What Temperature To Use for Washing Clothes
When To Use Hot Water
For most clothing the hotter the water, the cleaner the clothing will be. Most linens and white clothing are washed in hot water to remove germs and heavy soil. However, many of our clothes won’t come out looking very nice if they are washed in hot water. Hot water tends to make some clothing shrink, wrinkle, and fade.
When To Use Warm Water
For most people the majority of their laundry is washed with warm water. Warm water is actually a mix of hot and cold. Some machines mix the hot and cold water 50-50, although newer machines mix 60-40. Warm water is usually the best choice for permanent press and jeans. It allows good cleaning action without as much fading, wrinkling, and shrinking.
When To Use Cold Water
Cold water is usually used for delicate items, or items with instructions to be washed in cold water.
If your cold water items are heavily soiled or dirty, you need to be especially diligent about checking and pre-treating for stains. You may also have to wash the items for longer, or allow them to soak before washing if they are heavily soiled
Sort the clothing.
There are many different methods to sorting. Some people sort by color. Others sort by fabric type. There are some adventurous souls who actually never sort clothing. Your sorting method will likely be determined by the size of your family and contents of your wardrobes. Here are some of the sorting categories that may demand special attention.
Whites- Whites go separate because we want them to stay white. One red sock that isn’t colorfast can turn an entire white load pink. More often than not whites need a warmer water temperature than other clothing to ensure proper cleaning.
Reds and or Bright Colors- Colorfast pinks, purples, reds, and oranges can be mixed together to make a full load.
Towels- Towels are lint producers. The lint they give off sticks to other types of clothing. You can wash towels with blankets, sheets, and robes as long as everything is colorfast.
Specialty Items- These are things that have to be washed separately, are not colorfast, can’t be dried, or have otherwise special instructions that keep them separate.
Some people like to sort everything else into its color category to get a nice mix of small and large items for each load. For example, with a large family you may end up with a blue load, green load, khaki load, black load, etc. If your items are colorfast, (most clothing will be) you can combine colors together.
This is not by any means the only way to sort clothing. I know of families who sort clothing by the owner to make it easier to put away. They pull out problem and specialty items, but on the whole one child’s green shirt, khaki pants, blue shorts, etc are all colorfast and can be washed together. This can be a great time-saving method for families that seem to have all of their clean laundry piled in one place. As long as your method gets your clothes clean and keeps them intact, it’s best to develop a system that fits your family.
Follow these six steps at the beginning of a laundry session and you avoid most of the common pitfalls that can ruin your clothing.