Laundry Cold or Warm Water???

I always use cold water, except for like towels, I use warm for those. Cold is better with getting stains out. Warm water seems to set stains in more. And with my son, theres not a load that doesn't have some sort of stain. Another good thing about cold water, is helps reduce shrinking of clothes.

I saw something on the news 1 time and said it didn't matter and any germs left over would be killed in the dryer.

I use cold water coupled with liquid detergent. It is a major energy saver. I would not use powdered detergent with cold water as it leaves white detergent streaks on clothes. The powdered detergents do not dissolve in cold water and the same thing can be said for those powered Oxy cleaners.

I use hot water for underwear or my husband's jeans when he works around the yard or garage. His fire resistant work clothes are washed in warm water because that is what the manufacturer asks for.

You can save more water and also on your heating bill by going to an energy saving waterhead in your main shower.

Well, in today's day and age it is best to do everything in cold water. In the interest of going "green" - it preserves energy!

I have found that COLD water is just as good, if not better than even warm water for laundry. Most of your detergents now are able to be used in cold water as well as warm. Personally, I use TREND because I am allergic to most of the others. Not only do they come out clean, but they smell good and are soft. I still use a dryer sheet because of the static electricity. I tried it one time without the dryer sheet and some things came out statically and I ran them a little more with a sheet. I use warm once in awhile for sheets or towels, but rarely. It's everyone's preference, but it was great when I decided to change to cold. Another good thing is that even in warm, there are some things that will eventually shrink or come out in a funny shape. My clothes son't do that anymore.

I recently switched to washing clothes in cold water myself. The only difference I have found is that the water heater isn't running as much, which saves us money. The only thing I don't use cold for is bedding. My son's allergist recommends washing them in hot, so that's what I do.
Blessings to you,
T.

Hi L.,
My family has always used cold water when washing clothing. I think many people will tell you that it probably doesn't matter as far as getting the clothing clean, but if you are worried about other things, this would be an argument for the cold side. Cold water helps to keep your clothing looking newer longer. If there is any dirty laundry with stains that escapes being caught prior to washing, using cold water prevents the stains from further setting into the fabric. Plus it is a little cheaper to use cold water. It will be interesting to see what other people say.

D.

I have always used cold water on my colored clothes to preserve the color. Warm water on whites only.
My sister-in-law uses cold water on all of her things and has since she lived overseas because that is all they hook up to the washing machines in Italy, Germany, and Austria.
I have never noticed any odor in her clothing or mine using either one.

I use cold for very dark or new clothes which might bleed, warm for lights and hot for whites.

cold water gets stains out better than warm & it also saves money on your electric bill. only if the garment says warm would i use it.

Hi L.,
I do everything (except whites) on cold. I've always done it this way since I used to ruin clothes with colors running, etc on warm. I've never done it any other way so I don't really know the difference other than I am not ruining clothes anymore. Whites I do on warm and if needed, bleach.

I do everything but towels and white unders in cold. They are done in hot. Tide makes a great cold water formula but I have always used Kirkland's which is a name brand for Costco. It works great but does need to agitate before adding your clothes. No I don't work there or am I getting a kick back saying that. Wish I did. I had to let my membership lapse due to income.

L.,

I use cold water except for towels and bed sheets. For the towels, I do not use fabric softener it helps absorb the water.

Hope this helps..............

I'm with Christine G - germs are killed in the dryer. That said, I still have some kind of complex I guess b/c I have to wash my towels and bedding in hot water. -?- Cold water may keep stains from setting in but if I have whites that are stained, washing them in hot seems to get the stains out best the first time. I use Tide (powder), Clorox 2 -if needed- and vinegar in all loads (it softens the clothes and acts as a deodorizer)and sometimes Simple Green if there is oily stains on my husband's work clothes.
Stick with cold if it works for you! Why not?!

I always use cold water unless it's for towels or bedding. As it's been said before, the germs are killed in the dryer.