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Clothes detergents have been able to effectively clean in cold water for decades. The only reason people still wash using these detergents in hot water is ignor
by IggleSniggle 3y ago
Clothes detergents have been able to effectively clean in cold water for decades. The only reason people still wash using these detergents in hot water is ignorance. It's such a huge waste. Please stopping washing clothes with brand name detergents using hot or warm water. It costs more money, does more environmental damage, and doesn't even make your clothes marginally cleaner.
- elric 3y agoIgnorance? I doubt it. There's a variety of reasons to wash at least some items in very hot water. Killing dust mites for people with allergies sounds like a good reason. Getting rid of faecal contaminants sounds like another good reason. It does way more than making clothes "marginally cleaner".
- IggleSniggle 3y agoModern detergents are capable of doing these jobs in cold water.
- bee_rider 3y agoNot commenting to argue either way, as I have no idea what the truth is. But, I’m surprised that there can be such strong, confident, and basically contradictory opinions on this topic which seems to me like it ought to be a simple matter of fact.
- cooper_ganglia 3y agoAs someone who has done laundry before, I feel confident in chiming in here: Anecdotally, hot water is almost always better for reducing smells in my clothing. It helps some fabric types more than others, but it doesn’t hurt any of them. If you can afford a home, electricity, water, detergent, and clothing, I personally cannot imagine a single reason not to use hot water.
- bee_rider 3y agoI’ve also done plenty of laundry, of course, but I never bothered varying the water temperature as an independent variable.
- cooper_ganglia 3y agoI had a girlfriend years ago who insisted that cold water worked just as fine as hot water. While I didn't write down any observations, I did do several loads of laundry over the next couple weeks where I adjusted water temp as a variable, and found that things typically smelled more fresh when they were washed in hotter water. Maybe it's placebo, maybe it's my detergent, maybe it's something else, but for me, personally, I always wash non-delicate laundry with hot water because at the very least, I feel like I smell better, and that's worth it to me! :)
- IggleSniggle 3y agoThe specific detergent does matter quite a bit here, as well.
- alchemist1e9 3y agoIf you really want to get something very clean then add 1/4 cup of Borax and use Extra Hot if your washer supports it. Source - me - I wash household blankets the kids make super dirty sometimes. If the material can handle the heat (no shrinking or delicate materials issue) then the Borax really does super charge the detergent effects somehow. I don’t doubt there might be something environmentally problematic with Borax but I just am not aware myself.
- jupp0r 3y agoMy clothes will not get cleaned and still smell bad if I wash them in cold water with major brand detergents.