Post by miqrogroove on Sept 19, 2011 22:38:29 GMT -5
Hey Bigballers,
I've been trying to figure out how to wash my clothes and linens properly. A year or two after I moved into my house, I started to notice that my clothes did not seem to come out clean after washing and drying. At first I thought the problem was me and I was somehow getting my clothes too dirty to wash properly, causing them to get progressively less clean after each wash.
The first thing I tried to do to fix this was to soak things that didn't seem clean and wash them again and change them more frequently. For example, changing pillow cases several times each week. That helped a little bit but didn't seem to solve the problem.
Several months later I started to suspect that the problem wasn't me, but something wrong with the laundry water! I eventually concluded there were two problems:
1. I was in the habit of using a tablespoon or two of detergent so that I wouldn't overuse it. What I failed to consider is that the water is very hard at my house and this means more soap than usual has to be added to the water.
2. The problem got worse each winter because of the water temperature. I was in the habit of using cold for colors and warm for whites. Well, today's ultra-concentrated detergents melt around room temperature, and my cold water is probably 40 F in the winter.
So for the past year or two I've been using a full cap of detergent in every load, and never use the coldest water setting. I can tell the problem hasn't gone away completely, but I'm getting much better results.
Here are the actual options on my washing machine:
At the top of the dial, there's a setting that mixes hot and cold water to get exactly 70 F.
Next is a setting that mixes hot and cold water to get exactly 100 F.
Third setting uses hot water only. I have my hot water adjusted so that it comes out at least 120 F at the taps.
Fourth setting mixes hot and cold evenly, so it's about 80 F in the winter and 95 F in the summer.
Fifth setting is cold, about 40 F in the winter and 65 F in the summer.
I've decided that in the interest of getting my clothes cleaner, I should stop using the first and fifth settings completely, unless I'm washing blankets or sweaters. Beyond that, I feel like I don't know what is an appropriate temperature. Any ideas?
I've been trying to figure out how to wash my clothes and linens properly. A year or two after I moved into my house, I started to notice that my clothes did not seem to come out clean after washing and drying. At first I thought the problem was me and I was somehow getting my clothes too dirty to wash properly, causing them to get progressively less clean after each wash.
The first thing I tried to do to fix this was to soak things that didn't seem clean and wash them again and change them more frequently. For example, changing pillow cases several times each week. That helped a little bit but didn't seem to solve the problem.
Several months later I started to suspect that the problem wasn't me, but something wrong with the laundry water! I eventually concluded there were two problems:
1. I was in the habit of using a tablespoon or two of detergent so that I wouldn't overuse it. What I failed to consider is that the water is very hard at my house and this means more soap than usual has to be added to the water.
2. The problem got worse each winter because of the water temperature. I was in the habit of using cold for colors and warm for whites. Well, today's ultra-concentrated detergents melt around room temperature, and my cold water is probably 40 F in the winter.
So for the past year or two I've been using a full cap of detergent in every load, and never use the coldest water setting. I can tell the problem hasn't gone away completely, but I'm getting much better results.
Here are the actual options on my washing machine:
At the top of the dial, there's a setting that mixes hot and cold water to get exactly 70 F.
Next is a setting that mixes hot and cold water to get exactly 100 F.
Third setting uses hot water only. I have my hot water adjusted so that it comes out at least 120 F at the taps.
Fourth setting mixes hot and cold evenly, so it's about 80 F in the winter and 95 F in the summer.
Fifth setting is cold, about 40 F in the winter and 65 F in the summer.
I've decided that in the interest of getting my clothes cleaner, I should stop using the first and fifth settings completely, unless I'm washing blankets or sweaters. Beyond that, I feel like I don't know what is an appropriate temperature. Any ideas?
