do you wash in cold water?

[ApatheticNoMore]

I always default to warm except occasionally hot for towels and sheets, but I was reading this article about washing in cold water:
http://www.coyuchi.com/the-naturalista/cold_water/

(ok it's a commercial site and the products are expensive - don't look at any products unless you desperately need bedding or something then at least it's organic :)) - but the article is just about washing in cold water. So maybe I'll try switching to cold. I have zero germ phobia (except around raw meat which isn't exactly applicable to my clothes), pay quarters to wash (so don't stand to save any $), have no bed bugs, and really could care less about "sterilizing" my clothes etc.. I just want them to be clean.

[herbgeek]

Yes. I use cold for almost everything. If it's a dirty load or anyone has been sick, I'll use warm. I don't see any difference so why spend the energy? I do use a detergent that says it works in cold water.

[Dhiana]

The entire country of Japan uses only cold water. There are no hot water hookups to our washing machines.

No problems here.

[lmerullo]

My everyday wash is done in cold. The only time I set the washer to another temp is when an illness is in the home.

DH recently had shingles, and since I've not had the chicken pox the doc said it might be possible to get it from the weeping rash. We used hot water and laundered sheets every other day for two weeks.

I agree that both the machine and the detergents have evolved and if the goal is clean wash - cold is good for the clothes, the environment and the pocketbook.

[rosarugosa]

I almost always use cold water. I think it minimizes shrinkage and fading, and helps keep stains from "setting."
I wash my towels in hot water because I was reading a true crime book once, and one of the clues that shed suspicion on the wife for killing her husband was that she had washed towels in cold water (I don't recall how the police knew this), but they had basically noted that nobody washes towels in cold water, so it must have been to get rid of blood, so I've washed my towels in hot water ever since!
On rare occasions, I will bleach really grungy whites in hot water, but this is very rare. I don't like to use much bleach as I think it weakens fibers and is kind of a creepy chemical.

[catherine]

I usually default to warm also, and my "warm" is kind of lukewarm. I kind of like hotter water for stain removal, but I guess if I did a better job of pre-spotting, it wouldn't take a whole load of hot water to remove one or two stains.

I also am not germophobic (with the exception of sickness in the home), so I would never routinely use hot water to kill bugs. I believe certain bugs have their place, frankly.

I agree that colder water preserves your clothing--maybe I'll wash in cold more often--thanks for the article.

[Miss Cellane]

I wash sheets and towels and underwear in hot water--they are all white cotton, so they are a logical load. Supposedly, the hot water will help with my allergies. And about 3-4 times a year, I wash my cotton blanket and the mattress pad in hot water, again because of the allergies.

Everything else gets washed in cold water. Unless there is a specific reason, such as something got really dirty and warm water is recommended to remove that type of stain. But that happens about once every two years or so.

I figure if a germ can survive the detergent and the agitation in the washer and the heat and the tumbling in the dryer, it deserves to live.

[razz]

Yes. I use cold for almost everything. If it's a dirty load or anyone has been sick, I'll use warm. I don't see any difference so why spend the energy? I do use a detergent that says it works in cold water.
I cold wash and line dry to sterilize in the sun.

[Mary B.]

Cold here too, except sheets/pillowcases in hot. And sometimes I turn the washer to 'cool' rather than 'cold' in the winter, since it's well water and in winter it seems extraordinarily cold. (I know that the temperature underground doesn't vary much, but our water goes from well into cistern and then into house, and it gets pretty cold in the cistern in winter.)

[Sad Eyed Lady]

99% of the wash is done in cold. Every now and then some whites like sheets, pillowcases and an old white terry robe I have, seems like they could benefit from a hot wash and so I will do it. But routinely it is cold. I also line dry outside, or in real cold weather I use a folding rack inside.

[Teacher Terry]

I use cold for most things except sheets, towels & then I use hot.

[Blackdog Lin]

Same as Teacher Terry: I do all of our clothing in cold. The towels load and the sheets load I do in hot.

[ToomuchStuff]

When my water heater failed, I had to wait a few days to replace it, due to time. I did a load or two in cold, because I had to and didn't notice a difference. Since then most times I wash in cold.

[Gardenarian]

I have always used cold water. Then one of my dogs got sick and, without going into details, I had piles of badly stained bedding and towels. (all the bedding and towels are white.) I tried everything to get the stains out, and nothing worked - until I washed everything in hot water. 90% of stains gone! So I'm a little skeptical about this whole "cold works as well as hot."
I'm continuing to use cold water, but if I have another issue with stains, I will go for the warm or hot water.

[Teacher Terry]

I use hot because you have dust mites in bedding which are too tiny to see. I have bad allergies so think this really helps for towels & sheets.

[Packy]

This is an interesting question. When I first read the OP's question, I had to think it over for a few days, before I could deliver an answer. OIh, okay---here it is: Last June, it was really hot; I mean really, really, HOT! And I had been outside ALL DAY, okay? So, when I came inside, an took a shower, I used nothing but unheated water. Just let it run, so I could cool off. I say "unheated", because you really can't classify tap water as "cold", because it is prolly 55-60 degrees F. The water that comes out of the water heater is prolly 90-100, by the time it goews out to the faucet, or less. As far as clothing goes, everything of mine STINKS. Anyone who has pets, or works outside, and then things lay around on the bathroom floor or in the washer or behind or under something or pets lie on it---everything ends up stink! See? That's why I use lots of vinegar, lots of scented detergent; and either use dryer sheets in the clothes dryer, or hang big stuff out on the fence or drape it across my truck---to let the sun rays sterilize it! I do this also with bike shorts and jerseys, because it is best not to place lycra in the clothes dryer; and because laying them in the sun to dry, along with sox, will help eliminate bacteria. The bottom line is, in the washer, I use unheated water. But, why am I saying this? You kids already knew this.

[Suzanne]

I wash everything except bedding, towels, and kitchen items, in cold water. I do bedding and towels in warm water. Once a week I toss all the kitchen cloths and my apron into the machine and wash them in hot water. If I pull my act together, I'll wet the kitchen stuff, rub it over thoroughly with bar soap, leave it overnight, and then wash it in cold water. Usually my act is scattered.

[thinkgreen]

I wash everything in hot water. I only do about 1.5 loads a week and I try to do it the same time as I'm running the dishwasher because then the water seems hotter. I used to do 4 or 5 loads a week but since retiring we wear our clothes more than once. We dry on the line whenever mother nature allows.

[Float On]

One load a week of whites in hot water.
Every other load, average 1 a day, in cold.

Add to that - I use the shortest delicate cycle for everything except that one load of whites in hot gets the regular cycle.

[Brandon]

I only use cold water as I find it keeps items from shrinking and/or fading. The only time I might use Hot water is when I have a stubborn stain on white tablecloths or napkins - and I always soak them in OxyClean and a bit of detergent.