When it comes to doing laundry, separating whites and darks is a pretty straightforward task. However, many people are not aware that the water temperature also plays a role while doing laundry. In many cases, people usually leave their washer on the default setting and never bother to change the water temperature option. Unfortunately, this may prove to be detrimental to the longevity and quality of your fabrics. We’ve put together a quick guide to help you determine the appropriate water temperature when you are washing your next load of laundry!

Several factors will determine what temperature of water you should use when washing your clothes. For quick reference, use hot water to help kill harmful bacteria on extremely soiled clothing, linens, socks, undergarments, and towels. Warm water is best used on jeans and other common items of clothing used for daily wear, and save cold water for delicates, and bright clothes. 

Before we delve deeper into the ideal washing temperature for certain articles, let’s cover some concepts that will enable you to make the correct decision regarding this important matter:

1. Read the Care Label:

All items of clothing come with labels or tags that provide complete care instructions including recommended water temperature settings. These instructions provide valuable information regarding how to take care of that particular item. It is important to always follow these instructions, especially if the article of clothing is brand new! 

2. Sort Laundry Correctly:

Sorting the laundry by color, soil, and weight is quite helpful. This will ensure colors don’t bleed on whites or other light-colored clothing. Heavily soiled items of clothing may need a warmer setting on the washer, and heavier clothing- blankets, curtains, jeans, bathrobes, bath towels, etc.-may benefit from being washed separately. 

3. Set to Cold Rinse:

You only need to determine the correct water temperature for the wash cycle. For the rinse cycle, using cold water is absolutely fine since it only rinses out the detergent, and has no part to play in dirt, stain, or bacteria removal. You will also save money by setting the washer to cold rinse which is an added bonus!

When to Use Cold Water

The ideal water temperature when selecting cold water is between 60 and 80°F. Using extremely cold water will be counterproductive and you may end up with laundry that’s still dirty and full of bacteria. Yuck! Also, powdered detergent may not dissolve fully in a cold water cycle. Try using an eco-responsible formula like Clean People Ultra Concentrated Laundry Detergent which comes in the form of easily dissolvable sheets and pods. CLEAN PEOPLE laundry detergent contains no Parabens, no phosphates, no added dyes, and no chlorine making it a fantastic option for you and the planet! Plus, your skin will thank you for sparing it from harsh chemicals!  

Cold water is recommended for washing dark and bright colored clothes. Delicates, woolens, knits, and light cotton items of clothing can be washed in cold water. Always check for stains and pre-treat with stain removers like Clean People Oxygen Brightener Stain Remover before running the wash cycle. Ideally, you should set the water temperature to cold on the washer as a default setting because using cold water to do the bulk of your regular laundry is energy-efficient and cost-friendly.

When to Use Warm Water

In terms of saving energy, warm water uses much less energy than hot water so its usage can be stretched to do frequent loads of laundry in short periods of time. You can wash most man-made fabrics like rayon, nylon, spandex, towels, linens, and lightly soiled clothes. While warm water cycles carry less risk of shrinkage and deterioration than using hot water, washing clothes frequently in warm water may still degrade the quality of the clothing over time.

When to Use Hot Water

Unfortunately, hot water uses a lot of energy resulting in higher power bills. It is not the most ideal temperature to wash clothing in because it leads to shrinkage and deterioration in the quality of clothing. Hot water can also cause colors to run and fade; therefore, you need to be very careful washing colored fabrics in hot water. These hot cycles should only be used to wash heavily soiled clothing, towels, and bedsheets; and since hot water can help sanitize, you can wash undergarments, kitchen towels, bath towels, and other fabrics that may attract bacteria and fungi when used. If someone in the household is sick, you can also wash their linen and bedding in hot water to help rid the fabrics of lingering bacteria from the virus! A word of caution: avoid washing lingerie, silks, lace, and other delicate fabrics in hot water since it will cause deterioration of such delicate fabrics.
**Know Your Laundry Stains: Use caution when washing food-based stains (i.e. wine, fruits, proteins, etc.) in warm/hot water since this can often set the stain in, making it much harder to remove the stain! Warm/hot cycles are, however, quite beneficial in removing stains caused by oil-based foods like butter, fat, and cooking oils!

Find our complete stain-removing guide here!