It pays to know the right temperature to select because it can save on utility costs and keep colors bright. The wrong water temperature might leave clothes filled with odors, bacteria, and can potentially ruin them. Read on to learn the best ways to determine what temperature to set your washing machine so your clothes look cleaner and last longer.
How to Choose the Best Water Temperature for Laundry
Commercial laundry detergents can be safely used in any water temperature; however, results may vary. For best results when using lower water temperatures, choose a heavy-duty detergent (Tide and Persil are leading brands) to remove heavy soil. Lower priced detergents just don’t have enough cleaning ingredients to get clothes completely clean in cold water. With the right detergent, washing your clothes in cold water can prevent shrinkage and fading colors. Always choose cold water if you are unsure of your clothing item’s specific washing instructions.
Water Temperature Guide for Laundry
When to Use Hot Water for Laundry
There are still times when hot water is needed to give the cleaning and sanitation results you need.
White cotton clothes (underwear) worn close to the body, bed and kitchen linens, bath towels, heavily soiled or sweaty garments, oily stains, and sickbed linens Benefits: Cleans heavy soil and is best for oily stains, sanitizes linens infected with bacteria or fungus, kills insects Problems: Can fade colors, sets protein stains, and shrinks some fabrics
When to Use Warm Water for Laundry
Washable man-made fabrics like nylon, polyester, spandex, and rayon blends; lightly soiled clothes Benefits: Helps to dissolve powdered detergents, offers more energy savings than hot water Problems: Can fade some colors, does not sanitize fabrics, cannot remove some heavy soils and stains
When to Use Cold Water for Laundry
Dark and bright-colored clothes, delicate fabrics Benefits: Most energy-efficient and cost-saving water temperature, less likely to shrink items or fade them, acceptable water temperature for any washable fabric Problems: Less efficient for removing stains; will not sanitize clothes. For best results with cold water washing, pretreat stains before washing. Use a heavy-duty, enzyme-based liquid laundry detergent or one formulated for cold water. Allow heavier soiled items to presoak in the water/detergent solution to give the solution more time to break apart stains from fabrics.
What Are the Differences in Washer Water Temperatures?
In most clothes washers, the hot water setting is 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54.4 Celsius) or above. Check your washer manual and your home water heater settings for specifics. If you have a washer with a steam cycle, that will increase the temperature in each load. The warm water setting is between 110 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3-32.2 degrees Celsius). The cold water setting is between 80 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit (26.7-15 degrees Celsius). During the winter, outdoor temperatures can greatly affect cold water temperatures. If the cold water drawn into your washer is below 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15 Celsius), powdered detergents will have a difficult time dissolving leaving white residue streaks and clothes are unlikely to be cleaned very well.
