The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Share Your Badassity => Topic started by: oily_stache on November 17, 2021, 12:47:10 PM
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Anyone else have a revelation about washing your clothes in cold water/on the cold wash setting on your washing machine? I've been air drying my clothes to save electricity with the dryer, and thought about the cold water detergent that is being advertised, but never used it. I gave the Malcolm Gladwell podcast on laundry a listen, and it turned on a light bulb in my brain. The detergent companies have apparently been working on a cold water formula for years (because there is so much energy used to heat up water for regular detergent, they thought they could save a bunch of energy) and they've come up with a formula that works as well or better than warm water for almost every stain (I think they said mustard/acidic stains aren't quite as good with cold water detergent). I've started washing my clothes with cold water and the cold water detergent and the clothes are just as clean and smell great. You pay the same price for the cold water stuff as the warm water, but you ultimately save energy costs on water.
Give the podcast a listen here:
https://www.pushkin.fm/episode/laundry-done-right/
If you're still washing your clothes with warm/hot water, you deserve a proverbial face-punch.
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I washed laundry in hot water for a long time without much thought. Four years ago when I was shopping for a new washing machine and reading about energy usage I switched over. I also used to wash everything every time I wore it, but I've smartened up there as well.
I haven't had the same success with my dishwasher though, I still need to use the hot water cycle to get everything clean.
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Laundry guy here.... Manufacturers have been working on improving cold water detergents since the original Cold Power in the 1960's. Back then the limitation was enzyme activation temp. Dissolvibility was also an obstacle with the older powdered detergents, though they are inherently more environmentally friendly than shipping around all that water found in liquid detergent.
Things have come a long way since then, but you still need hot water to relax the fibers in most clothing so that the detergent can get at the soil to lift it away. Hot water is also useful in killing bacteria, both in clothing, and in your washer, especially if it's a front-loader. A good compromise would be washing jeans/t-shirts in cold and making your last load of the day hot for underwear/towels.
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I've been cold-washing for a while, saved a considerable amount on power costs and just used ordinary detergent - I'll have a look for the cold-wash stuff next time I need to buy some (I don't need to buy it very often, I'm sure most people use too much). I do pre-soak anything stained that I care about getting pristine, usually in hot water and washing soda. Towels get a hot wash every now and again, but air drying on a washing line in the sun and the wind is great for fabrics feeling crisp and clean.
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I haven't used hot water to wash clothing for close to twenty years. The key for me was figuring out to put detergent and oxiclean into the water, and then let the clothing sit for several hours before running the cycle. Really smelly stuff benefits from this and will come out smelling clean. My Judo and wrestling stuff washed in cold would always smell funky until I started doing that.
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I listened to that episode and was happy to hear our laundry habits were already pretty good! We wash nearly everything in cold water and just use regular detergent, no presoak, and we don't seem to have any problems with things not getting clean. Our laundry usage has definitely increased since our kid was born a few months ago, so it helps that we're doing so efficiently.
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The big savings is in not in hot vs cold water. Big savings for laundry is in almost never using a dryer. Those things are super wasteful.
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There’s visibly clean and then there’s sanitary. I don’t know what kind of detergent was used, but I did hear of a study that found e.coli on clothes after washing.
I never use cold water except for the rinse cycle. For underwear, I run a small amount of hot water with the powdered detergent, then let them soak for awhile before adding warm and finishing the load. Everything else gets a warm was, although often with some hot water added, because “warm” on my machine is very tepid at best. If there are stains, I use “Shout” first.
I use the dryer for just a minute to relax wrinkles then line dry clothes. Towels get the full dryer cycle and sheets either dryer or clothesline depending on the season.
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I dunno. I have been using tap cold for many many years and only use half the detergent recommended. Clothes are clean *shrug*
I used to use whatever detergent was on sale. Now I use a fancy MLM one that supposedly uses less harmful chemicals. The clothes are washed and smell fine I guess. I dislike softeners and dryer sheets. Just toss a couple of dryer balls in the dryer.
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Can't remember when I intentionally used hot. Back in the day we were poor so it was a cost-saving measure, but now I just don't even think about it. I havea setting for "quick" washing that I typically use on regular clothes and towels, and often hit the "extra rinse" option. overall, it's about 12 minutes faster, and I'm sure that 2 rinse/spins ought to do the trick.
