Why We Need New Rules for Laundry？
Most of us follow these laundry rules: towels and bed linen at 90 or 60 degrees, everything else at 30. However, these rules are outdated. Let us enlighten you. "We've always done it this way." Most of us would roll our eyes at such a statement. At least. But if we're honest, there are enough situations where we think and act the same way. Laundry is a prime example. We learned how to do it at some point and haven't questioned these rules since. It's high time we do!
Most of us frequently wash laundry at 60 or 90 degrees. Definitely whites. And anything we believe needs to be extra clean. So, underwear, towels, bed linen.
But it's not necessary at all! Laundry gets clean even at much lower temperatures. And we save money. Because detergents clean reliably at lower temperatures like 30 or 40 degrees, as explained by a spokesperson for Stiftung Warentest: "For healthy individuals, 30 degrees are completely sufficient." So, wash colored laundry at 30 degrees, whites at 40 degrees. However, if someone has a contagious illness or lives with someone with a compromised immune system, washing at 60 or 90 degrees is playing it safe. Those who adjust their laundry habits can save money and also do something good for the environment. As explained by the Umweltbundesamt:
"For the energy costs of a 60-degree wash, you can wash almost twice at 40 or even three times at 30 degrees." And significantly less CO2 is produced. The hotter the water, the higher the energy demand and CO2 emissions. The Öko-Institut e.V. calculated the average energy consumption for washing for the Umweltbundesamt. Those who wash environmentally consciously, i.e., 75 percent of laundry at 30 degrees and only 25 percent at 60 degrees, consume an average of 35.24 kWh per year and produce 21.70 kg of CO2. On the other hand, those who wash 30 percent of laundry at 30, 40 percent at 60, and 30 percent at 90 degrees, consume 227.95 kWh per year. This results in 140.40 kg of CO2. But no matter how you calculate it, the Umweltbundesamt estimates that the annual savings - both in terms of electricity and CO2 - are over 35 percent. Quite a lot. Especially when you consider that higher temperatures are not necessary. "We've always done it this way" really doesn't work as a life motto...