Posted on 10/18/2011 3:44:42 AM PDT by rawhide
The pasta stains might have disappeared but are your freshly laundered clothes really clean? In our desire to be greener, as well as softer on clothes, many of us are lowering the temperature of our washes.
The maker of Ariel Gel is encouraging consumers to wash at 15c (60F) rather than 40c (104F) in order to halve energy costs. But experts are concerned our bid to save the planet and money will affect our health.
For while we associate laundry with cleanliness, some estimates say the average washing machine load contains 100 million E.coli at any one time.
A report by the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene warns that low temperature washing might not be strong enough to kill disease-causing bugs.
Professor Sally Bloomfield, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, wants a campaign to educate consumers in laundry hygiene. We need to launder clothing in a way that renders them not just visually clean, but hygienically clean the two are not the same, she says.
Her concerns are backed by a German study on clothes contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus, linked to skin and urinary tract infections, as well as pneumonia. Researchers found the only way to eradicate the bacterium was with temperatures of 40c (104F) and above combined with a detergent containing bleach.
If you work with food and put your uniform in with the rest of the familys dirty laundry, including dirty underwear, it could become infected with e.coli or salmonella or whatever else is on those clothes, says Dr Lisa Ackerley, a consultant in environmental hygiene.
In winter, the norovirus (the vomiting bug) could easily spread through a family via the washing machine if youre not using a high enough temperature wash....
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
You’re supposed to wash clothes??????? I just throw them away and buy new ones to help Barry revive the economy!
So these people that wash their clothes in cold water are dropping like flies? More global warming type hype.
bflr
bflr
That’s what I was wondering. My dryer gets pretty hot. Take out a pair of jeans and touch the zipper if you don’t believe me! 8-|
Hot water ruins many fabrics. It can also set stains.
for later
I thought about that also. Wouldn’t the high heat of the dryer kill many of these bugs?
From what I’ve seen, the vast majority in Europe don’t have or use dryers. Don’t know if its a cultural or economic thing.
Im guessing the drying temperature isnt addressed because theyre using evaporative dryers. Those were tried here in the United States but uniformly rejected by the buying public as they took forever to dry the clothes.
I read an article reporting that in 1995 Consumer Reports said all washers did an excellent job cleaning clothes. But that virtually none of the modern front loading washers did an adequate job. Consumer Reports said for the most part the modern washers added cold water to the cycle to fill the washer even when you wanted hot water.
BTW, the energy efficient washers and dryers are more than twice the cost of older washers that work. Ive been trying to make my ancient 1995 pair last and last. If I must buy new Ill connect hot water to both inputs.
I just looked it up. A dryer can get up to 190*.
If we only need 104* to kill the bugs (BS! That’s not ‘hot’. That is warm! If 104* is hot enough to kill bugs, then I’m perfectly sterilized every time I take a shower.) then 190* will finish off anything the washer doesn’t catch.
These are people looking for a problem that doesn’t exist.
Unless you line-dry. Then I could see germs getting pushed around and the clothes not being really ‘clean’.
I am struggling to find a good, stackable washer/dryer set.
It’ll be front-loading. My front-loader does an OK job, but it can take up to two and a half hours to wash a load. (I don’t get how that’s energy efficient.)
I have one of those big top loaders without an agitator. It does all right, but I LOVE the built in water heater. I use it a lot. Towels never stink anymore, I know undies, socks, and linens are clean. It doesn’t fill up like a traditional top loader, so this is important to me. It took a while to get it figured out.
Happy washing!
My front-loader does an OK job, but it can take up to two and a half hours to wash a load. (I dont get how thats energy efficient.)
Heat costs lots of energy. But running the motors is very energy efficient. The manufacturer has traded-off agitation and time for heat. They dont care that you have to spend all day doing laundry. This is a case where the green energy fetish has used legislation to force the public into compliance; rather like florescent light bulbs. The Greenies dont care that every person must pay hugely for the Greenie fetish.
This annoys me so much Im thinking Ill buy old used washers and dryers and just learn to repair them. I swear, if the next government doesnt override this insanity Ill be very upset with them. (Including dumping the EPA and drilling for oil in our back yard. Heck, they can start by drilling in my back yard.)
You can always turn the cold water tap off when all you want is hot water.
What brand has an built-in hot water heater? Does this mean you do not need to run a hot water line to your washer?
Mine is a Maytag Bravos, but other brands use them, too. I believe you would still need a hot water line. The heater is used in the Sanitize cycle, or you can turn on the Heat Boost button. Maybe you could get by without a hot input, and just reset all the cycles to cold wash and turn on the heat boost? I usually use heat boost on warm cycles.
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