Washing clothes at 40C

[seraphina]

Now again in English?

Heh, they are all various brands of cloth nappies!

(Edit as autocorrect changed heh to hey...)

 

[Stephenite]

Hey, they are all various brands of cloth nappies!

I had no idea what you were on about. :-) You never see re-usable nappies in the shops over here in Norway. So it's disposables for us. I wonder if they recycle them ...

 

[seraphina]

I had no idea what you were on about. :-) You never see re-usable nappies in the shops over here in Norway. So it's disposables for us. I wonder if they recycle them ...

I don't consider myself an eco-warrior type but after using washable wipes, washable nappies seemed a logicl step. They're fab - poo goes down the toilet and they smell far less than Pampers and their ilk. The biggest advantage is, in my experience, babies who have been in cloth nappies potty train much earlier - the first childerbeast was dry shortly after she turned two, with minimal input from us.

Apols for thread derail!

 

[Milkfloat]

Maybe I should start a business shipping washers to the uk.

You won't sell many - as they use stacks of water, are uneconomical, have slow spin speeds, take up too much room, destroy clothes and most importantly do a crap job in actually cleaning. You can tell I got frustrated by the machines I used when living in the US.

 

[gbb]

40 degree wash here 90 % of the time, no problems (even my overalls come clean enough at 40, normal clothes definetely do), but the wife always insists on a high spin speed machine, i think ours is 1600rpm, this may (or may not) make a difference to how the clothes smell (soggy clothes i suspect are more likely to pong if left where ours are quite dry at the finish of a cycle)
I didn't realise the hot/cold thing. Ours is hot/cold, maybe 4 or 5 years old from Hotpoint.

 

[Bodhbh]

Since I started lodging 3 years ago I've been using 30C as opposed to 40C due to the stingy landlord. It make quite a difference in terms of much less fading and stuff like merino not shrinking. Then at 60C you can strip alot of colour from some fabrics in 1 wash.

Downside, 1 or 2 things will start humming quite quick after washing, generally heavy cotton stuff like lumberjack shirts, towels, etc. These do need blasting at 60C+, at least now and again.

 

[swee'pea99]

You won't sell many - as they use stacks of water, are uneconomical, have slow spin speeds, take up too much room, destroy clothes and most importantly do a crap job in actually cleaning. You can tell I got frustrated by the machines I used when living in the US.

When I stayed for awhile in the US, I was amazed at the crudity of pretty much all white goods. All vast, poorly designed, space-inefficient and shoddily built. I suppose it's the lack of the kind of inyerface competition that exists here in Yurp.

 

[Milkfloat]

When I stayed for awhile in the US, I was amazed at the crudity of pretty much all white goods. All vast, poorly designed, space-inefficient and shoddily built. I suppose it's the lack of the kind of inyerface competition that exists here in Yurp.

It's the toasters that get me - I swear they don't actually toast - they just let the bread go stale. I blame it on the wussy electricity

 

[Fnaar]

My undercrackers get boiled in a saucepan on the stove, dunked occasionally with wooden tongs, bewhilst I am cooking our dinner.

 

[migrantwing]

40 degree wash here 90 % of the time, no problems (even my overalls come clean enough at 40, normal clothes definetely do), but the wife always insists on a high spin speed machine, i think ours is 1600rpm, this may (or may not) make a difference to how the clothes smell (soggy clothes i suspect are more likely to pong if left where ours are quite dry at the finish of a cycle)
I didn't realise the hot/cold thing. Ours is hot/cold, maybe 4 or 5 years old from Hotpoint.

Apparently, there is no advantage of spinning clothes at 1600rpm as opposed to 1200rpm. I read it somewhere when the missus wanted a new washer. I believe the sweet spot is at 1200-1400rpm.

 

[swee'pea99]

My undercrackers get boiled in a saucepan on the stove, dunked occasionally with wooden tongs, bewhilst I am cooking our dinner.

So, easy on the sauce while you're cooking, eh? Or...well, let's not go there...

 

[Fnaar]

So, easy on the sauce while you're cooking, eh? Or...well, let's not go there...

Miss Goodbody is rather fond of my reduced plum jus.

 

[Berk on a Bike]

Two of the Berk family require fragrance-free detergents, so we use Surcare liquid. It's just the ticket.

We bought a new machine only last week and we too were puzzled how washers which are by regulation supposed to be greener don't take hot water (I suggested hooking it up to the hot supply but OH just gave me a blank stare and a shake of the head). I suspect the planet-saving bit is in the power of the heater. Our new machine takes over three hours to do the 60º wash.

 

[broadway]

Two of the Berk family require fragrance-free detergents, so we use Surcare liquid. It's just the ticket.

We bought a new machine only last week and we too were puzzled how washers which are by regulation supposed to be greener don't take hot water (I suggested hooking it up to the hot supply but OH just gave me a blank stare and a shake of the head). I suspect the planet-saving bit is in the power of the heater. Our new machine takes over three hours to do the 60º wash.

But then it would be using hot water for the rinse rather than cold.

 

[Berk on a Bike]

But then it would be using hot water for the rinse rather than cold.

Hence the blank stare and shake of the head