In my last post, I discussed basics cold water laundry facts. Today, let’s talk about some performance and end-result differences you’re likely to encounter and some tips on how to deal with washing in cold water.

COLD WATER LAUNDRY RESULTS and TIPS


Things Dissolve SLOWER in Cold Water

The biggest dissolving issue is with powders, but liquids also are slower to disperse. It is very important that you insure products are dissolved/dispersed before adding clothes. Telltale signs that you were unsuccessful will include white specs/smears with powders and blue/gray spotting with liquids. If this happens, immediately rinse with warm water, wring out the excess, and then dry as usual. Neglect these signs and your clothes could appear duller.

• Tips:
  
  
  
  • As the washer fills always add laundry products and give them time to dissolve before adding clothes. You might try either swishing the agitator or start with hot water for the first 2-3 inches, then add the laundry products, swish the agitator before switching to the cold water setting.
  
  
  • Don’t over pack the washer and use at least the recommended amount of each product.
  
  
  • Look for cold water versions of your laundry products. They have been specially formulated to provide better cold water performance and may have special ingredients and/or be thinner for better dissolving/dispersing.
  
  

Stains and Soils are MUCH Harder to Remove in Cold Water

The key component to getting clean clothes is your choice of detergent. They contain ingredients such as surfactants, enzymes and builders to attack, dissolve and suspend the stains and soils on your clothes. Laboratory cleaning studies show that better cleaning happens in hotter water. Cleaning decreases from hot to warm to cool to cold. Since cold water can be 70ºF down to 35ºF in winter, this will have a dramatic impact on your stain and soil removal. Technical wisdom says that stain removal will drop an order of magnitude for each 10ºF so expected winter performance can vary widely. If the detergent performance is going to drop, how can you make up for it?

• Tips:
  
  
  
  • Actively look for stains and soils on clothes before they go in the washer.
  
  
  • Since greasy/oily stains are best removed in hot water, you will need to pretreat these with liquid detergent or stain and soil remover BEFORE washing. Follow directions on the back label for best results.
  
  
  • Really muddy items will also need extra help. Consider doing a warm water presoaking for 30 minutes or longer BEFORE washing. Always discard the presoak solution before starting to wash.
  
  
  • ALWAYS check for success at the end of the wash cycle. Retreat the item if needed. Drying some greasy/oily stains will set the stain making subsequent removal more difficult/impossible to remove.
  
  

Colder water may lead to more residual germs on your clothes

I have written on this subject several times in the past. Clothes can carry germs into the washer and these can survive in less stressful conditions like warm/cool water. If they are not controlled, they will transfer to other clothes in the same wash and you can “help” spread them when you transfer clothes from washer to dryer. Remember the dryer heat is also not enough to eliminate these problems.

• Tips:
  
  
  
  • A good way to deal with this problem is the use of a disinfecting liquid bleach. Consider doing your white load first using liquid bleach to remove any left-over germs from prior washings; kind of like mouthwash for your washer.
  
  
  • Consider washing heavily soiled items, diapers or bedding in hot water with liquid bleach to help keep germs in check.
  
  
  
  

Choices, choices, choices

So now you have the facts and some tips to help you decide when/if cold water washing is appropriate for you. I certainly think it has a place and should be a part of your laundry regime. However, given some of the potential pitfalls, you might want to pick and choose when to use it. It is true that most of adult garments don’t get as dirty as they did for our parents or grandparents and a lot of these may be colored so that cool/cold water washing is ok. During the winter, I would be more cautious with heavily soiled kids clothes, baby clothes and bedding and do these in warmer water. In late spring or summer it may be ok to switch to cool water since the incoming cold water has warmed up.

Next time I will talk about some new additions to our Clorox line for cold water.

Last time I talked about some of the basics behind cold water usage. Today, I want to focus on the challenges that washing in cold water presents to the consumer. With a little better understanding, you should be better prepared to make the plunge into cold water laundering.

Many people are looking for ways to cut energy costs, save dollars and help the environment. Also, many companies have their eye on these trends and are developing products that can help consumers meet these needs. So I thought I would do a series of blogs on the Cold Water phenomena starting with a little background.

