Do you wash clothes in cold, hot or warm

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-26-2007
Do you wash clothes in cold, hot or warm
19
Tue, 06-12-2007 - 3:41pm

This might seem like a silly question, but I am curious what temperature water do you wash your clothes in? Mainly I'm wondering if cold water does the job, or do I really have to use warm to get all those germs and stains out? Does it depend on the detergent?
I use Tide, what do you use?
If you use cold water, do you think it saves on your energy bill?

Oh, the questions a mom can think of while doing laundry!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-01-2006
Tue, 06-12-2007 - 3:43pm

i use tide


i wash sheets and towels in warm and most of the darks in cold


I wash my icky sweating Nike clothes in cold and they come out sparkly clean







iVillage Member
Registered: 05-27-1998
Tue, 06-12-2007 - 4:18pm

With the exception of underwear and towels, you don't really have to disinfect your clothes. Allergy experts recommend using Borax powder along with the detergent to kill dustmites, and it also kills germs, so I use it when I do sheets, towels or undergarments. Drying on high finishes the germs off.

BTW, if you switch to an unscented detergent (better for you, your clothes, and the environment) you'll be able to tell how clean your clothes are becuase there won't be any scent to mask bad smells.

You can wash your clothes in any kind of water, but I've found that when the water has a high mineral content (hard water) as ours does, it's best to use warm or hot. (I use cold for things that say "dry clean only" LOL).

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-28-2004
Tue, 06-12-2007 - 4:20pm
I use tide and I use cold water.........
Yes it gets everything out...... I do not know about the energy thing.
I just got a new ac system last september so my bill spit in half anyway...
I like the cold water it keeps the sizes just right of all the clothes.
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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2003
Tue, 06-12-2007 - 4:45pm
I do all our clothes in cold except whites I do in warm. I don't worry much about germs on clothes and

Linda
mom to
Alex (16), Rachel (14), Matthew (12)


iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 06-12-2007 - 5:41pm
I use cold for environmental reasons. I think it works just as well. Sometimes I use Tide for cold water and sometimes I use Gain. Depends on what's cheaper or what inspires me. Not sure its affected my gas bill (gas water heater) but I feel like I'm doing my part. We have an ad here that says if everyone in Ontario (I think) did their laundry in cold water we would save enough energy to light 200,000 homes.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-05-2006
Tue, 06-12-2007 - 5:56pm
I wash in cold, and use either Tide Free or All Free and Clear.
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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 06-12-2007 - 8:02pm
I HAVE read recently that a majority of your utility bill comes from heating water, so I'm really TRYING to use cold water, but for my kitchen dish towels and socks/underwear, I really feel a need to at least use WARM water. I have also gone to heavier suede type curtains around the house to block out the heat and I really notice a difference in the house. I'll let you know how our next few bills are! Anything has to help defray the GAS PRICES!!!
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-01-2006
Tue, 06-12-2007 - 8:37pm
I use hot water for dish towels






iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 06-12-2007 - 11:09pm

DD and my clothes:

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-26-2003
Wed, 06-13-2007 - 12:14am
I wash all clothes in cold

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