So, should I be doing my washing on 60 degree washes after all?

[NatalieJane]

DH came up with what I think could be a reasonable argument last night, but I'm not sure what do you think?

If I do a 40 degree wash, the washing machine heats the water, it is a much longer wash (between 2 and 2 and a half hours) the few things I put in the dryer take longer to dry, and I need to spin them on a higher spin.

If I did a 60 degree wash, the modern boiler heats the water, which DH says is more economical and enviromentally friendly than using the element in the washing machine, the wash is done within an hour (obviously saving on the electric), things in the dryer dry a bit quicker, I can turn the spin down a bit, and things dry quicker on the airer which means the next load can go out sooner in stead of having to use the dryer.

Is it actually more 'green' to use the 60 degree wash?

As long as you don't shrink all your clothes in the hotter wash, it sounds like a reasonable argument.

So you have a hot and cold fill machine then?

I have no idea Blonde! I suppose it must be....?

You might have to undo all the good in a few month with having to replace all your delicate clothes, the colours will fade and look carefully most of the labels says 40, if you want to save the environment wash at 30 degrees, make sure you hang your washing by your radiators and make use of the heat.

most new ones are cold fill only so the machines always heats the water

My old one was hot and cold fill but my new one is cold only (and I think they nearly all are now).

But anyway the wash temp shouldn't affect how long they take to dry (or are your washes all programmed together? I can choose temp/wash length/spin speed separately on mine - well, up to a point)

60 degrees is way too hot for most things. My old one used to have a 50 but I don't have that any more - the only things I wash at 60 are towels and cotton sheets.

HTH (prob doesn't though!)

whats the matter with 40 degrees though?
is there really that much difference between that and 30??
also if I do a 30 degreee wsh then it doesn't spin it right and so they are dripping wet or I need to spin them again thus using more leccy and wearing the machine out

We always used to wash on 60, never had a problem with clothes fading.

The machine is about 5 years old now.

I did try 30 degree washes, and despite what anyone says, things just didn't feel or sometimes even smell clean.

So what's the answer then 40 or 60?

Oh the airers are all in front of the radiators

For most things I use the 40 degree "quick wash" (takes about 38 minutes) and the 1400 spin (you can select temp and spin speed) I then hang it on the radiators in the winter, and outside in the summer.

For towels, sheets etc I use the 40 degree "normal" wash, using the "time saver" option (never actually experimented to see if it's much quicker though LOL), and for mucky/really dirty things the 60 degree wash (all with the 1400 spin. Doesn't seem to make any difference to how wet the clothes are when they come out.....

40 - it's not just the temp, it's a more thorough wash, isn't it? the 30 degree ones tend to be for delicates?

Why do clothes washed at 40 degrees dry more quickly? I am confused.

No the clothes washed at 60 dry quicker because they are warm when they come out of the machine.

Mine has 2 different 40 degree progs (easy-care & cotton) and 3 for 30 (delicates & silks/woollens/mixed); and it has different max spin speed based on fabrics: 1200 for cottons, 600 for delicates & silks, 800 for everything else.

I mostly wash everything on 40 degree cotton wash; I prob should do some on easy-care as they do come out quite crumpled.

I wonder if you can do a degree in laundry?

eh?

now i'm confused! do clothes washed in hot water get dry quicker than clothes washed in cold water?

surely not??

NJ, if you left them in the machine for a while before you got them out, they wouldn't be warm but would still take the same amount of time to dry!

It'll be the faster spin speed of the 60 degree programme that makes them dry faster, honest

I only wash sheets and towels at 60 and not every wash
Usually the rest goes on at 40
Sorry but not convinced that at 30 the stuff gets clean

Well what ever it is that makes the difference, it does make a difference to the drying time.

TheBlonde - how can you not be convinced?

In Zimbabwe our maid (no we weren't rich or posh honest!) use to wash our clothes by hand using the outside water tap......which was cold. And I can assure you that those clothes were lovely and clean (how she got some of those stains out though is beyond my comprehension LOL). Surely a washing machine could only do it better?

I'm with you Blonde, like I said I tried 30 degree washes, and some of it didn't even smell fresh.

I suppose I need someone who know's for sure if the boiler heating the water is better or worse than the machine doing it, and if it is about the same, then surely the electricity saved in the shorter washing and drying cycles, would make the difference enough to use the 60 wash?

LOL Wendy, perhaps one of those laundry degrees would come in handy!

NatalieJane - your DH argument is flawed.

From a very basic thermodynamic viewpoint - a 10 degree increase requires double the energy input and puts out double the energy. So, if you use 10 units of energy to heat to 40 degrees, you will need 20 units for 50 degrees, and 40 units for 60 degrees. The boiler might heat the water more quickly, however have you ever looked inside a boiler and seen how many gas jets there are blasting in there. So actually far more inefficient as it will always take X amount of energy to reach 60degrees, whether that energy is generated by the machine or the boiler doesnt matter, however relying on the boiler means it heats far more than you need and there is more waste. As someone pointed out, most modern machines are cold fill only.

So, if you want to be more green, and save more money - buy a modern washing machine and bin your tumble dryer. I use a clothes horse just now as my tumble dryer packed in - ive decided not to buy another one. Its just as easy to stick them on a clothes horse in front of the rad.

Yes, i think the 30 degree washes are much shorter and for delicates so have less spin but my machine has a feature that you can change specific aspects of programs so i can just change my 40 degree wash to 30.

Could you fill the machine on the 60 programme so that it takes in the ready-heated water. Then swith it of and re-start it on the 40 programme. You would get the best of both worlds then. BUT your machine would probably wear out quicker.

I love my machine, temp is selected separately from cycle so I can have a good, baby food busting wash yet still at 30. I've always washed at 30 though, except nappies and sometimes white bed linen if I feel the need to brighten it up again.

Re the tumble dryer, lem - wait until you have a large adult child who is going away for 6 months to somewhere cold and needs half the contents of their wardrobe washed and dried in 2 days in late November - you'll wish you had one then!

Also, with a combi boiler you would only be heating the amount of water that needed to go into the machine, not a tankful; and gas heats water much more efficiently than electricity does. So the difference must be pretty small (unless you have an immersion heater)