Set your washing machine to a Hot water cycle (90°F to 140°F) for most white fabrics. You can pair this with a Normal cycle, or a dedicated Whites cycle if available. For delicate items, choose a Gentle cycle with warm or cold water.
How to Wash White Clothes Kim Romine, a fabric care scientist for P&G, says the instructions on the care label should reign supreme when laundering any garment. However, if you like a good default setting, she says, ``The best approach for all of your clothes, including white clothes, is a cold water setting.''
Wash whites separately. Just do a white load once a week. Cold water unless extra dirty. When they start looking dingy, add some bleach to the load, but don't add bleach more often than necessary as it will break down the fabric sooner.
When to Use Hot Water – For whites, typically dirty clothes and diapers, use hot water (130°F or above). Hot water is best to remove germs and heavy soil. However, hot water can shrink, fade and damage some fabrics, so be sure to read your clothing labels before selecting the hot option.
The Delicates Cycle
A delicate wash or “hand wash” cycle is the machine equivalent to handwashing! This cycle uses warm or cold water with low or no spin. It's typically the shortest and most gentle cleaning cycle, and the low or no-spin allows for minimal fabric agitation.
Warm water washes are ideal for clothing such as towels, underwear, bed linen and any other harder everyday fabrics such as wool. Warm washes are also good for white clothing that isn't too soiled as it can help to brighten them up giving that extra bit of care.
The normal cycle is a bit more aggressive, so it's ideal for sturdy fabrics, like denim, bedding, towels, and most clothing. As the name implies, the heavy duty cycle should be reserved for heavily soiled items since it's longer and uses a high-speed spin.
30 degrees Celsius is a warm wash, as the cold wash is below 30 – 20 degrees Celsius, and it is the best temp for washing white clothes.
What Temperature Should Towels Be Washed At? - White and lighter colored towels wash well with the hot water setting. Hot water helps to brighten white and light-colored towels for better cleaning. Dark colored towels should be washed with the warm water setting.
Not every fabric or garment is suitable for hot water washing, but since the hotter the water the better the cleaning, it's good to select a hot water cycle when running a bleach load whenever you can. Remember that bleach has a one-year shelf life when properly stored away from heat or direct sunlight.
"For a thicker whitewash—which is great for a farmhouse look— you'll mix 2 parts paint to 1 part water," says New Jersey-based designer Christina Kim. "I also love a thinned-out whitewash for a subtle, elevated look. For this, you'll need 1 part paint to 1 part water."
Add a cup of baking soda:
Simply add the baking soda to the washing machine along with your regular laundry detergent and wash as usual. Or consider soaking your whites in baking soda and hot water for a couple of hours before washing.
Detergent build-up. Fabric softener residue. Washing whites with darker clothing. Incorrect wash temperature.
Set your washing machine to a Hot water cycle (90°F to 140°F) for most white fabrics. You can pair this with a Normal cycle, or a dedicated Whites cycle if available. For delicate items, choose a Gentle cycle with warm or cold water.
Normal. The Normal cycle stands as the workhorse among washing machine settings. It combines high-speed wash with high-speed spin, making it both intense and effective for cleaning everyday garments. Clothes like t-shirts, underwear, socks, and cotton items get thoroughly washed through its rigorous process.
Sometimes called “whitest whites”, this setting is designed for clothes that are being bleached. It uses a high-speed wash and spin cycle, dispensing the bleach at just the right time. This cycle is very thorough and can last up to three hours.
For washing heavy white fabrics like sheets, towels, and thick socks, a hot water wash is your friend. For everything else, you're going to want to keep it dialed to warm or cool, depending on how delicate the fabric is. Check your fabric's care tag for best washing practices.
Most machines have a regular cycle (or normal or cotton), a permanent press cycle (or colours) and a delicate cycle. Some also have a separate hand wash cycle for ultra-delicate items, and a bulky cycle for blankets or pillows.
For the most part, in the case of heavily soiled clothes, towels and bedding, whites should be washed in warm or hot water, but there are some exceptions: Sheer or delicate fabrics, such as lingerie and swimwear, require lower temperatures, while stains like blood, wine, and coffee might set if washed in warm or hot ...
When washing whites, removing dirt and stains is important. Because fading the color of the fabric isn't a concern, it's ideal to wash your clothing in warm water. Warm water can effectively brighten clothes that have turned yellow by removing stains, thereby keeping white clothes white.
Before washing, soak heavily soiled items using an enzyme detergent or oxygen bleach and launder them separately. Wash whites by selecting the hot water setting on your washing machine. Add in your detergent (choose one with a bleach alternative and/or enzymes), using the maximum amount recommended.
Wash clothes on the shortest cycle (e.g. "quick wash") that's practical for your needs. This means less water, heated to a lower temperature and a shorter spin cycle to save water and energy. Bonus: a quick cycle will cause less damage to your clothes over time so help them last longer.
Delicates/Wool
As the name implies, a delicates or wool cycle is typically the most gentle setting, using low agitation, cool water and a low spin speed to prevent your fragile clothes from becoming damaged.