Cold water wash challenge

[th_tan]

Well I did my last load in cold water, its just time consuming is all. I'll try and do it more often to save a little.

[Gabelma]

We do cold water washes with our diapers and just about everything else except the cloths we use for cleaning. We add vinegar to the conditioner drawer of our washing machine for our diapers. We dry pail our diapers, and we use something called eco-balls so we use no detergent at all, and don't need the rinse cycle unless it's a diaper+vinegar wash.

Eco-balls have gotten out everything that we've thrown at them, except for oils, but they can be pre-treated before the wash. Any stubborn-looking stains get a squirt of lemon juice or hung out in the sun.

- Charley

[mekish]

when i saw the headline i thought the author was refering to cold showers!

[shopgirl]

I was always told that detergent does not dissolve as well in cold water and will not wash your clothes as well but since switching over several months back, I really do not see a difference. I have also started using much less of the detergent than the box calls for. Unless they are really really dirty, I think clothes get just as clean with less detergent :-)

[linentablecloth]

Water heating accounts for approximately 19% of total home energy use. Today's more efficient washing machines and laundry detergents make it possible to wash both white and colored clothes clean in cold water. Unless you are dealing with tough stains, washing in hot water is not always necessary.

[disgruntable]

I recently started doing the laundry in cold water. I'm satisfied with how it turns out *shrug*

[whitestripe]

I've always washed our clothes in cold water - when I lived at home my mum only did socks in hot water as well. BF's shirts shrink if they go in hot water, and I think it's a waste anyway.
We use an eco-friendly laundry liquid that is $4.75 for 2L and an eco-friendly fabric softener that's $1.99 for 1L - we've been using both for about three years now. I don't use as much as it says on the bottle, probably 2/3 of the amount, or even half if things aren't that dirty. I refuse to use laundry powder.
I soak socks in a bucket of hot water for a few hours with some napisan. (it's not actually Napisan, i just forget the name of it right now - it's a cheaper version of the brand)
I do washing once a week, and I do these loads seperately: work clothes, delicates, socks, sheets and towels.
I don't have a dryer. We line dry our clothes in the shade.

[Ima saver]

I have been washing clothes in cold water for 43 years. I guess I have saved a ton of money!!

[MKWise]

my daughter just told me she has been washing all their clothes in cold for the last couple of months, so I'm giving it a try today. we'll see how it goes. I've done a couple of loads and everything even the whites look good. This is a really good idea, but hard to get in my head that cold can clean as well as warm or hot water. (old dog I guess!)

[segmond]

lol, i was everything in cold water except for whites.

[Jazzmint98]

I do all laundry in cold water except whites, sheets, and towels. I use hot water for those. It seems like stains don't come out as well with cold water. I have a high-efficiency front loading washer which I thought was supposed to be better in that way, but stains aren't gone unless I use warm/hot water.

[jamiefic]

I had been washing everything in cold, but then we moved into an apartment and we share laundry machines with other people. For some reason it doesn't seem like they get completely clean... Anyway, I've been doing some with warm water recently.

As for the vinegar and baking soda. I just read something in a book this morning with those ingredients for fabric softner. It said to sprinkle in 1/4 cup of baking soda into the water and then add 1/2 cup white vinegar to the final rinse cycle or put it in the area that the softner goes in if you have a washing machine that has that. Not sure if it's the same thing as the other poster does.

[pamelad]

i wash everything in cold water, except white and sheets.

[jeffmem]

Sheesh, where I live we only have one option, cold water. Our machines are not hooked up to any hot water at all, not even designed for hot water. Not sure how I would even try to do that, I suppose I could make everything as warm, but never tried. Been washing everything in cold water for about 9 years. Though the temperature here doesn't get much below about 45 degrees either. I forget already what temperature detergent stops working.. Might be higher than 45, but I never noticed any problems...

[med12]

I never realized there was so much science behind laundry

I've been washing our clothes in cold water for probably 5 years now and have never noticed a difference. Some of the kids clothes don't get as clean but they wear them out before they grow out of them so I don't worry too much. DH's work clothes I'll sometimes wash in warm water if they are really dirty but usually I just use cold for everything. I find that the clothes last longer.

I also try not to use my dryer too much - I aim for one load a week at least to be hung up but it doesn't always work.

[jeffmem]

I hang my clothes just about 12 months out of the year, during the 3 months it's cold I may dry them more than usual. I will usual dry every load for about 30 minutes just to get the dust and lint and cat hair out of the clothes, and then I hang them up.

[JeanneElle]

Originally Posted by ggbwg

Be careful washing the diapers and panties in cold. It does not get the germs completly out, it may look like it does but it doesn't. How do i know this because my daughter suffers from vulvitus through out the years of her life and if there not washed in hot she get's infections down there. She hasn't had a problem since i have been washing them in hot. I also do that w/ mine. I put hers and mine together.

I do that as well - hot water with vinegar and baking soda. Every other load in cold. Seems to work fine. I'll presoak the muddy playground stuff - I'll sort the wash and have a load of "soakables" and let them soak for a few hours before I run the cycle.

[JeanneElle]

Originally Posted by jeffmem

I hang my clothes just about 12 months out of the year, during the 3 months it's cold I may dry them more than usual. I will usual dry every load for about 30 minutes just to get the dust and lint and cat hair out of the clothes, and then I hang them up.

Me too... I hang mine year round in the basement. I know what you mean though - some clothes have to go in the dryer for a bit first otherwise they're so lint covered that they don't look washed, lol

[jeffmem]

Indeed underwear and other soiled things need hot water to get out the bacteria and dirt. Cold water actually cannot effectively remove dirt and bacteria, and as I said earlier I forget what the cut off temperature is.

I hang all my stuff on the balcony, if the humidity is too high I put a dehumidifer out there for a few hours, that helps speed things up and I believe it uses less electrcity, though that is one electronic product I have yet to test.. Hmmmm.

I usually throw just about everything in the dryer for a few minutes, unless it is something delicate or something that will shirnk. Cat hair gets in everything!!!!! It even jammed up my fax machine last year!

[Ima saver]

I think I win the contest. 43 years of washing in nothing but cold water, and counting!!