Posted on 04/04/2018 8:05:57 PM PDT by MtnClimber
A fresh water rinse is just as important as washing in detergent for getting your clothes clean, according to physicists in the US and the UK. They claim that the rinse cycle plays a key role in removing dirt from deep within textiles, by setting up chemical and electrolyte gradients that draw it out. This could lead to the development of more efficient and environmentally friendly washing machines, they add.
Washing machines wash clothes with water mixed with detergent and then rinse them with fresh water before finally spinning them. Washing detergents are surfactants, compounds that lower the surface tension between liquids and other substances, making it easier for them to mix. When washing clothes, they help the water mix with and loosen dirt on the fabric. Conventional understanding is that rinsing then flushes the fabric and washes the dirt away.
Stagnant cores
But, there is a problem with this idea. In most fabrics there are tiny pores that do not allow any significant fluid flow inside them. According to Sangwoo Shin at the University of Hawaii, Patrick Warren of Unilever in the UK and Howard Stone of Princeton University, it should take several hours for micron-sized particles to diffuse out these micrometre-sized pores. Yet significant numbers of particles do leave these pores on much faster time scales. The question as to how this is possible is known in the washing industry as the “stagnant core problem”.
Looking at this problem, the trio noted that when detergent-saturated fabric is exposed to fresh water the surfactant molecules rapidly move out of the stagnant core. They hypothesized that the surfactant gradient established when the fabric is rinsed – with a high concentration of surfactant within the fabric’s pores and a low concentration in the surrounding water –
(Excerpt) Read more at physicsworld.com ...
Not all surfactants are created equal.
And when you’return forced to use a less effective surfactant, an agitator-less washer, and not enough water...you get clothes not nearly as clean as you used to be able to get them.
Sigh.
They’d rather talk about the rinse, than the lousy soap, less efficient washers, and insanely low water amounts people are forced/encouraged to use now to try to clean their clothes.
My great grandparents told us about the old days before appliances and TV when they would kick back on the porch during warm summer evenings and just talk about things like the stagnant core problem.
...and then there's the issue when the door seal wears out. There's no way to stop all that water from ending up on the floor.
Not one of my proudest verbal moments.
“I was hoping this was going to solve the question of the disappearing socks.”
According to Mark Hall, Gentleman Creation and Alien Liaison Officer at Socked.co.uk, there is a direct correlation between increased UFO activity and missing socks.
“It can only be aliens, helping themselves to a decent wardrobe one sock at a time,” said Hall.
Wow, washing machines actually work? ...who knew?
We have a top loading washing machine and have been putting our washed laundry through another entire detergent less clean water "wash cycle" that acts as our "rinse cycle" for several years now.
We noted the cloths come out cleaner and there is much less dirty detergent from the wash left in the cloths because the extended clean water wash/rinse has the time to thoroughly remove it as opposed to the regular short "rinse cycle" which we rarely use anymore.
Yes it's a little more time consuming because once the regular rinse cycle begins you have to reset the machine to the "wash cycle" but we have personally found the results make for cleaner cloths, especially when doing large loads.
I do this, because I got a new HE washer, which should be called a GD washer.
Why do they suck so bad nowadays?
With all the options, like extra rinse, extra full rinse, et al, a single load takes 90 minutes, and it doesn't even fill up with water!
My thoughts exactly.
When my daughter was about 3, she was helping me fold clothes. I was short a sock. I said something about the washer eating socks. She said, “How do you know it was the washer? Unless you count the socks before you put them in the dryer, you could be blaming the washer for something the dryer is doing.” I knew then I was in trouble. Flawless logic from a 3 year old.
We have a 25 year old Matag top loading washing machine we use 2 -3 times a week.
Over six years ago I called him up and he came over to fix a minor repair. Because the machine was so old I asked him if he thought we should scrap it and buy a new one. He came right out and said:
"No, don't get rid of it, this machine is like a tank and built to last; ALL of the new washing machines are JUNK, they are constantly breaking and in need of costly repairs all of the time."
He then went on to say, "hang onto this machine as long as you can until the tub rusts through. Until then just keep up with regular maintenance and your good to go."
That was six years ago and the darned machine is still going strong. If he were unscrupulous he could have advised us to buy a new one, knowing he would get more repair business from us, but he didn't.
Sure it is just plain white, "old fashioned", not pretty to look at and visually a little worse for wear after 25 years of use. It's got old school analog buttons and manual dial, doesn't have an electronic control panel or any of the electronic "bells and whistles", but the darn thing still works and faithfully does what it was built to do.
So, until it finally dies and can no longer be repaired we're hanging onto it.
To date I figure our old Matag has saved us about $7 to $8,000 dollars at least over buying new machines that would have broke, need to be replaced and broken again.
Nah, it’s aliens. It’s gotta be.
Since when was Rinse not a part of the cycle?
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Don’t go there if you can’t afford a divorce!
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The secret is to use “All” free detergent and not to pack in the clothes so they can move freely in the washer. Clean water is a help too....
I live in an apartment and I see others stuff as much as they can in the washer, sprinkle powdered detergent on top and close the lid. I had to pull someone’s clothes out once and it was one big knot.
A good point. Everybody seems to be pushing the front loaders nowadays...supposedly they use less water or something. A clothes dryer will use less electricity with the heating element off,too,as long as you don’t mind taking all day for one load. They won’t sell me a front load washer. The extra water for a top loader isn’t that big a deal.
You can use TSP to clean the clothes. It was in detergents before. It is available at paint stores or hardware stores like Lowes and Home Depot.
The real problem is using too much detergent in the first place. It doesn’t take much. We use about 1/3 - 1/2 of the recommended amount. Using too much helps the clothes become re-soiled much more easily because of the detergent residue left behind.
Carpet cleaners have known this for at least the last 35 years.
Yes, too much detergent is a major issue. People also use FAR too much fabric softener.
Here’s a tip: If your washer has a strong odor, it is the excess softener built up where the laundry can’t rub it off the washtub.
I dilute mine about 10:1 then put it in the dispenser. It still works just fine, and no build up of slimy, stinky, ugly goo between the wash drum and tub. No smell, either!
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