30 minute wash?

kwatt

I am constantly amazed at people on this subject and there is so much bad advice floating around, including from manufacturers who are trying to flog the fastest washing machine ever with the biggest drum and the fastest spin.

The proper advice is, fast washes are not suitable for most of your laundry irrespective of what anyone tells you.

If you want the full explanation I wrote an article on it a while back, here, to try to explain it as simply as possible.

Most of the "dirt" in your laundry you can't see, it isn't visible with the naked eye and using a short cycle will not remove it. In fact, you'll be lucky and doing well to remove 50% of it at best.

It builds up, rots clothes, smells and causes skin irritation.

HTH

K.

tajna

I wash everything on our 15min wash programme apart from school/work uniforms, bedding, towels and underwear. It washes perfectly well every time. Our new machine doesn't have the 30min programme but it does have 1hr which is called quick wash (wonder what they would call the 15min one if they named it).

kwatt

Hi Tajna,

A refresh cycle.

Basically designed to quickly rinse stuff that's been in a cupboard for a while and needs freshened up but not cleaned. It not designed to do any more than that and will not remove any dirt and grime at all.

Most manufacturers have had them for years and years, they are not designed to clean at all.

Your one hour cycle is more like a fast wash, depending on the machine though it could use a heap more water and energy to do it as some manufacturers cheat the system by taking it back to a much higher energy use on those programs. They are not tested for energy efficiency, only the HLCC programs are and, even all of those aren't tested.

K.

Ben84

kwatt wrote: »

Hi Tajna,

A refresh cycle.

Basically designed to quickly rinse stuff that's been in a cupboard for a while and needs freshened up but not cleaned. It not designed to do any more than that and will not remove any dirt and grime at all.

Most manufacturers have had them for years and years, they are not designed to clean at all.

Your one hour cycle is more like a fast wash, depending on the machine though it could use a heap more water and energy to do it as some manufacturers cheat the system by taking it back to a much higher energy use on those programs. They are not tested for energy efficiency, only the HLCC programs are and, even all of those aren't tested.

K.

Are washing machines actually more or less energy efficient than each other for the same cleaning performance? I know that heating water to whatever temperature always consumes the same amount of energy per litre and electric elements are all 100% efficient at turning electricity in to heat. I suspect that reducing the volume of water affects cleaning performance as you can only suspend a certain amount of dirt in any volume of water? Motors too are I believe all about the same efficiency and the amount the drum spins relates to cleaning performance as it's this which pushes the water and detergent through the clothes, so reducing that would likely reduce cleaning results too? I wonder now, is there any washing machine that cleans as well with less water and/or less spinning?

kwatt

Hi Ben,

I did a bit more detail in this article that should answer some of that for you.

Roughly, depending on the cycle and machine, about 70-80% of all the energy used in in heating the water.

But, bear in mind that this equates to about 1kwh of electricity or, in monetary terms, about 12p or so.

So the (often untrue) claims about saving 30-50-70% of energy are a bit of a swindle as, even if they were wholly accurate, equate to a few pence a wash cycle. What using percentages does is to more or less dupe people into thinking that by spending a hundred or so pounds more on a machine that they will save bucket loads on their electricity bill. When, the reality is that, even if it was accurate, the payback time would be beyond the anticipated lifespan.

But then marketing guys aren't going to tell you that.

100% efficient energy transfer, according to my high school physics, is not possible.

Heaters and motors are about as efficient as they can be, given the givens and costs involved.

The wash process is a bit more complex than you think. You need the correct drum rotation, the correct amount of water to flow and hold dirt in suspension, the correct detergent to ensure the dirt is held in suspension, the correct drop and so on. Do bits wrong and you get poorer results but you start to venture into the really technical stuff there.

K.

Norman_Castle

On my washing machine the 30 min quick wash plus a long spin costs 6p and a 40 degree wash which includes the long spin costs 10p.
In the manual for my machine the quick wash, which is at 30 degrees, has a limit of 2kg and the 40 degree wash has a limit of 4.5kg. Assuming a full load for both, the 40 degree wash is more economical. It also uses less water and detergent per kg than the quick wash. It will also wash the clothes properly.
I beleive longer washing times are used to get the same results as washing at higher temperatures.
On this site I have also read a few people use lower spin speeds to save money. This is a false economy. The difference between using a high or low spin speed is fractions of a penny and will be unoticeable on your bill.

kwatt

Correct Norman.

The largest cost in terms of energy use in a washing machine or dishwasher in the energy used to heat water. The cost of agitation and spin as well as energy use, nominal.

If you move heating the water to a combo-boiler, electrically heated hot water or whatever, you just move the cost from one place to another. It still costs roughly the same, any saving would be minimal at best. The cost in energy (by my basic understanding of physics) to heat XX volume of water costs YY in energy. YY cannot be changed, only the variables around it can.

The only way you can save a lot of energy (cost) is by moving it to a renewable energy source and that brings another raft of issues to the table.

K.

plumtreebabe

I always put the wash on a second spin to help drying, and I iron my clothes which will kill any bugs not killed at 30 degrees.

poppellerant

plumtreebabe wrote: »

I always put the wash on a second spin to help drying, and I iron my clothes which will kill any bugs not killed at 30 degrees.

What about the clothes you don't iron?

Really you're kissing away any savings you've made on a 30c wash by ironing.

kwatt

So let me get this right...

You spin again and increase the creasing, then iron more using more energy but that somehow saves you time and money?

Pray tell, how do you work that out?

Faster spins or additional spins increase creasing, there's no way around that.

The additional ironing will most likely cost you more (time and hassle) than just washing the stuff right in the first place.

K.