Visiting my parents, my mom seems disappointed to find me washing my clothes in cold water, she says it’s just not right but couldn’t quite explain why.
I’ve washed all of my laundry using the “cold” setting on washing machines for as long as I can remember. I’ve never had color bleeding or anything similar as seems to affect so many people.
EDIT: I love how this devolved into tutorials on opening Capri suns, tips for murders, and the truth about Australian peppers
In: 8872
Where it comes to sweat, dust, dirt, cold water is perfectly ok. For greasy, oily stains, like old motor oil or machine grease, ballpoint ink you’ll need heat.
First off, detergents have vastly easier time isolating and separating liquid fats, than solid ones, so the temperature should be enough to make the oils melt.
Independently, a chemist’s rule of thumb is increasing temperature by 20C doubles the chemical reaction speed. If you wash for 2h in 70C water, it’s roughly as efficient as washing for 16 hours in cold, 10C water. Helps a lot with stubborn stains.
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