We all love saving money – especially at the moment when everything seems to get more expensive by the day. One way to save money in the laundry is by washing in cold water; according to GE Appliances, 75-90% of the electricity a washing machine uses goes towards heating.
There are other benefits to cold water washing, too.
- It’s gentler on delicate clothing.
- It reduces the chance of shrinking, bleaching, or colour transference.
- It reduces the number of microfibers that shed from your clothes and end up as microplastic pollution in waterways.
- It reduces wrinkling.
These days, laundry detergents are sophisticated enough to perform just as well in cold water as they do in warm or hot water, and machines are designed for optimal cold washing. Here are some tips for getting the best performance out of your cold wash cycle.
Choose a liquid detergent
Some powdered laundry detergents don’t dissolve as well in cold water and may leave a residue on your clothing. A liquid detergent will disperse more effectively throughout the wash. You can achieve the same result by pre-dissolving a powdered detergent.
Pre-treat stains
Cold washes are ideal for lightly soiled loads. Rather than washing stained items separately or running a full warm wash just because one or two items are grubby, you can use a stain remover to attend to problem areas. Normally, you will need to apply it a couple of minutes before the wash and rub it in gently.
Don’t overload your machine
If you put too much washing in your machine, it won’t be able to move around freely. Therefore, water and detergent won’t be able to pass through it enough to get the fabric properly clean. Your machine’s user manual should specify a load weight limit for each type of cycle.
Use the cool setting in winter
During winter, the temperature of the ground and air around your water pipes drops, causing your tap water to get much colder. The enzymes in laundry detergent are usually designed to work best at temperatures of 15 degrees Celsius or higher. To ensure an effective wash when it’s cold outside, set your machine to a cool setting of 20 or 30 degrees.
There are still a few situations when you should wash with warm or hot water. For towels, bed linen, or heavily soiled or smelly loads, washing at 40 degrees is recommended. If someone in the house is currently unwell, a hot cycle can help to prevent the spread of bacteria and viruses. Always check the care label on an item before you wash it in warm or hot water.
Of course, after you’ve saved all that money washing your clothes in cold water, you’ll want to dry them efficiently too. Check out our range of new clotheslines to suit any sized load of laundry – we ship New Zealand wide. If you’re in Auckland, we can also repair your old line so it’s as good as new.
Need a new clothesline or some TLC for your existing line?
If you are looking for a new clothesline talk to us. We ship across the country and if you are in Auckland or Christchurch we can arrange installation for you to at an affordable price.
Give us a call to find out more.