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I haven't washed on anything other than tap cold for many years. I've had zero issues with clothes not getting clean. I also line dry almost everything. When I do have to use the dryer (like with a bed comforter), I use 4 wool balls to decrease drying time and eliminate static electricity.
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There’s visibly clean and then there’s sanitary. I don’t know what kind of detergent was used, but I did hear of a study that found e.coli on clothes after washing.
I never use cold water except for the rinse cycle. For underwear, I run a small amount of hot water with the powdered detergent, then let them soak for awhile before adding warm and finishing the load. Everything else gets a warm was, although often with some hot water added, because “warm” on my machine is very tepid at best. If there are stains, I use “Shout” first.
I use the dryer for just a minute to relax wrinkles then line dry clothes. Towels get the full dryer cycle and sheets either dryer or clothesline depending on the season.
References for the study?
I mean, if there's faeces on your clothes you don't just put them straight into the wash in any case, do you?
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I think in underwear some (hopefully unseen) particles could feasibly be present from gas. But it isn’t killed at a household water heater temp of ~140F, it needs 160F/70C to die.
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The big savings is in not in hot vs cold water. Big savings for laundry is in almost never using a dryer. Those things are super wasteful.
correct there is next to no savings for us in hot vs cold water for a load of laundry in an HE washer. it costs 10x the amount to just have NG at my house compared to what i use total in the summer months for washing and showering etc. not sure the 3 dollar cost of our total NG in summer months is worth finding coldwater detergent.
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I wash undergarments in warm water. Everything else is washed in cold water and hung on my laundry rack. They are perfectly clean and seem to last much longer. Sheets, towels, etc. get washed in hot water.
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Yeah we've been using primarily the cold cycle for years as well.
I will occasionally wash some kids' stuff on warm, because there are certain stains that definitely come out better on the warm cycle.
And we do wash our socks & underwear on hot. It may not be hot enough to kill everything but it's an extra peace of mind. The amount that the washer uses during the "auto sense" on an undergarment only load is just about the same amount that the dishwasher uses during its cycle. Bonus, the washing machine is 2ft from the water heater so it probably costs us almost nothing more to do that one or two loads on hot.
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The big savings is in not in hot vs cold water. Big savings for laundry is in almost never using a dryer. Those things are super wasteful.
We went with a ventless heat pump dryer for that reason. About half the energy usage per load. We rack dry inside in the winter months when the humidity is helpful, but line drying outside isn't an option for us.
correct there is next to no savings for us in hot vs cold water for a load of laundry in an HE washer. it costs 10x the amount to just have NG at my house compared to what i use total in the summer months for washing and showering etc. not sure the 3 dollar cost of our total NG in summer months is worth finding coldwater detergent.
For our particular situation, I ran some calculations that estimated we'd save about $30-40 a year with cold water washing, so not massive but better then your situation. The real savings for us has come from our clothes lasting much longer, but as I mentioned above we started washing things less often at the same time we switched to cold water, so I don't know what portion of that the cold water is responsible for.
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Yes, I've been washing clothes with cold water for 15 years.
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I didn't know that people *didn't* default to washing in cold.
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Guys, great response. Sounds like many of you are ahead of the curve and using cold water. I’d strongly encourage everyone to try out the specifically designed cold water detergent, it works well and is designed for cold water.
One other aspect that hasn’t gotten a lot of attention beyond the obvious savings is the reduction of emissions from heating the water up. Perhaps you live in an area with all renewable energy, in which case this is a mute point, but many of us are still using energy generated with lots of fossil fuels. So not only does this reduce your cost, but it will also reduce your carbon footprint. No doubt there are far more advanced mustachians, but I think this is an important point as well.
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I tried the cold water detergents a long time ago and there were some unpleasant side effects, namely a bad asthma attack. I'm NOT risking that again now, not during asthma season, and not when my asthma has worsened so that it actually could land me in the ER. I'll consider trying them again when the asthma is more stable. I'm sure the formulations have changed since then.
I usually wash on the warm setting though.
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I tried the cold water detergents a long time ago and there were some unpleasant side effects, namely a bad asthma attack. I'm NOT risking that again now, not during asthma season, and not when my asthma has worsened so that it actually could land me in the ER. I'll consider trying them again when the asthma is more stable. I'm sure the formulations have changed since then.
