Frugal Tip: Wash Clothes in Cold Water
With the technological advances in clothing detergents, it’s no longer necessary to wash with hot water in order to kill all the little germies in your clothes and doing so is really just a waste of hot water and a few cents in your pocket. Back in the day, when detergents weren’t as powerful, the use of hot water was recommended because whatever the detergent didn’t clean, the hot water would have a chance to finish off. Now, detergents are good enough that hot water is no longer necessary. So, save yourself a few cents, help out the Earth, and wash your clothes in cold water.
January 4th, 2008 at 1:23 am
That is a great tip! I’ve been washing all my clothes on delicates cycle with cold water for the last year or two and I’ve had no problems. To the contrary, my clothes seem to last longer.
January 5th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Ditto.
One thing I’ve heard, though, is that nonchlorine (“color-safe”) bleaches require hot water to work well. Is that so?
Luckily the stains I’ve encountered have come out after soaking with a direct splash of spray stain remover plus color-safe bleach plus a bit of liquid detergent, and so I haven’t had to test the hot water theory. Yet.
January 13th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
I’ve never had any problems, but I really don’t get many stains on my clothing. And if I do, I try to treat them immediately with stain remover or even just plain ol’ water.