What is the benefit of washing clothes in warm water? Can’t they all be washed cold and still come out clean?
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Most detergents have enzymes in them to help the soap cleaning specific dirt from your clothes. There are enzymes that target proteins (eg a bloody rugby jersey), cellulose (eg grass stains) Fats (eg potato chip stains or chocolate stains) and starches (eg dropped mashed potato or baby food).
Enzymes work best at warmer temperatures. Most enzymes will work at tap water temperature but will work a lot faster at 30C/85F. 30C/85F is not considered warm water because it’s colder than you are, but it’s warmer than what comes out your tap.
Washing machines work on a timer so all the cleaning needs to happen within a certain time period, before rinsing starts. Warmer temperatures (but still colder than your body temperature) just allow the enzymes to get their work done in this time-limited environment.
Normally there is a cocktail of enzymes in any one brand of detergent depending on the expected problems the end user will have. So, families with kids that play a lot of sports and BBQ a lot in the backyard will need a different cocktail of enzymes to a young professional couple that gym a lot and eat out in restaurants or eat ready cooked meals.
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