I usually wash on the warm setting though.
My DH has had bad allergic reactions from commercial wet floor wipes. Those contained lots of dangerous substances. I would also have to check cold detergents to see if they don't contain allergy inducing substances.
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I'm fine with using cold water but I use the sanitary cycle on underwear and things I have a reason to make well, sanitary:).
My current machine uses super hot water instead of just hot for sanitary items.
I also use the steam setting on occasion.
Most stains will set if washed in warm or hot water which means if there is blood or similar you need to use cold water anyway.
We line dry - easy to do if you live in Florida, although we always get pitying looks even from the neighbors:).
It is no longer a normal, accepted way of doing laundry - but I am good at being a contrarian, it doesn't bother either one of us.
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I almost always launder my work dresses in cold water on the delicate cycle with a dash of white vinegar then hang dry. In winter I may run them through the dryer with a Bounce sheet to reduce static cling when I have to wear pantyhose.
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For stubborn stains, I soak in hot water and oxyclean, then wash in cold water, like everything else.
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I make my own laundry detergent and save quite a lot this way. Its years since I worked out the cost savings but it costs something like 10% of commercial stuff per wash. Plus the lack of scents etc is easier on the skin. If I feel like I want some smell I sometimes add a few drops of eucalyptus or lavender oil.
I generally wash in cold water. Eventually the whites get dull, so I add some oxyaction laundry soaker from time to time. In summer occasionally I run a warm wash on stained items to clean them up...but I have solar hot water and in summer its always super hot for free.
I line dry, unless its pouring with rain and I need something in a hurry.
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I'm fine with using cold water but I use the sanitary cycle on underwear and things I have a reason to make well, sanitary:).
My current machine uses super hot water instead of just hot for sanitary items.
I also use the steam setting on occasion.
Most stains will set if washed in warm or hot water which means if there is blood or similar you need to use cold water anyway.
We line dry - easy to do if you live in Florida, although we always get pitying looks even from the neighbors:).
It is no longer a normal, accepted way of doing laundry - but I am good at being a contrarian, it doesn't bother either one of us.
Haha, you're right about line drying being looked down on. I stil see it quite a bit in the country though.
I have a very contrarian elderly friend who proudly line dries his underwear and undershirts every Sunday morning.
He lives next to a church and his line is right near the sidewalk
It's the little things...
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I wash everything on cool or cold, except sheets and towels***. And I don't use cold water specific detergent. And I use significantly less detergent than the package claims I need. I have no issues.
And excepting sheets and towels, most things either don't go in the dryer at all, or go in for ~10 minutes to get them started and then are hung (inside because it is way too humid and rainy much of the year).
I didn't realize these things were all that unusual.
***Occasionally DH's work clothes used to be especially... fragrant, in which case they would be washed on warm or hot.
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I'm fine with using cold water but I use the sanitary cycle on underwear and things I have a reason to make well, sanitary:).
My current machine uses super hot water instead of just hot for sanitary items.
I also use the steam setting on occasion.
Most stains will set if washed in warm or hot water which means if there is blood or similar you need to use cold water anyway.
We line dry - easy to do if you live in Florida, although we always get pitying looks even from the neighbors:).
It is no longer a normal, accepted way of doing laundry - but I am good at being a contrarian, it doesn't bother either one of us.
Haha, you're right about line drying being looked down on. I stil see it quite a bit in the country though.
I have a very contrarian elderly friend who proudly line dries his underwear and undershirts every Sunday morning.
He lives next to a church and his line is right near the sidewalk
It's the little things...
Nice one. An aunt of mine caused uproar in her village in the 1960s by hanging her washing out on a Sunday (she worked full time and it had rained on the Saturday), nevermind that she was a lifelong villager, devoted churchgoer and all-round good person. I greatly appreciate this small act of revenge.
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I have always washed in cold. I make my own detergent with washing soda, borax and dr bronners soap flakes. Works fine even on gym clothes of which I have a ton.
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So now I’m curious if those who wash clothes on cold also use cold water in their dishwashers? Why or why not?
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So now I’m curious if those who wash clothes on cold also use cold water in their dishwashers? Why or why not?
