….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’ve read this too. Apparently one hotter wash a week is enough to stop this so I wqsh towels at 60. Everything else at 30.

You're all barking 😂😂😂

I've washed absolutely everything on 30 degrees for 20 years! Never clogged a machine and none of us smell.

I'd use a 20 setting if my machine had it

I tend to soak grubby white socks or very sweaty garments before washing.
To add to reducing electric I reduce the spin speed also.
Clothes last a lot longer but in the winter you have to accept garments dangling on airers for longer.

I typically wash at home 40, but my uniform will go on a higher wash (one wash a week, two if I am working a weekend shift) due to working in a hospital. Bedding will also go on a hot wash once a week too.

40degrees for all my washing…very occasionally 60 if my sons are playing sport.

Everything at 40

You can get a product to add to your washing machine that kills bacteria on a cold wash - all the big laundry brands do their own, and there is supermarket own brand stuff which is half the price and just as effective.

30° is fine if you dry on the washing line.

I grew up in a country where everybody only ever washed their laundry on a cold cycle and all the washing powders in the supermarket where tailored for that. It wasn’t until I moved to the U.K. that I became aware of washing with heat - initially I shrunk and discoloured numerous items of clothing because I didn’t realise the washing machines defaulted to a 60c load!

I've had 2 different washing machine repairmen say not to wash regularly at 30.
The detergent doesn't dissolve and you end up wrecking your machine - which isn't going to save you money in the long term.

Change to better washing powder?

Change to better washing powder?

He wasn't talking about my machine. I made him (well both of them) a cuppa and we were chatting generally. I wanted to know if it would make sense to use the 30 degree setting.

change to liquid washing powder. Stop using overpriced ones that look like gel.

I always wash at 20 degrees and to be honest I don’t recommend it for soiled items. Day to day is fine. Not sure how much power it really saves. I would say it’s better for the clothes.

After showering people still have areas of their skin that are pretty germy. Bacteria love warm, moisture rich environments like towels in a warm bathroom and can multiply quickly. After a few days they're pretty grotty!

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

News flash! Not everyone showers every day here either, and we have some extremely wet parts of the country too - so what has any of that got to do with it?

@Mamiamamia - I would have probably done the sam!. Cold water and the appropriate laundry powder works fine. Surely with all this banging on about the huge increases in electricity costs it's time for the UK to consider this. (I've never understood the angst about electricity in a bathroom either - perfectly common here to have washing machines in bathrooms).

Tell DH to do his own sodding washing at whatever temperature he chooses.

I do 30 for everything these days. (For my washing.) Couldn’t tell you what temp my boyfriend uses as that’s up to him.

I've washed in cold water for years, never had a problem. I spray under arms with pre-wash spray but that's all .

Washing at 30 does nothing. I wash everything at 60.

few years ago i had plumbing issues and had to use a huge tub (80kg in size) and washed on eco for 2 hours plus. The tub overflowed. I was surprised. Then i washed on 60 and it came to just below the brim.

i have never used eco wash since as it certainly used a lot more water

I mean the tub collected the water from the machine instead of it going to the drain!

too early! No coffee.

Almost everything on the 15 min quick wash at 30. Anything dirtier gets the quickest eco setting 40 cycle that my machine will do. I do use stain remover with sodium percarbonate which I understand has minimal environmental impact.

Every week or so my machine gets run on the 90 setting with soda crystals until the window feels hot, and then cheated onto the rinse and drain programme.

I line dry whenever possible but do still use the tumble drier if necessary.

Clothes are clean I think!

I've got (like a pp) towels that say wash at 40 and loads of my clothes say to wash at 30. I've stuck to this but just wondering if I can get away with using hotter temperatures once in a while when things are stained etc especially with suncream and general muck from the DC.

@eleanoreleanoreleanor
If it was just everyday clothes for DC I wouldn't worry about marks that had n't come out in the wash .I would know to myself that the garment was clean.
For more difficult grass stains on cricket whites , grimy boys collars etc I would soak over night in bio powder or vanish or some such first.

All these threads about low temperature washing, it's like the detergent industry doesn't spend millions of ££ researching and developing low temp products and the machine mamufacturers are still working on a top looking twin tub

Why is Brenda from the internet's anecdata needed, we know the actual science 😂