How to wash hot cloths for cleansing?

[InAPickle12345]

Just wondering... I use a cleansing oil and hot cloth every night. I wear quite a lot of make up. Really happy with my products and routine... but I'm finding I can't get my facecloths properly clean and I end up chucking them out and replacing regularly. Is this just something I have to do with hot cloth cleansing or should I be using a different fabric, washing detergent, be boiling them? I'm currently using 100% cotton, navy, fluffy type cloths.

My latest batch are now starting to feel like there's a product build up again so I'll have to buy some new ones tomorrow. Would be much better for my purse and the environment if I could actually maintain them though.

Any suggestions?

Maybe this is where I'm going wrong? I put them in at 40 maximum so maybe they need to be hotter?

I specifically said the ones I'm using are navy

Okay, I'm definitely getting the feeling from the feedback that I'm not washing high enough. I wash at 30, 40 maximum and I just bung them in with the rest of the washing.

Think I need to switch to 60. Could I wash them with my beauty blenders, in a laundry bag, in the same wash? That would be convenient actually

Is it biological washing powder I need to break down the oil and make up?

Yeah they would be fine washed with those. Bio powder just seems to work better, I'm too tired to remember the science though!
I use persil bio just because I like the scent but maybe get a small box of any to try?

Is it biological washing powder I need to break down the oil and make up?

Yes. Biological powder is much more effective because it has enzymes in. It is particularly good for proteins - so bodily fluids like blood, urine etc.

Underwear should always be washed 60 degrees with biological as it doesn't come out as clean otherwise - it's most obvious on white underwear.

If you have a skin sensititvity, you can do a second wash with non-bio to rinse it all out but generally if something isn't coming out a hotter temperature and bio sorts it out.

Most things rarely shrink - it's normally tumble drying that causes shrinkage. The only thing you need to watch out for is colour run/fading which happens with hotter washes so its better for whites. and silks obviously should never be washed that hot.

Personally if you are using flannels on your face a lot, I'd bin the navy ones and buy white ones so you can just have a hot wash and not worry about it.

Same with underwear and sheets and towels - if they are all white, it's easier to be more hygenic

I used to wash at 30/40 with non bio and I was struggling with getting things properly clean.

I know this is against the current thinking but I just do not think 30 is a hot enough wash to get Higgs properly clean.

Biological powder is so much more effective too.

Gym gear (husband's) now comes
Out smelling fresh and my face cloths are perfectly white without using any additional stain remover.

Bio for oils - which includes most cosmetics

Im old school so wash sheets , towels, tee towels face clothes at 60 minimum, but then I do only buy cotton ( like I say - old school )

For your cleanser, buy muslin. Cheap as chips and lasts for ages. It will gently exfoliate at the same time. They are really easy to rinse through with hot water after every use so most of the make up residue rinses clean out. The ones you get with Liz Earle cleanse and polish are lovely, but I find them too small. I buy the ones intended for babie or for cheese making from amazon. I use one end for the first wipe off, the other for the second, rinse through, hang over the towel rail and the following day, top and tail, then put out for a wash. Last for years

Could I wash them with my beauty blenders, in a laundry bag, in the same wash?

Yes. I put my beauty blenders in the wash too. But besides a few delicates, I wash everything at 60C and once a month I do a load (towels, sheets, or dog stuff) at 90C to help clean the machine. I also add white vinegar, Calgon, baking soda, or similar (one at a time - not all together!) every now and again.

I use a flannel to take off makeup at night. I then use the same flannel to wash with in the shower the next morning. They go in the wash after that. Washed in with the towels at 60.

We are the only country in the world that has bio and non bio washing powder. Everywhere else uses bio. So use that.

We are the only country in the world that has bio and non bio washing powder.

Not true. How likely do you think that is given prevelance of skin allergies? What only in the UK there is a market for non-irritant non-bio?
They just don't make a big thing of it & call it something different - they have "enzyme detergent" and detergent without enzymes.

It's usually the perfume in laundry detergent which is the irritant rather than the enzymes. All the non bio stuff has much lighter fragrance.

I wash them with towels every week (I use a clean one each morning and evening). They're a bit grey and stained now but I still use them. Some of them are 10+ years old.

Definitely use a bio powder but a 40c cycle of a decent length is sufficient. The enzymes in biological powder actually start to denature at temperatures much higher than this so you lose much of the benefit. Quite dirty laundry needs some time and agitation to get clean so steer clear of quicker washes and try to load them in the machine with plenty of other laundry so they are rubbing against other items to get clean. Years of cloth nappies has taught me a few things about getting the dirtiest of laundry squeaky clean :)

All those washing sheets at 60 degrees or higher do your have issues?

I recently washed a new cotton bedsheet and it clearly shrunk

@hottchocolate I was the majority of things at 60°, the exceptions being wool and silk. I've a bucket in my utility room that I fill with a solution of napisan and I put my cleansing cloths in that and wash on 90° with my whites.

I double cleanse using one flannel a day and rinse it really well before hanging to dry and then putting it in the laundry basket when I get another one out the next day.

They go in a 60 wash with the towels and a splash of vinegar then tumble dried with no dryer sheet.

Some of them are years old, soft and beautiful, but I don’t wear a lot of makeup and hardly ever mascara. The double cleanse is usually just because I wear a zinc based SPF every day.

All those washing sheets at 60 degrees or higher do your have issues?

I recently washed a new cotton bedsheet and it clearly shrunk

No I've never had anything cotton shrink on a 60 degree wash and never sheets or towels. Tumble drying will shrink cotton but not a hot wash at least not in my experience.

All those washing sheets at 60 degrees or higher do your have issues?
I recently washed a new cotton bedsheet and it clearly shrunk.

Are you sure it was cotton? I wash all my 100% cotton flannel sheets on 60 and tumble dry. The only one that shrunk was ‘Cotton Rich’ ie. 20% polyester.

I've been trying to cold wash due to energy costs and was finding tea towels, cloths etc were still coming out dingy and didn't feel clean whereas the rest of the wash was grand. Was doing occassional boil washes of tea towels, sheets etc but it would be frustrating to have them build up for weeks. Then I saw Nancy Birtwhistle on instagram, say that if you soak your tea towels, cloths etc overnight in hot water and washing soda you can wash them at a low temp and they come out perfect, I tried it and she was completely right

https://www.instagram.com/p/C2Z2l9XqSu6/

@miri1985 or you could just do a 60 degree wash with biological detergent/powder and save yourself the bother.
The cost difference v cost of hot water+washing soda+ your own time and labour will be absolutely minimal.

Items that get heavily soiled with biological matter and bacteria - even stuff you can't see - like sheets, towels and underwear and anything heavily stained with blood, soil etc - will not get properly clean at 30 degrees.

60 degrees + bio will kill most stuff including bed bugs and head lice.

60 degrees and Daz powder.
Please do not throw them out!

I’m all for saving money but please in this one thing put your health first and wash your ‘whites’ (sheets, towels, underwear, housework and face cloths) at over 60* to kill bacteria.

Listeriosis can be a killer and the cost of fuel for a good hot wash will probably turn out to be less than the hot soaking water, soda, your time and the overpriced laundry disinfectant you’ll likely end up putting in your machine to kill the mould and germs in it from all that cold washing.