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If you’re looking to save energy, you might be wanting to run a 30 degrees wash or a cold wash on your clothes. This has many benefits, such as keeping clothes vibrant and being better for the environment. If you are going to do this make sure you use a detergent that’s still effective at this temperature like Cold Power. Without it you may find you need to wash again and that just undoes all that great work you’ve done for the environment.
If your clothes have tough stains on them though, you might need to opt for a warmer wash. 40 degrees, or a warm wash, is the perfect compromise between a hot wash and getting tough stains or dirt out of clothes as long as you use a good detergent.
- If your clothes have some stains on them, they will need a pretreatment. This is the case for a wash at any temperature, and a 40 degrees or warm wash is no different. Stains like grease and oil stains or grass stains on your clothes need special attention so if you’re able to treat the stain and wash it before it dries, then it really helps to lift it. A really easy way to do this is to use Sard Wonder, it comes in a spray or a stick to get right into those stubborn stains and give you the best chance of removing them in a 40 degree wash.
- Higher temperatures are more efficient at removing dirt and stains, which is why a good detergent is even more important when it comes to a 40 degrees wash. The amount of detergent needed depends on water hardness, machine size, and how dirty your clothes are.
- High quality, tough on stains detergents such as Dynamo will make sure that stains and dirt are lifted right out of your clothes.
- If your clothes just need a general wash, and don’t have stains or lots of dirt on them, you can wash them at 40 degrees as usual with a detergent like FAB that’ll give them a lovely long lasting fragrance too.
- If you’re washing wool or delicates, choose the according program on your washing machine – this should have a low spin cycle.
A hot wash at 60 degrees Celsius is a good option if you’ve been ill or want to kill bacteria and germs on your clothes, but some clothes will get damaged at this temperature. A 40 degrees wash won’t kill bacteria on its own, but using a good detergent such as FAB or Cold Power makes up for the slightly cooler temperature. If you like, you can also use a hygiene rinse which usually works from 20 degrees, meaning you can still save energy by not doing a hot wash. To make sure things stay hygienic, you can keep the following tips in mind:
- You can soak your clothes in a basin and add a hygiene rinse if you simply need to disinfect one or two garments so you can wash them at a warm temperature.
- To make sure that you don’t get bad smells and limescale build up in your machine, run a hot wash once a month. If your washing machine is empty, this will be a cleanser for the machine – some machines also have a “clean machine” setting.
A 40 degrees wash is the perfect compromise between washing at warmer temperatures but still saving energy. For items of clothing such as jeans, a warm wash is perfect. Just make sure you check the label before you wash a garment. If you’re worried about hygiene at lower temperatures, you can use a hygiene rinse which helps kill germs. Hanging your laundry out to dry in a space which is well ventilated will help your clothes dry quicker and prevent any damp smells forming.
Our laundry section is packed full of advice and tips on how to wash specific items of clothing so don’t forget to check there first whenever you have any clothes washing queries.