Posted on 08/21/2025 12:51:56 PM PDT by Red Badger
This time and temperature keeps fabrics strong and prevents premature aging.
Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story:
* Procter & Gamble funded a study of wash cycle length that found colder and shorter is better for clothes.
* Fabric dye density and lifespan is separate from issues like germs and bacteria in the wash.
* Cold, short washes reduced shed microfibers and transferred dyes.
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Scientists from the University of Leeds—and, it should be mentioned, Procter & Gamble—say the best way to keep clothes looking fresh for as long as possible is to use the coldest, shortest wash cycle.
The detergent manufacturer joined with lead author and design school instructor Lucy Cotton (yes) on a study of the way machine washing causes fabrics to spray microfibers. These lost fibers can cause premature garment aging and weaken fabrics.
In the published paper, researchers used dozens of t-shirts from a specific U.K. activewear seller representing a handful of brands like Gildan, Russell, and Hanes. Scientists ran washing machines empty at first to ensure no ridealong microfibers were inside, then collected water from the entire cycle to make sure all newly released microfibers were captured.
The resulting wash water was evaporated, dried completely, and then weighed. The scientists measured dye hold and transfer using swatches of “receiver” fabric in each load, with their color gauged before and after the wash.
After a battery of tests with different colors and materials of t-shirts at different wash temperatures and cycle lengths, the results were clear. From the study:
“[T]here is significantly greater colour loss observed for the 40 °C Cotton Short (85 min) cycle in comparison with the Cold Express (30 min) cycle. These observations provide evidence that in a ‘real’ situation increases in washing time and washing temperature increase colour loss over repeated laundering.” The scientists also measured how much dye changed from darker colors to lighter ones, which is what leads to greying t-shirts and dimming of colors on bright prints, for example.
“Considering the effect of colour transfer over repeated laundering, it was observed that for most white receiver fabrics, significantly greater colour transfer to the tracer fabrics was observed for the 40 °C Cotton Short (85 min) cycle in comparison with the Cold Express (30 min) cycle. These observations provide evidence that, in a ‘real’ situation, increases in washing time and washing temperature increase dye transfer.”
When it came to microfibers, the same relationship bore out: higher temperature and longer time meant more microfibers, whether the fabric of the t-shirt was cotton or a polyester blend. And the release of these fibers never let up.
“What is also evidenced is that on the eighth and [16th] wash that significant numbers of microfibres are still being released from the fabrics, suggesting that there is a consistent mechanism of microfibre generation and release throughout the life of the fabrics,” the researchers wrote.
These researchers conclude that the best wash cycle is a modified Leviathan: gentler, colder, and shorter. By reducing time and temperature, they say, we can reduce the amount of microfiber pollution released into the general water cycle, the amount of waste soap, and the carbon footprint of our washer activity.
Teaming with Procter & Gamble, which released its first cold-water detergent to much ballyhoo in 2005, is a canny financial move. P&G funded the research and added its two cents about its advanced detergents in the press release. But the research appears in Dyes & Pigments, a peer-reviewed journal, and constituted Cotton’s Ph.D. project—regardless of the corporate cold water.
“Sheets and towels get long and hot.”
And underwear.
What the soap manufacturers are NOT telling you is that “cold” wash is *NOT* straight tap cold.
“Cold” wash means 65*F. That’s about 18*C. That’s why so many washers now have a “cold” setting AND a “tap cold”. The “cold” setting mixes hot water with the tap cold to warm it to 65*
I love how “Science” says this. That’s the definitive authority these days. As many people mentioned, everyone knew this since washing machines were invented. But now that “Science” says it, we can rest assured that it is gospel.
I tend to go for white in all those things because I can wash them all together.
Clorox if there is some major staining but usually not needed.
I used to work outdoors in all kinds of weather. I would come home muddy, sweaty, and just gross. A pair of jeans would last about six months.
I am thankful those days are over. I can be gentle with my stuff now.
But, I hear ya.
You know what else is good to get clothes clean?
Water that covers them and actually washes the dirt out.
I have a hose and sink next to washing machine. I let the first water fill then lift the lid and fill it up with hot water.
What the machine allows in is disgusting. The dirty clothes sit in a puddle and rotate.
I also make my own laundry powder that cleans the clothes.
They have proven that common sense is correct.
Maybe they can prove that a person born with a functional penis is very, very likely to be a male. And that any variation on the truth of that conclusion is very likely based on some type of abnormality in perception , or genetic abnormality, or mental condition.
And I still use Tide...I’m 80.
Clothes come out dirty but they last longer.
I have similar thoughts also.
Water is wet.
Hubby prefers I wash all his clothes on cold so they last longer. But he ends up getting rid of them because it isn’t long before they are too stained to wear for anything but hard work.
I wash anything of mine that is white, khaki, light blue and some pastels in hot. My clothes last just fine and stay looking better, longer
*yard work
65-degree tap water? I could wish, in southern Arizona in August. My kitchen thermometer says that the cold tap is currently running about 90 degrees F. We won't have cold water again until the ground cools off around Thanksgiving, except for what we keep in the fridge.
” Fabric dye density and lifespan is separate from issues like germs and bacteria in the wash. “
The didn’t care whether the clothes got clean. And did not measure for it.
Use common sense people,
Well, the rest of the continent (with a few exceptions) doesn’t have that problem.
Those January days when it’s sunny and 75 degrees make up for quite a bit.
My dry cleaner was wearing a Bruins sweatshirt that his niece had given him a year earlier. (He is a former minor league pro.) It looked like new. I told him he must not wear it much. He said he wears it every day, washes it once a week on delicate cycle. I have begun doing the same.
I add half a cup of Pine Sol in place of bleach.
I still wear clothes from the ‘90s, too. Many items are from Land’s End before the quality tanked when they were bought out. Bought by Sears, IIRC. Some actually look relatively new.
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