Does washing at 30 degrees clean the clothes?

[krisskross]

Just wondering really. I normally wash colours and darks at 40 and whites at 60.

If I change all except whites to 30 will it make any difference?

boring thread if the day winner

And for those that suggest line drying as a method to kill germs is "crock".

"The ultraviolet component of sunlight is the main reason microbes die in the outdoor air. The die-off rate in the outdoors varies from one pathogen to another, but can be anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes for a 90-99% kill of viruses or contagious bacteria. Spores, and some environmental bacteria, tend to be resistant and can survive much longer exposures."
from here
www.engr.psu.edu/iec/abe/control/ultraviolet.asp

And it whitens clothes too.
(Not good for coloured fabrics)

Unless your student lab coat happens to have caught some silver nitrate solution...

Lweji

Yes about the whitening- quite staggering- I line dry 99% of my clothes. I waer a lot of black, and I make sure I always turn my t shirts and trousers, DDs leotards etc inside out before hanging them outside. They fade really quickly in sunlight.
My whites are always sparkling- despite me washing in cold water.

Well said goblin. Each to their own.
If manufacturers blurb about temperatures and washing powders etc was so misleading and erroneous I'm someone would have sued them by now!

'sure' someone

Maybe they fake the official test results and add stuff that shouldn't be there to improve results?

or could that be just the car industry?

"I'm sure someone would have sued them by now!"

What exactly would they sue over? Dingy whites? Smelly armpits? Not exactly RCJ material, is it?

I used to work in sales for Unilever who make Persil, Surf and Comfort. The only reason there is such a promotional push on liquids is because they're cheaper to manufacture and more expensive to sell.

Liquid detergents are a nonsense. You are paying extra for water.

I wash everything at 30, use ecover detergent, no fabric conditioner and our clothes towels etc are always clean and fresh.
I am in Scotland so we have very soft water, don't know if that makes a difference, also, nothing is ever manky as apart from outdoor jackets etc everything is washed after one wear.

I do use liquids - although you are paying extra for water, the not-completely-dissolved residue from powder used to increase my eczema even further.

I'm resigned to looking like Elephant Man an awful lot of the time, but anything that reduces it, even slightly, is welcome.

Had to do a price check based on this thread. I switched to liquids as they are easier to store and 60 wash small & mighty is a lot lighter than equivalent powder box. Relieved to see it is still cheaper to buy liquid, but I never venture beyond Persil non-bio due to eczema. I had forgotten about the powder residue teacher.

I live in soft water Scotland so only use half measures anyway and put it in the powder drawer rather than in the machine.

Shush! I have just bought powder for the first time in years after reading this!

teacherwith2kids

you might consider a water softener, it is much better at washing out soap residue.

Dreaming- I bought a ginormous box of powder on the back of this thread. Wash for wash it will work out at half the price of liquid where I am.

I put my cheap big box powder directly in the drum (as advised by a Mumsnetter whose df is a washing machine engineer). I always put the maximum amount advised as I live in a very hard water area and I have a larger than average drum - although not one of those gigantic ones. I definitely never overfill the machine because I want the clothes to have plenty of room to slosh around in. I do an extra rinse for dark clothes if I'm worried that there might be residue.

I started putting powder into drum when we had too little water pressure to swish the powder through the drawer.

if the powder doesn't dissolve/rinse properly it's ime due to
overfilling the drum
or using too much powder
or using a quick wash which often have one or more less rinse cycle.

or any combination of the above.