Is Washing Your Laundry in Cold Water Just as Effective as Hot Water? Here’s What Experts Say

Thankfully, the days when dirty laundry was thrown in a big pot and boiled with lye soap to get it clean are gone. (No wonder everything used to look grey, stiff, and scratchy.) With advancements in detergents, stain removers, and washing machines, getting your clothes clean requires a lot less elbow grease—and it can even be done at much lower water temperatures.

While many people assume that hotter water results in cleaner clothes, that’s not necessarily the case. We talked to laundry experts to better understand the efficacy of using cold water vs. hot water when doing laundry, plus, how to decide which water temperature is best for your laundry needs. Here’s everything you need to know.

Can You Use Cold Water for Laundry?

Not only can cold water be effective for laundry, it can also offer advantages over hot water. Cold water is more gentle on fabric fibers, dyes, and helps prevent some stains from becoming permanently set on clothes. “Our research has shown that hot water causes fabric shrinkage, fading and color loss, and premature deterioration,” says Zach Pozniak. “For most laundry, hot water is not necessary with modern laundry detergents.”

If your utility bills keep getting higher, a switch to cold water for laundry will help reduce the burden. According to the American Cleaning Institute, about 90% of the energy used by the washing machine during laundry goes towards heating the water. Using less energy reduces carbon emissions and is good for the planet.

Unless you’re washing clothing with lots of ground-in dirt, grease, or bacteria, most clothes aren’t heavily soiled and won’t need high water temperatures to get clean. For the best results when washing laundry in cold water, use an enzyme-based high-quality detergent specifically formulated for cold water.

Pros and Cons of Using Cold Water for Laundry

Pros:

• More gentle on fabrics
• Helps prevent dye-bleeding
• Less fabric shrinkage
• Reduces set-in wrinkles
• Saves on utility costs
• Reduces carbon emissions

Cons:

• Does not remove greasy stains well
• Does not sanitize fabrics
• Does not kill mold or mildew spores
• Does not kill insects such as lice and bed bugs

When to Switch to Hot Water

There are some situations where hot water is a better choice for laundry. “We recommend the use of hot water when sanitizing laundry, re-cleaning heavily soiled garments, or removing mold,” says Jerry Pozniak. Any item—medical scrubs, bed linens, towels, cloth diapers—contaminated with blood or bodily fluids should be washed in hot water to kill the bacteria. To help remove the stains, rinse and soak the item first in cold water before washing it in hot water.

If you’re dealing with head lice or bed bugs, hot water should be used for laundry to kill the insects (among other important pest-management steps). For tough stains like grease and ground-in dirt, using a higher water temperature during the wash cycle will produce better stain removal results.

How to Get the Best Results When Using Cold Water for Laundry

• Pretreat stains with an enzyme-based stain remover or a dab of a high-quality cold water laundry detergent.
• After pretreating stains, wait at least 10 minutes before tossing the item in the washer. This gives the enzymes time to begin breaking the bond between the stain and the fabric fibers.
• Use a liquid laundry detergent rather than pods or powder that may not dissolve fully in extremely cold water (think of winter temps). If you prefer pods or powder, dissolve them in a quart of hot water and add the mixture to the washer drum before loading in the dirty laundry.
• Use a longer wash cycle if the laundry load has stains or lots of soil.