Dishwasher? It's more environmentally friendly for the dog to lick them clean - less soap wasted AND we save on kibble costs. :P
I wash dishes with hot water because it seems to get the dishes cleaner (less stuck on stuff after the wash). I wash clothes in cold water because it doesn't seem to make a difference (no smell, no stains after a wash in cold).
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So now I’m curious if those who wash clothes on cold also use cold water in their dishwashers? Why or why not?
Dishwasher? It's more environmentally friendly for the dog to lick them clean - less soap wasted AND we save on kibble costs. :P
I wash dishes with hot water because it seems to get the dishes cleaner (less stuck on stuff after the wash). I wash clothes in cold water because it doesn't seem to make a difference (no smell, no stains after a wash in cold).
Hot water speeds up the process, which matters when washing dishes and not for washing clothes.
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So now I’m curious if those who wash clothes on cold also use cold water in their dishwashers? Why or why not?
I don’t have a cold wash setting on my dishwasher or I might try it. I dont use heat dry, though. I run the washer at night and crack the door in the morning so the it’s all nice and dry by the afternoon.
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We line dry - easy to do if you live in Florida, although we always get pitying looks even from the neighbors:).
It is no longer a normal, accepted way of doing laundry - but I am good at being a contrarian, it doesn't bother either one of us.
Must be an American thing...still quite normal here. I've used my dryer twice in the last six months.
I use the default 'quick' cycle on the washer which sets the water temp to 30C. Might be worth playing with the buttons to get it to cold instead :)
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On the subject of dishwashers, I came across this video a few weeks ago which does an excellent job of explaining some of the....'bugs'....associated with modern dishwashers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rBO8neWw04&ab_channel=TechnologyConnections (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rBO8neWw04&ab_channel=TechnologyConnections)
TL;DW:
-Dishwashers are connected to the hot water supply which can be a waste because the water in the tub is usually cold by the time the dishwasher is ready to draw it. If you want to ensure the water is hot going into the dishwasher, run the kitchen tap until the water out of the tap is hot BEFORE starting the dishwasher cycle.
-Dishwasher 'pacs' are a waste, at best they're just standard detergent, and at worst with how some models dose the pacs you might actually be getting very little detergent in the main wash cycle.
-You should always add detergent to the pre-wash cup (all dishwashers have them, and if you think yours doesn't, the indentation on top of the detergent chamber is for pre-wash dosing).
-You really shouldn't pre-rinse residual food, it's just a waste of water. The dishwasher will macerate and discharge the big stuff in the first cycle.
So now I’m curious if those who wash clothes on cold also use cold water in their dishwashers? Why or why not?
The only way to get cold water in most dishwashers is to connect it to the cold-side supply. The amount of hot water the dishwasher draws from your water heater is a rounding error on your utility bill relative to a bath or shower. In the first rinse cycle, hot water is especially important to help melt off any fat/oil before the main wash cycle is initiated.
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So now I’m curious if those who wash clothes on cold also use cold water in their dishwashers? Why or why not?
As I mentioned above, I've found I can't use cooler water in my dishwasher--it doesn't get things clean. My dishwasher has two temperature settings and I have to use the hotter one to get good results. For laundry, I notice no difference in cleanliness with cold water, and it is gentler on clothes.
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On the subject of dishwashers, I came across this video a few weeks ago which does an excellent job of explaining some of the....'bugs'....associated with modern dishwashers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rBO8neWw04&ab_channel=TechnologyConnections (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rBO8neWw04&ab_channel=TechnologyConnections)
TL;DW:
-Dishwashers are connected to the hot water supply which can be a waste because the water in the tub is usually cold by the time the dishwasher is ready to draw it. If you want to ensure the water is hot going into the dishwasher, run the kitchen tap until the water out of the tap is hot BEFORE starting the dishwasher cycle.
-Dishwasher 'pacs' are a waste, at best they're just standard detergent, and at worst with how some models dose the pacs you might actually be getting very little detergent in the main wash cycle.
-You should always add detergent to the pre-wash cup (all dishwashers have them, and if you think yours doesn't, the indentation on top of the detergent chamber is for pre-wash dosing).
-You really shouldn't pre-rinse residual food, it's just a waste of water. The dishwasher will macerate and discharge the big stuff in the first cycle.
