Poll: Laundry - scientific data required

What temperature do you wash towels at?

  • 30°

    Votes: 37 19.4%

  • 40°

    Votes: 79 41.4%

  • 50°

    Votes: 3 1.6%

  • 60°

    Votes: 60 31.4%

  • Other - specify

    Votes: 12 6.3%
  • Total voters
    191
Clothes 30c and air dry
Towels 40c and tumble dry low heat
Bedding 60c and tumble dry low heat

Bedding gets the weekly 60c treatment because of dust mite allergy.

I find ariel bio irritates my skin the least, despite advertising claiming non-bio to be better that doesn't match reality.

I also find bio does a better job at lower temps than non-bio.
 
Freakbro said:
Yea, it's great for descaling too and so much cheaper than products
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citric acid powder ?

usually 30c for most stuff non-bio ... it depends how dirty towels and sheets are though
...especially if you soak towels daily or don't shower in the evenings imagine they both need washing at a higher temp, more regularly.
washing at excessively high temps/duration obviously decreases fabrics lifespan too, I'm sure washing machine wear on t-shirts is greater than actually wearing them
 
I'll change my answer that if we have a good solar day I'll definitely choose a higher temperature - but even on bad solar days whites and towels always at 60C.
 
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Octopus go means electric is cheap. 60C for bedding and towels. 40c for everything else. Work with someone who used to develop washing liquids and 30C doesn’t get enough energy into the detergents to properly clean
 
Difference on my machine between 30 and 40 is about 0.1kwh. Surprising really. Checked at least 5 times to be sure. So 40 for towels. No idea what 60+ uses. Though it's new and is pretty eco heavy, i've had to change every water setting to max as otherwise it just leaves suds. Going to try some different powder soon.
 
drakulton said:
Aren't allergies caused by a bored immune system that's not been exposed to enough germs and dirt?
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Interestingly science does look to partially agree.

I was reading an article the other day that the number of people with a nut allergy is increasing significantly. Scientists believe that if you introduce peanut butter in very small quantities at a young age of 3-6 months it will reduce the chances of developing an allergy later in life.
 
Washing detergents will do the job, nothing meaningful will survive, even at 30C. There’s far worse on your skin that doesn’t get washed nearly as well, nor do you want it to be.
 
I wash towels and undies at 40c and everything else at 30c.

I do use the Speed Plus on my washer. 3 hour plus for a washing cycle is too long esp if you got kids.

Have a 15 min programme at 30c which I use to wash a few uniform tops during the week.
 
I wash most things at 30 and it seems to do a good job, but towels seem to end up smelling so wash them at 40 which does the job
 
I don't really get the 'cycle time is too long' argument as it's the drying that takes a long time in winter when you can't really hang it up outside. Our limitation for washing clothes is the amount of space/time required to dry multiple loads rather than the time to actually do the washes.

Informative thread though as I've never treated towels and bedlinen any different, unless they are white in which case they'd get done at 60, coloured towels/linen would go in with everything else at 40. I was taught you shouldn't do colours on a high temp to stop the colours bleeding out into other items.
 
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