washing clothes

[lyra41]

On the advice of a friend of mine who is an expert housekeeper, I wash all clothes on cold or occasionally 30 degrees. She maintains that cold washing is the best thing to get rid of stains and smells, as hot washing tends to fix stains. No problems there, but....

Don't some clothes need to be washed at 60 degrees to disinfect them from dust mites (I'm thinking of bedding here) or other bugs such as snot, body fluids etc. (sorry to be so graphic!)

What do you think?

I've never heard that before! I would have gone along the lines of washing hotter to kill bugs but now you've said that, I'm not sure.

What about smells - do your clothes smell? If not, then I'd carry on doing what you're doing.

Interested to find out if others have heard this too as having big issues with washing machine at present and smelling really horrible.

I think things only have to be washed at 60 (bedding etc) if you have asthma

I think

I thought bedding and towels have to be washed at 60 to get rid of germs?

it would stand to reason as with cloth nappies its recommended you do a cold wash to clean the nappies and then a hot wash to disnefect them.
i need a new machine as mine only has a cold setting of 30 degree so i'm sure that sets in stains and smells and with a pubescent 13yr old ds and a tom boy dd 4yr old its a nightmare to get clothing clean and smelling fresh.

I find soaking in bicarbonate of soda solution is a fab way to get rid of sweaty boy smell. dissolve said bicarb in a bit of boiling water in wash globe, then add to cold soak.

wash in cold water after that.

regularly washing at low temperature leads to smelly washing machines and a build up of gunk - it is also worse if you use liquids instead of powders. You need to do a maintenance hot wash(90 degrees) every few months with your usual detergent (or some use white vinegar, soda crystals, etc). I tend to do most things on 40 degrees as that seems to be the maximum temp shown on the care labels.

I do underwear, really stained clothes (grass, mud, wine, chocolate, etc.), bedding all at 60 degrees. Delicates, like wool, silk etc I wash on handwash programme. Clothes which are clean but have been worn are washed at 40 degrees. This seems to work quite well, it does mean a lot of washing, because I separate whites, light colours and dark colours.

Washing at low temperatures doesn't dissolve grease or kill bacteria. You have to use pretty strong chemicals if you want to wash in cold water and that can't be good for the skin.

I never wash below 40 degrees.

Hmm, I wash most things on cold with co op eco biological liquid, and this seems to clean the clothes, neither do they smell.

lyra your friend is talking crap

1. Hot water does not fix stains
2. Bedding and towels need to be either washed at 60 degrees or tumble-dried to kill germs and bacteria.

If you want to get stains out, use a biological powder for whites and a concentrated liquid for all your colours plus a fabric conditioner to keep colours looking new for longer.

lyra - I use bio green liquid too and I have thought it was that making them smell - maybe I'll back to powder - never had the problem with persil non-bio powder.

I'm sorry takingchances, but after 30 years of menstruating I can tell you that hot water fixes blood stains. You get a brown stain. The only way to get it out is with cold water and soap first - and then put it in the wash.

thanks anonymsity, my friend has 70+ years of laundry experience, so I'm sure that aspect of her advice is true, it's just whether it's necessary for hygeine and dust allergy to 60 degree wash some things, i.e. bedding and underwear.

i also don't want to use tons of chemicals or different washing liquids, powders etc. if i can help it. however i have noticed that white pillowcases go a bit yellow, which i presume is undissolved hair grease (yuck!).

Hot water fixes blood stains, because it essentially cooks the protein in the blood. Best to hand-wash in cold water with salt first.

Blood is a very specific stain.

lyra - regarding other household items, like towels and sheets, you need to wash at 60 or tumble dry to kill germs and bacteria.

lyra41- thanks for the tip re bicarb, ds1's shirts soaking now.

another thing I find is that washing fitted sheets at 60 degrees eventually perishes the elastic that helps them fit and then they pop off

I now know why all of my fitted sheets have shrunk!

Stains need to be treated straight away - usually with cold water and salt (depending on what it is).
Most of my washing is done at 40 degrees out of habit, although a friend who is a nurse (and understands bacteria & stuff) says underwear, socks and towels should be washed at 60 degrees.
With all these products that advise us to wash at 30 - what are we to do????

Underwear and bedding get 60 plus pre-wash.
Then I do a light and darks both on 40.
Handwash some silks, wools, then slow spin then air dry.
Stains I soak in cold water with salt or bicarb of soda first.

i do most things at 40 but do towels and bedding mainly at 60. i used to have a 50 on my old machine which i used for bedding. i worry that 60 is a bit harsh.

i probably use 30 for the wool cycle programme

How do you get your washing machime to stop smelling bad?

I've noticed that mine is starting to smell.

I wash bedding, towels and underwear at 60 and the rest at 40.

I use fairy tablets when the load has DS clothes in it and persil small but mighty for the rest. I also use softener.

There wasa thread about smelling machine on here the other week.

I tried loads of the tips like using a small amount of bleach in drawer then washing on empty at 90 but to no avail! It still smells!