Huh, we do occasionally complain about our dishwasher not doing as good a job as it should, so this is good to know. The video was super informative, and we do generally use pods so I'll definitely be giving these a try before dumping all the blame on the dishwasher itself. We bought the pods at costco so it'll probably be a loooong time before we need to buy more, but maybe I'll buy a thing of powder to add to the pre-wash alongside a pod and see how that works.
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I tried my dishwasher on the eco setting and it was definitely inferior to the next setting up, which is where I have stayed. I will watch the video for some extra tips.
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So now I’m curious if those who wash clothes on cold also use cold water in their dishwashers? Why or why not?
I have read that modern dishwashers (and the detergents) rely on hot water to do the job well (because they use very little water).
So I wash clothes cold but leave hot water to my dishwasher.
Didn't know about adding detergent to any kind of indent though. Now I'm going to have to inspect my dishwasher lol.
We still rinse dishes. We actually leave them to soak in the sink and I load the dishwasher at night. We've tried skipping the rinse/soak and DH complains they don't come out clean. My hope has been to load directly after using each dish but DH insists they need to soak for a bit. It does seem to help.
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We have a Frigidaire front load washer and dryer set, these are actually rebadged Electrolux, purchased April 2009. Salesman and documentation says to use cold water and HE detergent. We use warm or hot wash for towels and super-dirty clothing, but cold water at all other times.
And there's 2 types of cold wash: a "cold" which is regular water temperature (can vary between warn and coolish) and a "cold" which is a specific water temperature. We use the former most of the time, except in FL winters where we switch to the latter. No issues in over 12 years washing bedding, towels, work clothing, sports clothing, baby and kids clothing with mostly cold water.
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So now I’m curious if those who wash clothes on cold also use cold water in their dishwashers? Why or why not?
Food bacteria on an item that will be in contact with what I'm going to eat is very, very different from skin bacteria on an item of clothing that's going to back on and touch exactly the same skin bacteria that are still there, on my skin, in the same spot where the clothes picked up the bacteria in the first place. No bacteria from my arm that ends up back on my arm is going to hurt me.
The burden of disinfection is WILDLY different.
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I've always washed clothes in cold.
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We line dry - easy to do if you live in Florida, although we always get pitying looks even from the neighbors:).
It is no longer a normal, accepted way of doing laundry - but I am good at being a contrarian, it doesn't bother either one of us.
Must be an American thing...still quite normal here. I've used my dryer twice in the last six months.
Years ago I swore never to post in another laundry thread since it was common for an American to moan that line drying made the towels stiff and hard, and not all soft and fluffy like the dryer. ( and it was always the poster's spouse who was unhappy).
Can't believe its gone so long and no-ones complained....must be progress after all;)
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I throw all my clothes in a bin, when full carry to basement, Cold water w/15 minute soak since I have socks, colors,darks, and whatever in there, use Armour Hammer with Oxi-clean and done. Then put in dryer for around 45 minutes and head back down pull out my shirts and put on hangers, fold and fill bin, go upstairs and put away. Everyone in the house except the DW as far as i know does the same thing.
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I've always washed clothes in cold.
Same here. Cold wash and then hang them to dry.
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We line dry - easy to do if you live in Florida, although we always get pitying looks even from the neighbors:).
It is no longer a normal, accepted way of doing laundry - but I am good at being a contrarian, it doesn't bother either one of us.
Must be an American thing...still quite normal here. I've used my dryer twice in the last six months.
Years ago I swore never to post in another laundry thread since it was common for an American to moan that line drying made the towels stiff and hard, and not all soft and fluffy like the dryer. ( and it was always the poster's spouse who was unhappy).
Can't believe its gone so long and no-ones complained....must be progress after all;)
I’ll bite. It does make my towels crunchy. I still do it, though. But every now and then I toss them in the dryer to get them fluffy and soft again. How do I prevent this? I feel like I’m already using less detergent so I don’t think it’s too much detergent?
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We line dry - easy to do if you live in Florida, although we always get pitying looks even from the neighbors:).
It is no longer a normal, accepted way of doing laundry - but I am good at being a contrarian, it doesn't bother either one of us.
Must be an American thing...still quite normal here. I've used my dryer twice in the last six months.
I find that even 5 minutes in the dryer before hanging them to dry solves the crunchiness issue.
