Something to share with you

Legacy_user

There was a thread about this awhile back but i half heartedly did it, and had bad results.

Whilst trying to cut down on my electricity bill, and having to put the heating on in my house so we are all comfortable i decided to switch off the heater in my washer when i did my washing.

I am amazed it has made such a difference to my weekly electricity costs (around £4 a week).

I now put my washing on a much longer wash, but using no heat. The results are astonishing.

The only thing i do do, is buy a small box of napisan from Tesco, and when i do a white wash, i put about 2 teaspoons in to whiten the whites. A box costs under £2 and it will last me 2-3 weeks. If i dont use this my whites go grey. I must say, i dont get any oily really bad stained clothes so i cant say it would be ok on really mucky clothes but its brilliant for what i need.

racht70

Wow thats a great money saving tip Jui....put i have 2 youg ones and the get the clothes very grubby so i have to have heat.....but i might try the napisan idea ...can you use it in normal hot washes....the vanish bleach stuff cost me a packet!!!

racht70

Wow thats a great money saving tip Judi....put  i have 2 youg ones and the get the clothes very grubby so i have to have heat.....but i might try the napisan idea ...can you use it in normal hot washes....the vanish bleach stuff cost me a packet!!!

Rhyme_Maker

Nice tip re the napisan Judi - will pass that on to the domestic staff that do the washing.....hang on, that's me!!

It's also made me think about heating the water. I have a combi boiler so hot water is always available. Maybe I could turn the heater off too - I'll check the manual.

Question - What did you have a bad result with?

loon_2

The only problem with washing your clothes with cold water is that most detergents need to heat up first in order to breakdown odours. If you wash your clothes with cold water, the detergent merely masks the odour (it smells nice but does not last as long). I do not wish to know about your routine, but if you wash with cold water you will need to wash your clothes more often in order to have the same effect as washing with hot water.

And before Pak decides to contradict, this is not my field but i have researched. The material needs to heat up and effectively 'breath' in order to release trapped odour. The detergent then cleans the material and attaches the new odour to the garment. A cool rinse then seals the odour into the garment, leaving it fresher for longer. Washing with cold water is like taking a shower in a can. it smells nice... for a bit.

Rhyme_Maker

Thanks Loon.

I agree hot water is better. My thoughts were along the lines that if the water coming from my combi boiler is hot anyway, does the machine need to heat it?

(What am I doing? I'm a 33 year old man discussing the pro's and con's of washing with cold or hot water! If my mates find out.........)


RM

System

Racht. Napisan in my opinion is better and much cheaper than the vanish/oxyclean products. You can also use it to brighten your coloured wash, but i only use it for whites because i like to see the boys school shirts bright white rather than a mucky white.

Rhyme_Maker. Most washing machines these days have a programme where you can switch the water heater off. I had to go through my manual and find out how i could turn mine off. My previous washer was easier to turn the water off than this one, but the facilility is there the same.

When i had my bad results, i was just doing my usual wash with no extra time. Your washer will need to be on a longer programme probably to really work on the dirt. (My whites are on about half an hour longer but with no heat thats still saving on the electricity). I also discovered Napisan after i gave up on the first attempt at cold water washing.

Loon, i can see what you are saying, but i dont use fabric softner either and we certainly dont smell. The clothes come out smelling of nothing really. No bad sweaty odours. Anyway Napisan is germ killing, so it would neutralize the bacteria that causes the odour.

I dont find any clogged up washing powder in my drum (however i never use the soap dispenser, all the powder goes into the drum, my washing on top).

It takes a bit to get your head round, and courage to start but i am glad i did.

COS

As you may have seen on the TV certain powders wash at 30 degrees or less. So it all makes sense.

By the way Judi, Dad called me to say your all having lousy weather up there in middle England - don't get blown away when putting out you Knickers will you ;D

System

As you may have seen on the TV certain powders wash at 30 degrees or less. So it all makes sense.

By the way Judi, Dad called me to say your all having lousy weather up there in middle England - don't get blown away when putting out you Knickers will you ;D

Hello Cos,

too true, it has been enough to blow you away over the last few days and the rain!!!! It hasnt stopped raining all day - not just spots either but torrential rain.

COS

So to cheer you up Judi I have imortalised you with in my postings ;D

Emmacw

Wow - thanks Judi. I'm going to try this if I can find my washing machine manual and work out how to switch off the heater.

If it works for you then £4 a week is not to be sniffed at. :-*