BASIC COLD WATER LAUNDRY FACTS

To get good laundry results in cold water, you might want to spend more time in the preparing and planning phase. Remember with decreasing wash temperature, your detergent’s cleaning and stain removal performance will drop off rather quickly. So here are some of my recommendations:

• Sort as usual – whites, lights and dark colors at a minimum.


• Use a good quality detergent and at least the recommended amounts on the label. Consider one specially formulated for cold water. They have made some formula adjustments that are geared to giving you better performance in cold water. Use a little extra detergent to help start overcoming the performance drop in water temperature. Also, use a liquid since they will dissolve and disperse better/easier than powders. Undissolved powder can leave streaks on darker colors.


• Start using other high quality additives to help boost the detergent’s performance. Consider liquid bleach, color safe bleach, pre-treat or stain and soil removers.


• Do NOT overload the washer. Letting the clothes move freely will allow the maximum mechanical energy from the agitator.


• Search for stained and extra dirty items before you wash. Pretreating (apply product/rub into stain/let set 5+ minutes before washing) these problems is a jumpstart on improving removal. It is also extremely important for greasy/oily stains which are much harder to solubilize/dissolve in cold water.


• Extra muddy/dirty items? Try presoaking these before washing using a good powdered detergent or color safe bleach which has extra builders to help lift off the mud and dirt. I like to do this in a separate bucket or sink. If that doesn’t work, then start the washer, fill to maybe ¼ level and then turn off the water. Now, add the powdered product and swish it around to be sure it’s fully dissolved. Finally add the soiled clothes and make sure they are submerged in the presoak liquid. Let them stand 30 min to 1 hour for dark colors and longer for light colors and whites. Drain the presoak water and then launder as usual.


• Always check items for success in stain and soil removal at the end of the wash BEFORE they are dried. The heat of the dryer can set some stains making them much more difficult or impossible to remove next time.

Next time I will talk about some expected performance changes from washing in cool and cold water.

It’s January, there’s lots of snow, its winter and it’s COLD!! Larger energy bills are due to show up in your mailbox. What are some options for helping to keep these in check?

Many people are looking for ways to cut energy costs, save dollars and help the environment. Also, many companies have their eye on these trends and are developing products that can help consumers meet these needs. So I thought I would do a series of blogs on the Cold Water phenomena starting with a little background.

Basic Facts

• Heating water is a major energy cost – Winter energy costs increase due mainly to home heating and hot water production. A key reason these costs rise in winter is the incoming cold water temperature plummet from those warm summer tap values. The cold water is delivered to your home usually from large pipes that transport surface water from a reservoir. While summertime incoming temperatures can reach the 70ºs, during winter I have seen values in the 30ºs in Northern U.S. taps. So to get to that 130ºF hot water in your tank in summer only requires a 60º (130-70) change while in winter it can require a 90º change (130-40). When you multiple this difference hot water tank after hot water tank, it really starts to add up. Unfortunately this takes a bigger chunk out of your paycheck during the winter months.


• Some studies sponsored and published by Procter & Gamble suggest that a little more than 1/3 of the total hot water usage in the home is for laundry.


• Further, 80-85% of the total energy consumed by a conventional top-loader washloads is from heating the hot water. The remainder is the energy needed to power the agitator for providing the mechanical energy in cleaning the clothes.


• For a number of years, washer manufacturers have relied primarily on changing the hot to cold water ratio for the warm water wash setting to achieve the reductions necessary to achieve the lower Energy Star ratings on new machine.


• The result has been a decrease in warm water wash temperatures. In the past it was possible to depend on a warm wash to be around 90ºF. With the newer washers and these higher cold water mixtures, it is possible for warm washes in winter to slip into the 60ºs. That is a huge difference and definitely impacts your detergent performance.

Next time I will talk about some laundering challenges presented by cool and cold water.

Q: My husband got sprayed with diesel fuel. He came home and washed his clothes right away in hot water. However, the yellowish stain is still there and the smell is awful. Do you have any suggestions on how to get even the smell out of that? Thank you!