Years ago I swore never to post in another laundry thread since it was common for an American to moan that line drying made the towels stiff and hard, and not all soft and fluffy like the dryer. ( and it was always the poster's spouse who was unhappy).
Can't believe its gone so long and no-ones complained....must be progress after all;)
I’ll bite. It does make my towels crunchy. I still do it, though. But every now and then I toss them in the dryer to get them fluffy and soft again. How do I prevent this? I feel like I’m already using less detergent so I don’t think it’s too much detergent?
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We line dry - easy to do if you live in Florida, although we always get pitying looks even from the neighbors:).
It is no longer a normal, accepted way of doing laundry - but I am good at being a contrarian, it doesn't bother either one of us.
Must be an American thing...still quite normal here. I've used my dryer twice in the last six months.
Years ago I swore never to post in another laundry thread since it was common for an American to moan that line drying made the towels stiff and hard, and not all soft and fluffy like the dryer. ( and it was always the poster's spouse who was unhappy).
Can't believe its gone so long and no-ones complained....must be progress after all;)
I’ll bite. It does make my towels crunchy. I still do it, though. But every now and then I toss them in the dryer to get them fluffy and soft again. How do I prevent this? I feel like I’m already using less detergent so I don’t think it’s too much detergent?
I find that even 5 minutes in the dryer before hanging them to dry solves the crunchiness issue.
Yeah, I’ll also do that for a few minutes after they dry and it helps. I just wonder, for all the world that doesn’t even have a dryer, there must be some way that doesn’t use a dryer at all, right?
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No, I think that line dried towels are just crunchier. I like them that way! They’re more absorbent, I think. They soften up quite a bit after you use them, but they aren’t fluffy. And jeans are stiff.
I am fine with that. In the winter I do throw towels and sheets in the dryer because they take up a lot of real estate air drying, but there is nothing as wonderful as a dried in the summer sun sheet, IMO.
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We line dry - easy to do if you live in Florida, although we always get pitying looks even from the neighbors:).
It is no longer a normal, accepted way of doing laundry - but I am good at being a contrarian, it doesn't bother either one of us.
Must be an American thing...still quite normal here. I've used my dryer twice in the last six months.
Years ago I swore never to post in another laundry thread since it was common for an American to moan that line drying made the towels stiff and hard, and not all soft and fluffy like the dryer. ( and it was always the poster's spouse who was unhappy).
Can't believe its gone so long and no-ones complained....must be progress after all;)
I’ll bite. It does make my towels crunchy. I still do it, though. But every now and then I toss them in the dryer to get them fluffy and soft again. How do I prevent this? I feel like I’m already using less detergent so I don’t think it’s too much detergent?
I find that even 5 minutes in the dryer before hanging them to dry solves the crunchiness issue.
Yeah, I’ll also do that for a few minutes after they dry and it helps. I just wonder, for all the world that doesn’t even have a dryer, there must be some way that doesn’t use a dryer at all, right?
I think the other way is to just have crunchy sheets. It's not like they don't still work!
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I think the other way is to just have crunchy sheets. It's not like they don't still work!
True. Though I never get crunchy sheets. Just towels. And now that I think about it, only particular towels. Maybe that’s why. Our “nicer” towels don’t get so crunchy when line dried. Though the rags I use for cleaning spills (actually prefold cloth diapers that were never used as such) get really stiff. Since they’re just cleaning rags, it’s not like it particularly matters though.
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We use waffle towels and bamboo sheets, so no crunchiness with hang drying.
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We use waffle towels and bamboo sheets, so no crunchiness with hang drying.
I don't like using waffles as towels. The syrup always leaves me feeling sticky.
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We use waffle towels and bamboo sheets, so no crunchiness with hang drying.
I don't like using waffles as towels. The syrup always leaves me feeling sticky.
To be fair, waffles, without syrup of course, would probably be rather absorbent.
But really, you are missing out if you have never used a waffle towel. I dislike normal towels now.
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Hot and warm water are very good solvents. Modern HE washers don't use a lot of water, so the cold water savings is minimal, especially since you can use less laundry detergent when you use warmer water.
https://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/laundry.html
I used this laundry calculator and my personal inputs and a warm load is 42 cents and a cold load is 36 cents. 6 cents savings per load times 150 loads per year is $9.
