Does anybody get clothes properly clean at 40 degrees? Without lots of work

[Sabriel]

My washing machine is only 2 years old. I don't overload the drum. I don't leave dirty washing lying around for ages. I use powder rather than liquid, and I generally use the named brands (Ariel, Persil, Daz) rather than the cheaper own brands. Yet the washing is never completely clean. I've tried every known method of stain removal. Sprays, in wash, soakers, nothing works.

My DD is very hard on her clothes. Her new leggings got mud streaked down them; her new socks (worn once) look like she's been shoeless down a mine; and most of her pants are stained because she soils :(

I've just put them out on the line. The mud stain is still there (altho faint). The soles of the socks are clearly still dirty. All her pants are grubby.

It seems that unless I spend ages pre washing, soaking and treating every mark it just doesn't come out. I used to have a miele that had a 50 degrees programme and that worked, but my new machine only does 40 or 60.

Does anybody get properly clean clothes out of their machine. If so, what do you do differently? And how on earth can anybody use 30 degrees as we are all being urged to do?

Yes mine are clean- but then they ae not what I'd call dirty. They are adults clothes mainly.

I think you are expecting too much TBH- stains such as mud and poo are impossible to remove unless you tackle as soon as they occur- which means soaking IMMEDIATELY in a bio powder/liquid or stain remover.- not next day or even 4 hrs later.

Other point is- you can wash mixed fibres as oppsoed topre cotton- on 60C.

Why are you sticking to 40?

Have you added something like Vanish to the drum?

So summarise- dried on stains of any kind are a bugger to shift. the stain gets into the fibres of the material.

sorry typos- as opposed to pure cotton

We wash at 30 with Bio & things seem quite clean (to me).
This machine gets things less clean than previous one, though, I think it's down to low water usage.

are you using non bio?

I really do get all those stains out by pre-soaking for 4 hours in warm water and biological powder. Biological stains also fade dramatically if hung out in bright sunlight.

I wash my whites on 50 though (got a bog standard Hotpoint Aquarius ), towels and bedding etc on 60.

Children's knickers can go in a 60 wash (so pop them in at the same time as doing sheets or bedding) - it won't wreck them and, tbh, its not a huge risk even if it does.

TBH I have a suspicion that lower temps = more chemicals so in my mind it's a bit moot which is better.

So I do stuff which isn't really soiled on 40
If it is knickers that have wee in, towels, flannels, stuff with dirt on it, it goes at 50 or 60.
I use a biological powder (again not great environmentally although i forget why) and that seems to do it.

Should say actually wee and towels = 60
I do some stuff at 50 but I'm not sure what now, it kind of depends on my mood

I agree that it could be the newer machines use less water. I found that my new machine (a couple of years old now but replacing a 13 yr old one) didn't wash as well as the old one. I even got the engineer back after about a fortnight because I assumed the water wasn't heating up at all. It was but it just doesn't do a great job.

I haven't found a way round it really and the problem is that once you try to wash something and fail, the remaining stain will be set firm by the heat of the water. DH is the worst at the moment. He keeps getting curry on his shirt and that just won't come out at all.

I never wash anything at 30 degrees except delicates. I know it is bad but it simply doesn't work and I figure it is more economical not to have to wash loads of stuff twice or to replace messed up work shirts!

Stain removers are notoriously bad for getting out stains too. I have just bought Persil liquid with stain remover included and it hasn't made a bit of difference (we live in a hard water area so can't use the powder as it doesn't dissolve properly and clogs up the machine and worse, the drains).

Not sure why I posted really as I am not help. Just having a moan and hoping somebody comes along with a miracle cure!

I just put anything visibly stained in a bucket of cold water when it's taken off. It helps enormously. Most of my washes are at either 40 or 50. White do "grey" (can I use that as a verb?) after a while, so I tend to put a whole load of the dds socks, along with ds's school shirts in a diluted bleach bucket overnight before a wash every now and then.

My stuff seems to come out ok...40C and ASDA Smartprice powder. If it's a whites wash, then I might bung in some soda crystals or a splash of bleach. Certainly I've never had to think about pre-soaking until DS and his poosplosions came on the scene, and even now it's a quick swish in some cold water and washing up liquid, then into the machine.

I find that wetting the stain and rubbing washing up liquid into it before putting in the machine helps to get stains out - I use bio powder and never wash below 40ºC.

p.s. I add vanish oxi action crystal white to white washes too (dont know if it helps or not)

Yes, neat washing up liquid is brilliant on stains like mud and grass.

We wash everything at 40 degrees (& often 30 degrees) using Ecover concentrated washing liquid & fabric softener and in the white wash i add 1tbsp Ecover non chlorine bleach.

Everything come out clean and i have kids who cycle weekly and go runnning and hiking so not clean at the best of times.

BUT i do have an LG Steam Direct Drive washer so for really dirty things i use the steam mode. Maybe that has something to do with it?

I wash virtually everything on 30. Towels and bedding are done on a 50 or 60.
Maybe my DD is cleaner than I thought.

I find the vanish bar of soap gets everything out really well. It's cheap and lasts ages too. I just wet the stain rub a bit of soap on and put it in the laundry basket.

Poo comes out for me at 60, but I rinse and soak the pants first, in a bucket of water with detergent in.

Oh yes I use non bio and ecover laundry bleach with whites.
Coloureds get a bio with stain remover in
Seems to work OK

Vanish is my best friend, I spray or use the crystals and leave it for a couple of hours.

I wash everything at 10c hotter than it says on the label and never damaged anything yet. Whites get done at 60c with a big scoop of White Vanish Oxi added to the drum.

The only time I use 30c is for black tights, bras etc that have only been worn once or twice max.

Wash childrens clothes at 40 they are grubby monkeys!

Can also second vanish soap bar - used this a lot when my dd was small and still use it now - quick rub before it goes in the wash and it does get most if not all stains out ( well the usual grass/mud/poo/juice etc).

I also think that better quality powders really do make a difference, I've tried all the cheapy ones in the past and keep going back to persil/ariel ( remember to use the colour varieties for coloured clothes though !)

Yes I always use bio powder. I usually use Vanish oxi powder or something as well. Sounds like from what you're all saying that yes we do basically have to spend ages soaking treating and scrubbing things before putting them in the machine. :( I think we're going backwards - 20 years ago I'd chuck everything in on 50 and it all came out clean.

I'll try all of these suggestions. Thanks.

Sabriel is there a reason why you are "afraid" of a hotter wash?

I wash towels and sometiems white undies ( not bras) at 60 and sometimes my sheets and duvet- all white and 100% cotton- at 75. If I am feeling super clean and want to give something a really really good wash, I wash at 90! This applies to whtie bedding with a dose of Vanish or Oxy to revive the white colour. (white is actually a colour that is added to the fabric like any other shade.)

I do wash some things at 60 and they come out great.

I just think you need to re-think your washing habits- a machine is not going to cope with certain stains as part of a normal wash- you need to treat stains before you wash and think of the washing as the final part of keeping something stain-free.

I wash towels on 60 but most of our clothes say 40.

It's just frustrating that it seems to take so much work to do the simplest of things these days.