Cold-water washing means clothing is less likely to shrink or fade and ruin clothes. Cold water can also reduce wrinkles, which saves energy costs (and time) associated with ironing.
20°C to 30°C can be classed as cold temperatures to wash garments on. Cold washes benefit clothes that have dark or bright colours that can easily run.
30 Degrees Wash – planet friendly laundry. If you've looked at the care label on your clothes, you might've spotted a symbol that shows a basin with a '30' or a single dot in it. This means that your clothes need a mild, cold wash in order to protect the fabric or make sure that the colour doesn't fade.
“Cold wash” – washing at 15 °C/20 °C – saves around 60 % electricity compared to a cycle at 40 °C. Thus, cold wash holds a tremendous energy saving potential, not matched by any other measure in the whole washing process.
Now using the cold cycle on your washer doesn't mean compromising how clean your clothes are. ColdWash™ Technology uses cold water and enhanced washing motions to penetrate deep into fabrics, giving you the cleaning performance of warm water with the energy savings of cold water.
Your washing machine will have the option to wash on cold water, which can be as low as 20°C, but most machines set their cold water settings on 30°C. One of the main benefits of choosing a wash temperature of 30°C is that on average you can save 57% on running costs, when compared washing at 40°C.
Cold Temperature Water: Clothes with this symbol (wash tub with a single dot) should be washed in cold water between 65°F and 85°F.
Cold Water is Better for Laundering Delicate Fabrics
Hot water can ruin delicate fabrics like rayon, rayon blends, wool, or silk by shrinking or breaking the fibers. Opting for cold water is safer for these fabrics and delicate items such as bras, underwear, bathing suits, and athletic wear.
Cold process soap making is the original, traditional method of making soap by combining fat or oil (animal or plant based) with sodium hydroxide lye then blending in addition of essential oils and colorants as required. This treatment causes a chemical reaction called saponification which takes up to 48 hours.
Eichholz agrees, and states that hot water is actually not good for your towels, as it damages the fibers over time. “We recommend washing your towels in cold water—we promise it kills just as much bacteria as the hot water,” she says.
- Washtub with numbers: The temperature shown is measured in degrees Celsius, the number 30 indicates a cold-water wash, 40 indicates a warm-water wash, and 50 indicates a hot-water wash. - Washtub with dots: Dots inside the washtub indicate the same thing as a number: the water temperature.
Cold water is fine for most clothes and other items that you can safely put in the washing machine. It can remove many stains from clothing, including grass on your kid's jeans or makeup smudges on a sweater. Delicate fabrics (lace and silk) and dark, colorful fabrics actually do best in cold water.
There are still multiple reasons for clothes shrinking even after using cold water. The washing cycle of the washing machine and the temperature can cause such an effect. So, it's better to lower the temperature and set the gentle washing cycle for how to avoid clothes from shrinking.
Most brands of washing machines have a hot water setting around 130°F, warm water setting between 90°F to 110°F, and cold water between 60°F and 80°F. Cold water is perfect for washing delicate items such as lingerie and hosiery.
Don't wash those clothes
This is an odd one. According to folklore, if you wash clothes on New Year's Day, you'll be “washing for the dead” or washing a loved one away -- meaning someone in your household will die in the coming year. Get your laundry washed, dried, folded and put away by New Year's Eve.
If you are doing a wash of mixed colours and fabrics, it's probably best to use 30ºC to prevent colours from running. While 30ºC works great for everyday washing, a 40°C wash is better at tackling tougher stains.
Cold process soap making starts with mixing oils (such as coconut, palm, and olive) with a lye solution. The exact temperature will depend on personal preferences, but both mixtures are usually around 80-120 degrees Fahrenheit.
In soap and detergent: Cold and semiboiled methods. In the cold method, a fat and oil mixture, often containing a high percentage of coconut or palm-kernel oil, is mixed with the alkali solution. Slightly less alkali is used than theoretically required in order to leave a small amount of unsaponified fat or oil as a…
What is cold process soap? Also known as cold saponification. Saponification is a chemical reaction provoked by mixing a fat (oils, butters, etc) with a strong base (for solid soap, the strong base is sodium hydroxide lye, for liquid soap the strong base is potassium hydroxide, also known as potash).
Compared to normal wash cycles which use higher agitation or tumbling speeds for casual items, delicate wash cleans items using low agitation or tumbling speeds, along with cold water, for gentle cleaning and reduced wrinkling.
A cold wash means no heating of the water. Most washing machines come with a cold wash setting which is a suitable option for delicate clothing.
We would recommend a cold wash at 30 degrees or lower, to keep your clothes clean and fresh, while caring for your clothes too. Using a washing detergent which is effective in quick or cold washes, like Persil liquids, would be suitable.
Most sock materials can be washed in a washing machine and then dried in the tumble dryer. If you're ever in doubt, check the manufacturer's care instructions or dry them naturally. When washing and drying your socks, you should use a mesh wash bag to separate them from other clothes.
Here is a list of fabrics which should not be dry-cleaned: Fine-hair wool: because the chemicals used in dry cleaning can be harsh on the fragile hair of woollen items. Denim: because the chemicals used in dry cleaning can strip the natural textures in the fabric.
Instead, liquid chlorine bleach should be added to your washer's bleach dispenser, which automatically dilutes the bleach with water the machine adds to the drum. If your washer doesn't have a bleach dispenser, add it to the wash water as the washer fills, before you add clothing.