Doing Laundry with cold water.

If my daughter visits she takes messed up bibs from granddaughter home with her. Any little stain can be rubbed out with a little soda. I haven’t got the patience for hot washes I use 15 min express wash.

There's a big difference in how detergents (mostly bio these days) work at 30 deg compared with cold water. In northern climates in winter, cold water may be as low as 5 deg (mine was 8 deg yesterday). At that temp, the enzymes in detergents won't work as intended. In warmer climates, 'cold' water may be 20 deg or higher, which is perhaps ok for washing.

I use good old fashioned washing soda to remove odours and a 15 minute wash for lightly worn, non dirty items at 30 degrees, with a fast spin after. We live in a soft water area so little detergent is needed.

Possibly the clothing manufacturers in question also know bugger all about fabrics.

For example washing machines nowadays seem to think wool has to be spun gently. Nope. It has to be washed gently but it can be spun on your fastest setting.

Hot water is brilliant for killing bacteria. It's also brilliant for killing bed bugs. I read some while ago about a big increase in bed bug problems because bedding wasn't being washed in water hot enough to kill any eggs or insects.

It seems to be less in the news nowadays so perhaps the message got through.

Also (cynic speaking here), clothing manufacturers advise cold washes as the lazy option because if anything "goes wrong" (e.g. loss of dye or shrinkage), they are covered if someone has used a hot, or even warm, wash.

I don’t think the bacteria is a problem unless someone is incontinent or you are going to eat your washing! We are surrounded by and indeed inhabited by millions of viruses and bacteria.
What I don’t like is the stale smell of towels if not washed on a hot wash, and I absolutely hate artificial chemical smells in laundry additives, they can’t be great for lungs and air quality.

I generally wash at 30 with whatever detergent is cheapest. I pop a capful of zoflora in the fabric conditioner dispenser if we've had a cold or anything similar. I'm sure my Mum used to wash things in a cool wash (apart from hankies) and she lived a long and healthy life and I survived too so the dreaded bacteria don't bother me too much.
Clothes are dried on the airer by the bifold doors which get any sunshine around or they go outside. Never noticed any nasty smells.

This is a very interesting thread.
One thing I have noticed is if I wash a load of white cotton things on a 90 degree wash (or indeed anything on a hot wash) the things will retain that gorgeous just washed freshness even if left wet in a basket waiting for a dry day or space on the clothes horse

whereas synthetics literally stink to high heaven if not dried straight away and and other items washed at lower than say 60 degrees sometimes smell like damp dishcloths.

I do clean the machine and dispenser draw regularly and have lately been using a product called fabulosa which is (strangely described as a laundry cleanser, yet goes into the fabric conditioner slot of the machine. A slight improvement.

Also is it just me that finds the original blue Comfortfabric conditioner absolutely noxious?
So bad I actually threw the bottle away and can detect that particular scent anywhere.
It used to be pleasant, what have they done to it?

A cool wash isn't enough for our washing.
The lightly soiled stuff goes into the wash basket with the dirtier stuff anyway, so it's all minging pretty soiled when it gets done.

I won't wash anything in cold water, it doesn't kill the bacteria and clothing begins to smell. 60 degrees for bedding and towels, 40 for the rest. Yes, it's great, we are all jumping through hoops to save the world, while other countries carry on regardless. I'm fed up with 'activists ' lecturing us all when, in this country, it's people here who are actually doing something. How about they go and lecture the countries that aren't and don't care either.

My clothes which barely get dirty are washed at 30c on a quick programme.
My husband's clothes which get dirtier are washed on a 40c longer cycle.
Sheets are washed on a 60c steam programme.
We use lots of hand towels and flannels and these are washed at 90c on a cotton programme.
I use liquid detergent, colour or the biological version for whites, or a handwash liquid for delicates and jumpers. This goes straight in the drum.
I don't use fabric softener as I don't like the way it leaves a messy residue in the dispenser drawer.
I use the washing machine disinfectant for the dog's blanket.
Occasionally I put my coats through a wash and then use a re-waterproofing solution in the washing machine.
I dry on a big clothes horse either indoors, with a dehumidifier running, or outside in good weather.
I use a tumble dryer to air the towels and dry clothes that would otherwise need ironing.
I used to wash for five people, now it's only two of us but it still seems never-ending!
We both have clean clothes every day as we are still working, though I will wear the same cardigan for two, or three days max, over a clean jumper.
My son still lives here but he does all his own laundry.
My utility room is a bit of a production line ?

I wash with cold water and half the recommended amount of detergent. Towels and sheets get the occasional hot wash. Very dirty items or the odd stain such as curry get treated with Vanish.
My laundry looks sparkling in the sunshine which incidentally is great at getting rid of stains.

Just washed a new baby’s babygro at 30c and the yellow stain from a leaked nappy is still there. That never happened when mine were small. I now need to stain remove and re wash.

Many people, including me have been washing at 30° for ages. If washing in cold water works for you that’s great. I’ve tried it a couple of times, then had to use more water rewashing the clothes.
I haven’t washed stuff in really hot water since towelling nappies when my children were small.
I do wonder why washing machines have lots of hot wash programs.

I was everything but my whites in cold water and with about half the recommended detergent. Whites get washed in hot water, but no bleach, I cant stand the smell.

I wash most clothes without detergent. Just water gets them perfectly clean. I discovered this years ago when my black clothes were gradually being faded by the powder I used.

However, anything with obvious dirt gets soap powder added and stains are treated. Bedding I always use soap powder on and hang outside.

I wash most things at 30. I bought soap nuts to use - 4 or 5 in the little bag provided does 4 washes. The amount I bought should last years too.

Ha has. I read sleeping in urine.

Hetty58 why?

Steeping in urine may be useful for killing the sort of bacteria that don't tolerate acid. I sometimes rinse in vinegar and water to deodorise the washing.

(I think it must be easier and cheaper to use a laundry sanitiser on towels etc. rather than heating the water to 60 degrees.)

I wash everything at 30 but then I live alone and like Prince Andrew how ever hot it gets I do not sweat ( even when I lived in the tropics)
and I don’t do manual work apart from gardening which is natural stuff anyway, my towels dry a daily washed body and out in the wind and sun so never smell bad

I have allergies aggravated by soap or detergent so, like wildswan, I use a laundry egg, but at 20 degrees. A quick wash doesn't do it, so I use a medium or long one.

Anything that's stained or dirty gets soaked (not in pee) in washing soda and I use half a cup of white vinegar as softener. It all comes out lovely.

I think hot washes are a UK thing. In NZ, everyone seems to cold wash.

I have a quick wash setting on my machine that washes lightly soiled clothes in 15 mins I use this for everything except towels and bedding. Now we are retired we keep the same clothes on around the house for the week unless we have been particularly messy. I change if I am going out but only wash clothes when they need it .

well,so long as we never go back to this! ha ha have a look.

www.countrylife.co.uk/comment-opinion/curious-questions-why-did-people-used-to-wash-clothes-in-urine-217861#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20most%20pressing,into%20the%2019th%20century.

www.countrylife.co.uk/comment-opinion/curious-questions-why-did-people-used-to-wash-clothes-in-urine-217861#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20most%20pressing,into%20the%2019th%20century.

In The Complete Chamber Maid (1677), Hannah Woolley described how to deal with particularly obstinate stains with a sequence to be carried out prior to washing the item:

‘Lay it all night in urine, rub all the spots in the urine as if you were washing in water; then lay it in more urine another night and then rub it again, and so do until they [stains] be quite out.’