergent, and 40° if you use bio.

we don't wash anything at less that 40° and always use the correct amount of detergent. I previously washed most stuff on a cool and/or short cycle with less detergent but when I started doing it as the cloth nappy people recommended I couldn't believe how much cleaner certain things were, e.g. white socks were actually sparkling white again!

This page says about the laundry sanitisers, that they contain an ingredient that isn't good for the environment and is a skin irritant. it's also unsuitable for use with septic tanks and continues to bacterial resistance.

cleanclothnappies.com/benzalkonium-chloride-laundry-products/

I use 30 for everything - unless it's whites that I'm trying to get a stain out of