Washing machine settings

jd87

I've been trying to use our washing machine as efficiently as possible lately. The problem is our machine, like a lot of them these days, is really confusing. It has so many different settings, and from what it says in the instructions, I can't see the point of most of them. The booklet describes some of the cycles as being "energy efficient", but even some of these run for almost 2 hours and go to 40 degrees.

From now on I am just going to wash all of our clothes on the short 30 minute cycle at 30 degrees. Do you think this is ok? Could it damage the clothes? What about towels and bed sheets? My mum always said they need to be washed hot - how cool do you think I can get away with? What do you do?

GC81

Hi, I totally understand what you mean, my washing machine is confusing too.
My 40 degree normal wash takes 2hrs15mins!!
There's a "time saver" button but that leaves the clothes soaked still so then I have to add a spin after anyway so that cant be any more efficient can it?
But lately I've been using the "rinse" cycle and thats been cleaning everything well. There's me my 7 year old dd and my 2 year old dd so nothing really gets that dirty to be honest.
My sheets and towels are washed on the 40 cycle though.
I think with most things its trial and error to get what suits you and your family.
Good luck.

oldMcDonald

I'm another one who uses the rinse cycle. I pop a tiny bit of grated soap into the bottom of the drum if the items need it, but if the clothes just need 'freshening', rather than cleaning, I miss out the soap. It is a 15min cycle with cold water, seems to do the job well enough:)

Towels, bedding and 'undies' get washed on a 40 wash. If there are any clothes that are really filthy (four of mine are boys, it's shocking how much mess they can get into sometimes!), then they get soaked overnight and either washed in a 'towels' wash or put in a cold wash, depending on how likely it is to wash out.

nesssie1702

I wash my bedding at a 60 ºC wash, as DH suffers from asthma and a 40ºC wash isn't hot enough to kill off any dust mites that might be there. I tend to do the same with my towels.

Clothes and other bits and pieces I was on a 40 ºC wash, on the quick wash and half load - takes just about an hour.

Most of my washing is done through the night when I'm on Economy 7 Electric, so it works out cheaper that way. My dishwasher comes on then too. Both appliances have timers built in which is really handy.

linni

I have the same problem. My 'quick' wash takes over 2 hours so I try to use the 30mins wash for light washing and then spin. Will try the soaking overnight and then 30mins wash and see what happens.

oystercatcher

I was washing most of our stuff on 30 or 40 degrees and using half the amount of detergent topped up with washing soda. However, after a while I found the washing machine was getting a bit smelly and I remembered 'Washing Machine Repair Man' telling me that the better quality washing powders clean the machine as well as the clothes.

So now I still do most of the washing on the cooler programmes but do towels (which go smelly if I'm not careful) and bedding (I have a dust mite allergy) on a good hot wash then when I do a white wash I use a full amount of a good quality washing powder (as whites show the stains more!) . This seems to be a good compromise. As there's five of us I am always washing but a good hot cleaning wash twice a week and economy runs the rest of the time seem to work.

I have a fairly new Bocsh machine which is low energy rated and has some nice short programes 30-45 minutes. It's worth looking into programme times when you eventually replace your machine.

Oystercatcher

bellybabe_2

Hi,
My washing machine has programmes that make no sense to me either. I've taken to doing most of my washing on the 30 degree quick wash, but I do find DS2's trousers usually need to go on a 40. Mind you, I use non-bio so that's probably partly why 30 doesn't get his knees clean. I also do towels and beding on 60 as that's recommended for getting rid of mites etc as we have asthma, eczema and psoriasis in this family, and it also helps keeps the machine clean to do that fairly regularly.
BB

OrkneyStar

We just got a new washing machine a few months back and boy are there options.
I eventually decided on:
60/long wash for stained nappies
40/medium wash for less stained nappies
30/40/50 medium wash for clothing (lower temp if not so dirty but with DS around thats rare...most often 40).
90 long wash for sheets
60 medium wash for towels.

Obviously this is not exact and sometimes I will do mixed loads. I also don't use real nappies anymore so that has reduced a lot of washing!

Has anyone tried this Ariel Excel liquid designed to wash at 30 ? Seemed expensive, although was on offer in Tesco and may be cheaper in long run if lower electricity costs (our washer is cold fill).

basmic

I'm a big fan of Ariel Excel - it lathers up on a 30c wash easily. If you do a small load, just fill the cap up half way.

If you look at the number of washes on the liquid and compare it to boxes of soap powder, you'll actually find powder is more expensive per wash when using the recommended dose of detergent. The liquid probably feels expensive, because the bottle doesn't look big. :rotfl:

Justamum

I've been using the 'daily wash' cycle on my machine for a while now, but I've now gone back to the normal 40C wash as I don't think a quick wash works efficiently enough. It's an accumulative effect, so is only noticeable after quite a while. It's the agitation which gets your clothes clean, and a quick wash just doesn't agitate for long enough imho.

kal25

Hi, to be honest i only just recently started using my 'regular' cotton wash as it too takes 2hrs 15mins. Since having the washing machine 7yrs ago I always washed on my quick wash.
However , after may times of standing to do ironing and finding some things weren't as clean as I would like. Decieded that I will do kids clothes on a 40 cottton wash and seems to work better. seems more economical to get things clean first time rather than rewashing.