Washing Clothes in Cold Water

In most cases, washing clothes in cold water reduces the effectiveness of soap or detergent, although we've had one report where a dirty sailing jacket cleaned up just fine using cold water and Soap Flakes. Still, I'd avoid using cold, cold water unless that's all you have.

This excerpt from a blog article describes cold water washing in a little more technical detail which I found interesting...

http://libraryleaf.wordpress.com/2008/06/15/june-pledge-and-sorry-...

"...Water Temperature

Now we come to a difficulty. Many pro-environment sources urge us to wash in cold water in order to save energy. The problem is, cold water doesn’t get your clothes as clean. The super-expert on all household matters, Cheryl Mendelson, says that “no detergents will work properly in water temperatures below 65 F.” But do some experimenting—what happens if you wash sometimes in “warm” rather than “hot”? Mendelson says that manufacturers use “hot” to refer to water 130 F or higher, “warm” for 90 to 110 F, and “cold” for 80 F or below. You can easily measure the temperature of your water by dipping in a thermometer..."

====

I never knew 80 F water was considered "cold"--unless I was jumping into a swimming pool. Interesting. Warm to hot water work best with Soap Flakes though.