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.
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Things generally dissolve/react better in hot water, which means the detergent can do its job better. The downside is that hot water can also shrink some fabrics and make some not-so-well-bonded colors bleed.
However, there are plenty of modern detergents designed to work well in cold water, so as long as washing in cold water does the job, it’s generally better since doesn’t wear down fabrics as quickly. Similarly running the dryer at a low temperature is less stressful for the fabrics.
I’m seeing people say that cold water doesn’t kill pathogens and germs but what if I dry the clothes in the high heat setting after washing in cold?
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.
If you want to kill germs, you’d need to wash over 60C. That’s why the “baby clothes” setting is around 90C, it’s more hygienic as hot water is better at killing germs
heat improves the effect of most cleaning agents, it increases the ability of water to dissolve anything, and it helps get oils (which can solidify at low temperatures) off of clothing.
the problem is that certain fibers and weaves are changed by heat. shrinking, binding, etc.
that’s the basic trade-off.
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