While I'm feeling a bit housewifely.....

My new washing machine has a 'cold' setting. I know that my sister in NZ uses cold washes all the time but I think there are special detergents for this. I like the thought of economising on the energy needed to heat the water, and wonder if there is a suitable detergent available here.

I think the idea is that you knit the cosies from scraps of wool left over from other projects or odd part balls picked up in charity shops so the cost is below the donation to the charity. Many elderly people who grew up knitting and enjoy it and are perhaps housebound through infirmity and dependent on care, like the feeling that by knitting the egg cosies they can make a contribution towards helping other people rather than being a recipient all the time.

DD, into almost any needlecraft, buys no end of materials from her local charity shop which has a basket with wool remnants, odd embroidery and tapestry threads, short lengths of ribbon and lace etc etc all for 10p each. She also gets longer fabric remnants there. A 1950s cocktail dress, plus a length of dress velvet was turned into the most sumptuous princess dress and cloak for DGD.

Apparently- it was in the Sunday papers so must be true, washing machines don't actually get up to 60 degrees, whatever they say.
I do all mine at 30 these days, it seems to work just as well.

Bored moment at work..

anno I cold wash quite a bit - and use Ecover liquid detergent, WHEN I can get it here. Stock control in some French supermarkets is haphazard at best.
I don't use fabric conditioner either.

I find washing at 30 leaves stained items still stained and tests have shown that washing at this temperature does not kill all harmful bacteria in the washed items. I cannot see where the economy lies if washing has to go through the machine several times at low temperatures when one decent wash at 60 or more would clean on first wash. These low wash temperatures only work because detergents are being developed using harsher and harsher chemicals to get clothes to come clean at low temperatures

My skin is very sensitive to a number of chemicals. They cause rashes and itching and I avoid harsh detergents for that reason. I currently use a soap based washing machine liquid which I buy when in France.

But anyway I can understand people advising us to save energy by using lower temperatures, but I think I should be able to choose the wash and temperatures most suitable for my circumstances. We are always being told to save on heating bills by turning the thermostat down a degree or so but nobody insists that we have to have central heating thermostats that will not heat our homes above 20 degrees and force us to turn the heating off for 6 hours every night.

Thanks for the tip, ffinnocchio. I've seen it often enough in Waitrose and will try it when my present lot runs out.

I must sat j08 i am rather impressed with the word 'housewifely' in your OP.

I would have said 'housewifey' which is sloppy grammar.

Why thank you Petallus.

Yes, it does sound rather good.

Miele washer seems to have a range of temps. from cold to 95. I mainly use express or the full 180 minutes for towels and bed linen but I can change the temp to more or less anything in that rang. Our new window cleaner called Norman has an arrangement with hoses and brushes which costs us £10 and doesn't seem to be as good as the old Norman with scrim and squeegee and which cost us £6. My life in fact is a lot more interesting than this sounds.

I think your life sounds very interesting. You are obviously a smile in the window cleaner' s day.

Thanks of letting me know we have missed the closing date shysal. Maybe by next October she will be more proficient to send in her offering . As it stands though, she is determined this is what she wants to do this weekend when both GDs are staying with us so I will let her go ahead and definitely use your ideas as opposed to making a pom pom. Thanks.

I agree with you re the thank you cards. Somehow that just defeats the purpose and we would not be looking for a thank you. Ridiculous idea.

for letting me know even!!!

ffinnocchio I have found that there are a lot of brands of ecological, allergen free washing machine detergents in French supermarkets. Most of them soap based.

I import them in quantity for DS and family and myself because I can find nothing similar in UK supermarkets. As a family we have skin sensitivities and have to be very careful with what face and cosmetic products we use for the same reason.

I use the eco "quick" wash for lots of our clothes. All done and finished in just over half an hour - I work on the basis that most of the stuff we wash isn't really dirty but just needs freshening up. Obviously really dirty things need a more thorough wash but the quick one does just fine!

What's this about Waitrose green coins, can someone enlighten me please?

In Waitrose and Asda stores customers are given a green token for every so much they spend, which can then be put into the charity collection container of your choice, usually local causes. I am not sure how much the supermarkets promise to donate for each token.

And that is just an advertising thing. They would donate that (pre-determined) amount of money to charity anyway. It is tax avoidance, and they want to make the most of the advertising potential.

Anyone else got a number of green plastic "coins" in the kitchen drawer?

Another thing abut those schemes, they can result in a large portion of the company's charity money going to competely naff causes. (Have you ever noticed how the pile of coins in a cats' charity is always much higher than a charity for people?

Thanks FlickB. Our two local supermarkets are franchised, and stock is aimed at the demographic of our area - so perhaps I'd better start looking more closely at the major ones. 90km round trip to the closest! Next time I'm passing...........