Our (bad?) little habits and our expectations
If you don’t exploit all the possibilities of your washing machine, rest assured, it’s not just you. According to a study recently conducted by Gifam (a group of home appliance brands), Washing Machine Repair Services in Leicester consumers use few different programs: 2, or even 3 at most. These are usually the ones they have tried and tested so as not to damage their clothes. The study reveals that short programs are preferred, to best stick to schedules. Finally, even before washing laundry quickly, the main expectation of consumers is to save water and energy.
Some of these habits could be changed, especially with regard to the use of programs. Here are some tips for using your washing machine properly and washing your laundry properly while limiting the impact on bills.
Understand how a washing machine works
To wash laundry, three elements are essential (these are precisely those on which we intervene by changing the program): the temperature of the water, the duration of the cycle and the stirring of the laundry. Lowering the temperature of the water saves money because it uses less electricity. However, there is a risk of obtaining a poorer washing result. So the washing machine usually increases the cycle time so that laundry washed in less hot water will spin longer – which is what eco cycles usually do. Except that it’s not so much in tune with the times… The fashion is for rapid cycles because few users think of waiting several hours for a wash to finish.
How to use the programs well and save money?
For an equivalent cycle, if you wash at 30°C rather than 40°C, you save energy, especially if the program is fast. And at 20°C, you consume half as much energy as at 40°C. Washing “normally soiled” cotton or synthetic laundry at 30°C is sufficient to obtain equivalent washing results. Washing Machine Repair Services in Leicester and it also preserves textiles because the higher the temperature, the more the fibers “suffer”. Ditto for household linen: unless it is very stained, washing at 60°C is sufficient; no need to wash it at 90°C.
Lowering washing temperatures is quite possible, especially as we wash our laundry more and more often: a shirt or trousers worn one day are generally not very dirty. As for football kits that have suffered grass and mud stains or the youngest child’s bibs painted with carrot puree, Washing Machine Repair Services in Leicester it’s different: raising the temperature may be necessary.
Tips for using the programs effectively
- Remember to take a look at the labels of the clothes to find out at what temperature it is recommended to wash them. No need to wash at a higher temperature than necessary. You will undoubtedly have surprises for example. That of noticing that the cotton or synthetic t-shirts that you have been washing at 40°C for ages must in fact be washed at 30°C.
- If you wash cotton or synthetic clothes , a 30°C program is sufficient
- If you wash household linen, the 60°C cycle is sufficient
- The “wool” or “delicate” programs are suitable for washing woolens and delicate garments such as lingerie. Temperature and drum movements are limit to preserve the laundry.
- If you have the choice between several programs available at the temperature that suits you (30°C for example), choose the shortest.
- Especially if your laundry is not particularly dirty.
- Because even if the water heating phase is the one that consumes the most energy.
- The longer the program, the more energy the appliance inevitably consumes.
- Beware of ultra-short or ultra-fast cycles they are used more to refresh the laundry and do not really wash.
- They are useful for removing odors from clothes that have only been worn for one evening. For example, or for refreshing clothes that have been lying in the back of the closet for too long.
- Look at the instructions for your washing machine: the programs and their use are detail there. This will tell you which short programs are suitable for real washing.
- Finally, one last piece of advice which relates more to the care of your laundry than to savings: Avoid mixing white and color.
Good to know: some washing machines evaluate energy consumption before starting a wash cycle. This is the case of connected models or some display it on their digital screen. You can thus play with the settings to choose the most energy efficient programmed.
The interest of connectivity
Connectivity, increasingly present on washing machines. It was much mocked in its infancy in the field of large household appliances. And yet, if there is an interest, it is to offer valuable assistance in the choice of programs. Most brands have set themselves the same goal when developing their washing machines and their applications. To provide the best washing results while saving energy and water. Indeed, Washing Machine Repair Services in Leicester since the energy label has become essential on large household appliances.
This is where connectivity can help: if you are washing cotton and your laundry is not stain. The application will automatically direct you to the appropriate and economical programmed. If your laundry is stain with grass, wine, carrot puree. Again the application provides the best washing advice, Washing Machine Repair Services in Leicester or even specific programs.
Finally, the connectivity makes it possible to launch a washing cycle remotely.
And also to save detergent ?
Automatic dosing, more and more present on washing machines, ensures a certain peace of mind. Reservoirs hold detergent and fabric softener, dispensed automatically for weeks. The other advantage is that these washing machines dispense exactly the right amount of detergent depending on the cycle. Washing Machine Repair Services in Leicester the water hardness and the amount of laundry. The key to savings, because we rarely dose the detergent well and we often tend to overdose it.
