The Bite:
Go for 1 - cold - to conserve energy and cash. Except in cases of gross-out dirtiness, cold's as effective as hot, keeping your clothes (and you) looking fierce.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how hot's the water in your clothes washer?
01.12.2009
Submitted by tmeronek on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 1:29am.
The Benefits:
- Attractive energy savings. Around 80%-90% of the energy typically used by a washer goes to heating the water.
- More cash for sexy outfits. The average household saves $61 per year by forgoing hot for cold.
- Desirable CO2 cuts. In a year, each household that washes with only cold water keeps 1,281 pounds of CO2 from entering the air.
- Hotter colors with cold. Washing in cold water keeps your clothes looking newer, longer than hot water washing.
Personally Speaking:
We were skeptical when we first researched this tip, but testing it on our own duds proved the point: Unless clothes are really grimy (like I-worked-in-the-garden-all-day dirty), cold water works just as well.
Wanna Try:
Just switch the knob on your washer to Cold. You don't even need to use a cold-water detergent.
- Laundress Whites Detergent - kinda pricey, but we love this liquid whitener. Not a replacement for bleach, but you'll definitely notice a difference ($20/32 ounces).
- Ecover Bleach - a less-expensive, powder options for whitening ($5/14 ounces).
Cocktail Fact
According to a UK poll, 80% of English college freshman and sophomore males have never done laundry.
Bang For The Bite
If 10,000 Biter households switch to cold, in a year we'll avert the CO2 equivalent that 6,405 trees suck up over their lifetimes.
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