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?

The trouble is, it is never preheated water is it, unless you are going to run the taps until the water reaches 60 degrees so that the hotter water feeds straight through to the washing machine, also the water in the pipes will be cold anyway. So really, the machine will probably have to do the work anyway. Of course this depends a great deal on the sort of boiler you are using, a combi heater takes a while to heat the water, so probably all the water flowing through to the machine will be cold, the machine will have to heat it anyway and the boiler will have wasted energy heating a load of water that wont get used.

WW - I can wash, and dry, about 3 loads of washing at this time of year withing 36hrs using just the radiators I don't own a tumble drier.

Not if you have the heating on at the time - the water runs hot instantly - or if you've recently been running hot water anywhere else in the house.

Wendy, i daresay it wont take me long to decide i want a tumble dryer again as i do indeed have a large adult child who comes home only to dump a black bag of washing at my feet!

I'm sure the 60 degree program on my machine took longer than the lower temp ones. And the rinse is cold so they don't come out warmer.

Now then. Whats the wisdom on prewash? Dds clothes are often fairly vile (nasty knicks and muddy sports clothes). I quite often do a prewash followed by a 30 degree wash, seems to work but not sure if this makes sense.
(if time permits I presoak instead but if the kits needed next day....)

3 loads? I should be so lucky

you must have a better boiler than mine then wendy, i have the heating on just now - i bet it would take at least 30 seconds for the water to run hot, even with the heating on, by that time, the washer will be half full, never mind the water sitting in the pipes the other side of the boiler. It has to be 40 degrees for most washes i think, if you have energy consumption in the back of your mind. I pretty much wash everything at 40, but im not a greenie so not going to preach, i just dont give it too much thought. I will however use a boil wash to wash bedsheets sometimes.

saying that, my boiler is a festering heap of shit!

You can easily dry stuff overnight in winter without a tumble drier...even at minus 35C in Russia in a flat that got almost as cold inside as out!

All about hanging stuff over door on coat hangers and those radiator driers so you use the heat without blocking it.

I wash almost everything on 30c

everything looks and smells very clean

but we have spanking new v efficient machine

I wash bedlinen and towels on 60C because dust mites that feed off dead skin don't die under temperatures less than 60C. Oh and I'm asthmatic who's allergic to dust mites.

Everything else gets 40C though.

Oh enid, you have clean gurls

Our boiler is antique (nearly 25) but it's a Vaillant and it is bloody good; also the washer is right next to it, so if any hot water has been run anywhere in the house in the last few minutes it's there in the pipes.

emsmum, I don't use a prewash even for filthy muddy stuff - I'm lucky that our washer is in the bathroom, so I soak mucky things in a bucket and then hose them down in the bath before they go into the machine. (I prob waste a lot more water and energy that way though

I think our stuff doesn't get terribly clean at 30 as I use a non bio washing powder

Have you tried the non-bio EcoSmart stuff in the ad on this page, TB? It washes really well at 40.

On the 30 degree wash, the clothes are pretty much just soaking in the water and detergent for much of the time. You are not using that much electricity in the 2.5 hours - you are letting the detergent do the work.

The quick wash is a false economy, in my book. It certainly doesn't clean my sons' school shirts.

blimey I dread to think how some of you "30 degrees simply doesn't clean the clothes" lot would survive in a country where even the rich have their clothes hand washed in cold water

It's called 'development', QoQ

but they have CLEAN clothes, they get stains out, just because it's hand washed doesn't mean it's not clean

And I'm talking very rich having their clothes hand washed.

Not sure what your point is.

Are they getting their clothes clean with less personal effort that us? How do you know they are actually clean?

Yes in general less "personal" effort than us. And I know they're clean as I wore handwashed clothes for 2 1/2yrs (not cleaned by me I hasten add......my efforts came out looking worse than when they went in )

QoQ, I think the difference is that your maid, and indeed other Zimbabwians would scrub at the clothes to get the staines out. A washing machine merely tosses it about in water. So great for light soiling, no good for ground-in stains.

I found my 30degree wash rubbish. Clothes looked grubby and did not smell fresh or clean. Towels retained a mildewy smell, and bedding became grubby.
Have gone back to 40 for everyting except towels and bedding which is 60, and everything is clean.
But to compensate for that I use ecover, no fabric softener and do not have a tumble drier.

modern washing machines only use cold water to fill up apparantly this is because they use so much less water nowadays it is more economical for it to heat up the exact amount of water it needs to the selected temperature.

I feel controversial with my 90 degree wash humming in the background.

Wow, what do you wash at 90? And how do you not end up with doll's clothes?