A: I'm assuming that you have already dried them in clothes dyer so the stain may be set and tougher to remove. Always be very careful not to get a diesel/gasoline smelling clothes too hot in the dryer; you may want to consider air drying until the smell dissipates. Sometimes a good long soak can help; would probably try a detergent and appropriate bleach (Clorox if whites or Clorox 2 if colors) in presoak even overnight. Try rubbing the yellow stain with good liquid detergent before washing after soaking. Use hottest water recommended for the garments in the follow-up washing. It may take a couple of these treatments to be successful.

Q: My husband washed a red sweatshirt with his whites which are now pink. Can his dress shirts be saved and turned white again? They are cotton/polyester blend.

A: Oops on the red sweatshirt! After the shirts have been dried they are pretty well dyed pink from the red dye. If they are white you might try soaking in Clorox Regular-Bleach (¼ cup in gallon of cool water for 5-10 minutes) then wash in hot water with detergent plus ¾ cup Clorox Regular-Bleach. If that doesn't work, the last resort is dye remover like Rit, but this is kind of powerful stuff. If all else fails might be time for some new dress shirts....

Q: Dr. Laundry, how do I remove mildew from my table cloth? It is 52% cotton and 48% polyester. Please help!

A: The best thing for removing mildew is Clorox Regular-Bleach. Assuming the tablecloth is white or bleachable (See Bleachability test if unsure). I would either do a short soak (¼ cup Clorox Regular Bleach in gallon of cool water for 5-10 minutes) then wash in hottest water recommended for the tablecloth using detergent plus ¾ cup Clorox Regular-Bleach. An alternative would be to use the Clorox Bleach Pen Gel if a few spots are involved. Simply rub on the mildew spots then wash in hottest water recommended for the tablecloth using detergent plus ¾ cup Clorox Regular-Bleach.

If colored, you might try wetting with cool water, applying Clorox 2 and rubbing into the mildew, waiting 5-10 minutes then wash in hottest water recommended for the tablecloth using detergent plus the recommended amount of Clorox 2. Since Clorox 2 is weaker bleach, you may have to repeat the procedure.

Q: I have a lot of white clothes that look a bit yellow. I always add bleach to water and pour in after washer is full. I even add a bit of bluing the same way. But they continue to look dingy or yellowed. Can you help me?

A: There are several potential causes of yellowing whites. Some are easier than others to correct. A couple of clarifying points on your laundry practices: When you add the liquid bleach is this after the clothes have started to agitate or is this just before agitation starts? Direct application without the agitation can sometimes cause yellow spotting.

• Metals in water supply: Several metals, especially iron and manganese react with liquid bleach, change to a yellowish brown and deposit on fabrics. Clorox® Regular-Bleach has a patented polymer to wrap-up these metals and prevents them from reacting with bleach. Unfortunately, if you used another liquid bleach and this reaction occurred and the reaction products deposited on the fabrics, it is nearly impossible to remove. The only potential solution to already "stained" clothes is a dye remover product like Rit, but these are pretty harsh and should be used as a last resort.


• Over packing the washer/under using detergent or Clorox® Regular-Bleach: Over packing means the washer agitator energy has to be spread across more clothes and leads to less cleaning. The under usage means these products have to work harder and if you have hard water or dirty clothes, there just aren’t enough goodies to get the clothes clean. Slowly overtime the residual soil will discolor and leave a dingy appearance.


• Bluing is a dye that is meant to enhance the white hue on clothes. If the clothes are not clean and white, the blue hue can actually make them appear dingier/less clean.

So standard washing procedure should be: sort; don't overload; use hot water; use appropriate amount of detergent and bleach; if you have hard or well water make sure you are using Clorox® Regular-Bleach with Whitest Whites Patented Technology on the label to bind up the metals and keep them from discoloring your whites.

Q: My daughter has a grease stain on her new ski coat. The grease stain came from the ski’s chair lift. The shell of the coat is 100% nylon. Any suggestions?

A: The best bet for grease on nylon jacket include: Pre-treating using good liquid detergent or stain and soil remover like Shout; rub into stain and let it set for 5-10 minutes before washing in hottest water recommended for the jacket. Make sure you check for total stain removal before drying in dryer. The extra heat from the dryer can spread the stain and make subsequent removal more difficult. If you aren't successful, then repeat the process again.

