Washing Temperatures
Washing at 30 degrees.
Do you save as much as you think? Many people use 40 degrees washes almost exclusively these days and the current trend is to use even lower temperatures to save energy. “At 30°C, the average energy consumed per wash was 0.284 kWh, while at people’s normal wash temperatures, this was 0.482 kWh This means the saving in electricity by washing at 30 degrees was on average 0.198 kWh. The current cost of electricity varies quite a lot depending on your current tariff, but the electricity cost calculator on the UK Power site (at time of writing) is shown at 10 pence per kWh (10p for using 1000 watts usage in an hour). This means if you save 0.198 kWh you will have saved roughly 2 pence.
Remember that a non-biological powder, doesn't work as well at lower temperatures so washing at low temperatures requires biological detergent for best results. It's also worth noting that bed bugs (or their eggs) are reported to be able to survive washing at lower temperatures and therefore it is recommended that bedding sheets should be washed at 60 degrees.
A regular 90 degrees maintenance wash is needed!
Washing machines now commonly suffer from a build up of a greasy deposit and bacteria that causes bad smells, rots hoses & door gaskets and blocks the pressure system causing overfilling or spin failure. An even more serious consequence of this problem is that the aluminium based drum spiders can be corroded by this grease and in serious cases can cause one or more arms to break. This is often fatal to the washing machine.
This fault was not prevalent before the 1980s when detergents started to become more environmentally "friendly" and before liquid detergents were invented. It seems that the problem is worse when a combination of factors are involved, but almost everyone suffering the worst cases of this slimy grease uses 40 degrees washes almost exclusively. This, combined with poor quality detergents, or not using the recommended quantities, or using colour-friendly detergents that contain no bleach (allowing bacteria to thrive) can seriously rot a washing machine inside.
Here's an example of the level of gunge that can build up inside a washing machine.
 If you were to wash greasy plates in a plastic washing up bowl with the water at 40 degrees you would expect the plates to come clean but when emptying the bowl there is likely to be a greasy film coating it. To break down grease you need higher temperatures. Washing the same plates at 60 degrees or higher I would expect the grease to be dissolved more effectively.
Washing machine manufacturers now recommend a maintenance wash once a month!
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