On the other hand, the dryer alone costs 29 cents to run. So forgoing one dryer load a week is $15 savings a year.
Of course you can do both, but I find my laundry is appreciably cleaner and has less soap build up with warm water wash. You can see if soap is building up on your clothes by agitating them in warm water and seeing if the water becomes sudsy.
Edited to add: nothing drives home how important wash routines are to not causing buildup and grossness on cloth than doing 3+ continuous years of cloth diapering with a front loader. I learned a lot about how to wash clothes to get them as clean as possible!
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I LOVE crunchy towels. They make me feel so clean! Sheets and towels are the best things for line drying. I don't especially love the way my clothes come out and I actively dislike what line drying does to knits so I still put those in the dryer.
Happy to hear that cold water washing doesn't save that much, because it just doesn't seem to work as well.
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Hot and warm water are very good solvents. Modern HE washers don't use a lot of water, so the cold water savings is minimal, especially since you can use less laundry detergent when you use warmer water.
https://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/laundry.html
I used this laundry calculator and my personal inputs and a warm load is 42 cents and a cold load is 36 cents. 6 cents savings per load times 150 loads per year is $9.
On the other hand, the dryer alone costs 29 cents to run. So forgoing one dryer load a week is $15 savings a year.
Of course you can do both, but I find my laundry is appreciably cleaner and has less soap build up with warm water wash. You can see if soap is building up on your clothes by agitating them in warm water and seeing if the water becomes sudsy.
Edited to add: nothing drives home how important wash routines are to not causing buildup and grossness on cloth than doing 3+ continuous years of cloth diapering with a front loader. I learned a lot about how to wash clothes to get them as clean as possible!
I can get on board with this, but I'd also like to counter with two things -
1- Most of the time, when washing with cold, folks should fill the cup/scoop to the lowest line. Like anything, detergents are often more concentrated than they need to be to account for the small percentage of houses who have the worst/hardest water.
2 - There are many modern garments, especially synthetics/synthetic blends that specifically say to wash on cold. Generally speaking, the garments' appearance and often useful life will be extended by washing on the coldest & gentlest cycle. I'd estimate that of our clothes, 75% of my and my wife's clothes specify cold ONLY and at least 33% of our kids' do as well. Our approach is to wash on cold unless especially soiled, and then we will run a soak cycle on the washer with some booster & apply Fels-Naptha directly to the deep stains. We do run at least one warm and one hot cycle (more if there are extra towels), but that's with an eye for garment integrity and not really to do with energy savings.
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If you're in the habit of throwing some detergent on top of clothing while washing with cold water and starting the machine, then yeah . . . your stuff isn't going to get as clean. But I've never used more detergent with cold water washing than with warm, and not had any problems with clothes coming out still dirty as long as I follow this simple procedure:
- Half fill the washer with water
- Add detergent and swish it around to make sure it's mixed in correctly
- Load clothes
- Let clothes sit for a couple hours
- Run wash
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I have been washing my clothes in cold water for about a year now. I do it because I think some rust in the washer is getting on my clothes (sometimes). I still get some rust stains, but not as bad as with hot water.
I'm not willing to buy a new washer since they all apparently are junk nowadays.
My old 1986 Hotpoint by GE keeps chugging away. Knock on wood.
I hand wash anything that I don't want to risk a rust stain on.
When I had a girl friend, she used to use the same washing machine, and never got the rust stains. Never found out what her secret was, but may have been using Borax powder added to the detergent.
Happy cold washing, everyone !
Oh, by the way, I sometimes use the drier, sometimes hang dry wet clothes.
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True story: I have washed all our laundry in cold water forever, except for towels. I used to wash the towels in cold water until I read a certain true crime story. One of the ways they figured out that the wife had killed her husband was that she had washed the towels in cold water (can't for the life of me remember how they knew this). The line of thinking was that nobody washes towels in cold water, unless they killed someone, mopped up, and needed to get the blood out of the towels. Oops. So I've washed my towels in hot water ever since.
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Story checks out. I am constantly killing people and washing their blood out of stuff . . . that's why I started washing in cold.
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Story checks out. I am constantly killing people and washing their blood out of stuff . . . that's why I started washing in cold.
Same.
