# Laundry advice I got: is it good? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 12, 2017, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-advice-i-got-is-it-good/798681 "2017-10-12T23:30:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-advice-i-got-is-it-good/798681/21 "2017-10-17T10:23:55Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > and washers with center-stick agitators do the most damage of all. > . That’s not been my experience. My experience is that “water conserving” washers do most damage of all. A big tub full of water never did any damage: our new washer without the agitator, which runs only just covering the clothes even on the water-wasting-setting, rips, tears, wears, and removes buttons. I’ve never used a front-loader. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-advice-i-got-is-it-good/798681/22 "2017-10-17T13:47:40Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Do you buy everything too big to start? What fabrics are you wearing that don’t shrink? Polyester blends, I think. I do most of my clothes shopping at Wal-Mart, and I am hard to fit anyway. If a shirt fits in the neck, it won’t fit in the waist. Jeans that fit in the thighs and butt don’t fit in the waist. Maybe I am too used to clothes not fitting. But all my old stuff is as shrunk as it’s gonna be. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2017, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-advice-i-got-is-it-good/798681/23 "2017-10-17T14:18:36Z")
About a decade ago the NY Times ran an article about the new cold water detergents which were hitting the market. The gist of it was… P&G wanted to convince people to wash with cold water. It had something to do with reducing the energy used to wash clothes. I’m sure they had a corporate reason for doing so but I can’t remember what it was. They discovered that the detergents they manufactured cleaned much better in warm water because the enzymes and surfactants they were using worked best in warm water. The three things that cleaned clothes were the heat, chemicals, and clothes rubbing against each other. They developed a completely different formulation for their cold water detergent that used different enzymes and surfactants that worked better in cold water and marketed it as “Coldwater Detergent.” Multiple consumer groups like Consumers Union tested it and determined that yeah their cold water detergent actually did work better in cold water than their warm water detergent, it wasn’t just marketing bullshit, and in fact it was one of the best detergents available that year. P&G still couldn’t convince people to wash in cold water even with their new detergent because consumers didn’t believe it would work as well as warm water. After I read the article we switched to washing in cold water with a coldwater detergent. I liked the better living through science angle of the story when I read it. I’m sure it saves us money too. ---
**Author:** ![Lurking\_Quahog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lurking_quahog/32/21274_2.png) [@Lurking\_Quahog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lurking_Quahog)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-advice-i-got-is-it-good/798681/24 "2017-10-18T19:24:17Z")
Clark Howard says that cold water is just fine in most cases. > **[Why You Might Be Washing Your Clothes All Wrong](https://clark.com/family-lifestyle/right-water-temperature-wash-clothes-laundry/)** > > When it comes to best way to wash clothes, insight from the experts over at Consumer Reports says the laundry rules have changed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-advice-i-got-is-it-good/798681.md?page=1)