Gransnet forums

Chat

Am I the only one?

(147 Posts)
gmelon Tue 11-Jun-19 19:17:46

My bedding and towels are washed at sixty degrees.
I sometimes feel I'm the only one left doing so.
All these adverts for washing at thirty make me feel so.
I've never washed anything at thirty.

Buffybee Tue 11-Jun-19 19:22:30

I wash everything, including towels and bedding with Biological Powder at 40 degrees.
If I was using non-bio, I would probably wash towels and bedding at 60 degrees.
Never washed anything at 30 degrees.

EllanVannin Tue 11-Jun-19 19:23:55

60 degrees for whites 30 degrees for darks.

Coolgran65 Tue 11-Jun-19 19:25:12

For a daily wash I use 30. For a freshen up. Others at 40 and bedding/towels at 60/70.

Doodle Tue 11-Jun-19 19:26:00

I do 30 for shirts, darks. 60 for sheets and towels

rascal Tue 11-Jun-19 19:28:45

I do 40 usually.

Cherrytree59 Tue 11-Jun-19 19:29:28

Sheets (cotton) and towels all on hot wash.
Sometimes 90°!
Other clothes usually on a quick wash.

CanadianGran Tue 11-Jun-19 19:31:36

is this Fahrenheit or Celsius?
I don't know what temperature my washing machine is. All the dials for Canadian machines are hot, warm or cold.
I do hot for sheets and whites, and warm for colours.

I just don't things get clean in cold water.

MiniMoon Tue 11-Jun-19 19:33:26

Towels and tea towels I wash at 60°. Everything else at 40°. I always use biological liquid.

MiniMoon Tue 11-Jun-19 19:34:36

Celsius Canadiangran.

Callistemon Tue 11-Jun-19 19:35:46

I do wash towels at 60C, and perhaps bedding at 50C, sometimes 60C. Part of the reason for that is that the hotter wash cycle has four rinses (five if I add one) and I don't think the detergent washes out that well.
Underclothes probably on 40C, other clothes 40C, sometimes 30C.

I did read somewhere that a chimpanzee's bed in the trees contains less bacteria than some humans' beds - was it in New Scientist the other day?
shock

NotAGran55 Tue 11-Jun-19 19:42:03

Towels and bedding 60 everything else 30 for 20 minutes .
Jumpers are hand washed and a slow spin .

midgey Tue 11-Jun-19 19:53:06

It is supposed to save the planet washing at a lower heat, but a whole new industry has grown up providing another additive ( in a plastic pot) to kill any bugs! Sixty degrees in this home too.

GabriellaG54 Tue 11-Jun-19 20:12:21

30 degrees for most things unless it's new jeans which I wash at 40 degrees to get rid of surplus colour.
There is no good reason to wash anything at higher temps unless you have manky clothes or don't wash bedding weekly.
If you shower before bed and wash bedlinen weekly, there is no need to use more energy on a scalding wash.
Of course, many of you with pets (who let them go on your bed) might need to do a hotter wash, similarly with pet bedding.
If I had pets I certainly wouldn't be washing my clothes in the same machine as dog towels etc.
I guarantee that my clothes and bed linen are as clean as anyone who uses a hotter wash for theirs and most modern products recommend 30 degrees.

Loislovesstewie Tue 11-Jun-19 20:49:13

I wash bedding, towels, underwear and shirts/t shirts at 60. If it has had bodily fluids on it the water needs to be hot enough to kill bacteria. I chuck disinfectant in too. Other items I will wash at 40, with disinfectant!

mcem Tue 11-Jun-19 21:03:17

Washing nearly everything at 60° and hotter seems excessive and wasteful.
Are all your items of bedding and clothing so teeming with germs that they really need such treatment, verging on biological warfare?
Has anyone you know suffered any disease or illness caused by clothing washed at 30°?

Loislovesstewie Tue 11-Jun-19 21:16:01

Lots of germs survive on clothes including norovirus, hepatitis A salmonella and all sorts of other nasies. I wash things at 60 with disinfectant because it's quite possible for germs to transfer from one person to another through dirty clothing and washing them at low temperatures doesn't kill the germs. Washing your hands after using the loo etc is fine but clothes , towels , bedding etc also need a proper clean.

Elvive Tue 11-Jun-19 21:20:57

30 degrees and pegged out.

mcem Tue 11-Jun-19 22:04:40

So why aren't those of us who are less obsessive not constantly ill?
Maybe we've achieved the balance we need between building up effective immune systems and keeping our the bugs in our environment at a reasonably healthy level.

Tangerine Tue 11-Jun-19 22:11:04

I wash everything at 30 degrees.

Daisymae Tue 11-Jun-19 22:33:20

40 degrees for most, 30 for delicate things. Did try 30 for a while but thought that the machine was a bit smelly.

annodomini Tue 11-Jun-19 23:12:27

How many times have we had this thread?

MawBroonsback Tue 11-Jun-19 23:16:15

And how many years have we all been responsible for the laundry in our homes (and no one died yet?)

Callistemon Tue 11-Jun-19 23:21:59

grin
We're all used to our own germs

Q How often does a chimpanzee change the bed linen?
Q Does a chimpanzee wash the bed linen at 60C?

Eloethan Wed 12-Jun-19 00:35:36

I wash virtually everything at 30 degrees.