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Hydrogen peroxide is the ultimate blood stain removal chemical. Use cool to lukewarm water for best results.
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We use waffle towels and bamboo sheets, so no crunchiness with hang drying.
Actually yeah, those are the new towels we have that do not get crunchy. I didn’t like them at first, the feel was weird since I’m used to plushy towels, but they’re growing on me.
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If I've murdered someone in a way that I need to clean up and in a location where I have access to my personal linens, I'm using old towels and rags and burning them. Who uses their good towels to clean up after a murder? Below average for headwork, that.
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Hydrogen peroxide is the ultimate blood stain removal chemical. Use cool to lukewarm water for best results.
so the wife was the OG killer... she used only cold water, with H2O2.
/s
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If I've murdered someone in a way that I need to clean up and in a location where I have access to my personal linens, I'm using old towels and rags and burning them. Who uses their good towels to clean up after a murder? Below average for headwork, that.
planning is critical.
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If I've murdered someone in a way that I need to clean up and in a location where I have access to my personal linens, I'm using old towels and rags and burning them. Who uses their good towels to clean up after a murder? Below average for headwork, that.
planning is critical.
Criticism of my murder planning is a common cause of being murdered by me.
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If I've murdered someone in a way that I need to clean up and in a location where I have access to my personal linens, I'm using old towels and rags and burning them. Who uses their good towels to clean up after a murder? Below average for headwork, that.
BUT I CAN AFFORD IT!
It may not be mustachian, but I make 7 figures a year killing people, so using premium towels in my murder cleanup just adds to my happiness and won't negatively impact my FIRE plans. I'm so sick of killers being cheap and trying to face punch people into killing in this deprived, unpleasant manner, when they really should be focused on getting paid more per kill.
Who are you to judge me for using $1000 Hermes towels for my murder cleanup, it's a quality of life thing. It's not my fault you live a sad, deprived life of using literal garbage to clean up blood. If that's what frugality looks like, then fuck this place and MMM himself. There's more to life than saving money.
(sorry, couldn't resist)
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My sister spent 20+ years as a coroner. I've gotten many tips and tricks from her over the years. None of them involve anything that would require the use of towels (Good Ones, or otherwise).
/hypothetically of course
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If I've murdered someone in a way that I need to clean up and in a location where I have access to my personal linens, I'm using old towels and rags and burning them. Who uses their good towels to clean up after a murder? Below average for headwork, that.
Well she did get caught.
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Hydrogen peroxide is the ultimate blood stain removal chemical. Use cool to lukewarm water for best results.
so the wife was the OG killer... she used only cold water, with H2O2.
/s
She never wanted you to find out like this.
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I dunno. I have been using tap cold for many many years and only use half the detergent recommended. Clothes are clean *shrug*
Me too. And I never buy detergent in plastic bottles because I'm trying (not successfully either) to get rid of plastic...sigh.
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I used to think that clothes that said to wash in cold were just a PITA, but then I read the Patagonia guy’s book and he said that they design their clothes specifically to be able to be washed in cold water to save energy, by not having to heat up water to wash them.
Now I just wash everything in cold.
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I’m more surprised that some people don’t generally use a cold water wash. It’s been my understanding that in the US detergents have been designed for that for decades.
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Tap-cold with a soak, little detergent, line dry (followed by a couple minutes on tumble if something's really crunchy, but I rarely bother.) A cup of vinegar or oxyclean occasionally, for smelly or stained loads.
Stuff comes out clean, & for exactly the reasons Malcat said, there's no real stress about normal bacterial loads. Remember that detergent itself is rough on microbes (including covid-19), and the hot water line into your washing machine is cooler than would cook most nasty bacteria anyway so there's no advantage in treating them to the jacuzzi setting. If it's really befouled and needs sanitizing, that's when bleach might be a good choice. Otherwise, UV sanitizes & wind softens for free if you can dry things outdoors; the longevity of your wardrobe will thank you, if the carbon implications or financial savings don't speak loudly enough.
Running the dishwasher usually follows loading the dishwasher in my household, so I just rinse bigger particles off in the sink with the hot tap as I load the washer, & then any delicate stemware/ my hands get washed, so the dishwasher will be using actually-hot water anyway. Even the minimum settings get things pretty spotless as a result.