So in keeping with things to avoid for the holidays, I’ve talked about those tough holiday stains and how you can find some great solutions on my toll-free Holiday Stain Hotline: 1-877-STAIN-411 (877-782-4641). Then, I talked about avoiding cold and flu germs. Today, it’s another thought provoking item that came to my attention in an e-mail: the carry-all that is the HANDBAG.

Women carry handbags everywhere: from the office to public toilets to the floor of the car. Most women won't be caught without their handbags, but did you ever stop to think about where your handbag goes during the day? Have you ever noticed women who sit their handbags on public toilet floors, then go directly to their dining tables and set it on the table? Happens a lot! It's not always the “restaurant food” that causes stomach distress. Sometimes, what you don't know will hurt you! Mom got so upset when guests came in the door and plopped their handbags down on the counter where she was cooking or setting up food. She always said that handbags are really dirty, because of where they have been. It turns out handbags are so surprisingly dirty, even the microbiologist who tested them was shocked.

The microbiologist said nearly all of the handbags tested were not only high in bacteria, but high in harmful kinds of bacteria:

• Pseudomonas that can cause eye infections,


• Staphylococcus aurous that can cause serious skin infections,


• Salmonella and E.coli were also found on the handbags and these could make people very sick.

In one sampling, four of five handbags tested positive for salmonella.

Leather or vinyl handbags tended to be cleaner than cloth handbags, and lifestyle seemed to play a role. People with kids tended to have dirtier handbags than those without, with one exception. The handbag of one single woman who frequented nightclubs had one of the worst contaminations of all. Some type of feces, or possibly vomit was involved.

So the moral of this story - your handbag won't kill you, but it does have the potential to make you very sick if you keep it on places where you eat. Use hooks to hang your handbag at home and in toilets, and don't put it on your desk, a restaurant table, or on your kitchen countertop.

Experts say you should think of your handbag the same way you would a pair of shoes. If you think about putting a pair of shoes onto your countertops, that's the same thing, you're doing when you put your handbag on the countertops.

Finally, periodically consider cleaning your handbag using a washcloth, disinfectant wipe or use leather cleaner to clean the bottom of leather handbags for your peace of mind and everybody’s good health.

So, I talked about those tough holiday stains in my last blog and how you can find some great solutions on my toll-free Holiday Stain Hotline is 1-877-STAIN-411 (1-877-782-4641). Today I’d like for you to think a little about the other kind of giving that goes on during the holiday season.

From the elbow-to-elbow holiday mall crowds to home entertaining with family and friends, the bustling activities during the holidays and winter months leaves us all vulnerable to potential cold and flu exposure. Nothing can ruin a good holiday faster than sneezing and coughing your way through those gatherings.

So after getting your flu shot, (you have gotten yours, right?) here are some practical preventative tips from WebMD.com:

• Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands!!!


• Don’t cover your mouth with your hands when sneezing and then touch other items or people


• Get fresh air, exercise regularly


• Drink plenty of fluids, eat dark green & yellow vegetables/fruits and yogurt


• Don’t smoke, don’t drink alcohol too heavily


• RELAX

Surely you know by now that cold and flu viruses are tough little critters. They are spread by direct contact from a contagious person and you. This ranges from being sneezed on to touched. It’s the indirect contact or calling cards they left on surfaces that the contagious person handled up to two hours or so ago that scare me most. I can avoid the wheezing and coughing person, but it’s really hard to know for sure whether Mr. /Ms. Virus person has been in the neighborhood. So here are some tips for those situations:

• Elevator or ATM buttons: use your knuckle instead of fingertip, or use a tissue


• Carry a personal size packet of Clorox® Disinfecting Wipes for wiping grocery carts and other public handles


• Carry and use your own pen when signing credit card statements in stores and restaurants


• At buffets, use your own spoon or utensils to take your food rather than the community spoon


• Carry a personal hand sanitizer to wipe your hands before eating or before getting back in your car


• Wash your hands; WASH YOUR HANDS!! 20 seconds of rubbing with soap and warm water is still your best defense

Following these tips and practices will reduce your risk of catching a cold or flu bug. Unfortunately, I can’t guarantee neither you nor I will catch one of those stray bugs and put a damper on our holiday season.