Introduction
Anyone who first starts doing laundry thinks it's as simple as throwing clothes in the washer, adding a liquid laundry detergent, pressing a button, and waiting for the cycle to finish. But there's more to the process, especially with the introduction of features like eco warm.
With this feature, we can make our laundry more environment-friendly and energy-efficient. Washing clothes in this setting not only lowers your utility bills but also reduces your carbon footprint.
How does it do that? Let's find out.
How Does Eco Warm Work?
To understand how eco warm differs from the regular mode on your washing machine, you need to know about the two types of energy that are used in washing clothes: thermal energy and mechanical energy.
The thermal energy comes from heating the water, while mechanical energy is used to agitate and spin the clothes. In regular mode, both of these energies are used together to clean your laundry effectively.
In simple words, you use hot water and vigorous movements for washing clothes. The warm water helps in removing dirt and grime from fabric, while the mechanical energy of the machine breaks up tough stains.
In the eco warm setting, the washing machine uses a lower water temperature but gives the same cleaning results – your washer doesn't rely on hot water's thermal energy to remove stains.
Instead, it couples the detergent's composition with cool water and extended wash cycles to achieve the same results. Washing machines with the eco warm setting are equipped with special sensors that monitor how soiled your clothes are. They then tweak the water temperature and wash cycle accordingly.
By doing this, the washer optimizes its use of water and energy. You can further improve the quality of your wash by using specific (and sustainable) detergent formulations that are designed for cold water washing.
Besides laundry detergent and cold water, these washers often also feature a pre-soak option. This means that your clothes are soaked for a longer time in detergent before the actual wash begins, improving cleaning performance.
6 Benefits of Using Eco Warm Feature
If there's one laundry symbol on your washer you need to familiarize yourself with, it's the eco warm feature. Here's why.
Fabric Preservation
Some clothing materials are more delicate and require gentle treatment. Hot water can cause shrinkage, color fading, and damage to certain fabrics. For instance, if you use warmer water to wash your delicates, you'll notice that they start to lose their softness and sheen over time.
Similarly, you should not use hot water on clothes if the label says "cold water wash only." Lingerie also needs to stay out of warm water if you don't want it shrinking and fading.
These fabrics wash better in cold water and can last longer when you use the eco warm feature.
Energy Conservation
Wondering why there's a spike in your utility bills? The answer could lie in your laundry habits. Hot water washes cost more because the machine needs to heat the water before starting the wash cycle.
In contrast, cold or eco warm settings save energy due to their use of cold water. You can significantly reduce your electricity and gas consumption by washing your clothes in this setting.
Reduced Environmental Impact
Our carbon footprint as a global society has increased over the years. We can counter this effect by making small changes to our daily habits, like using the eco warm feature for our laundry.
When we save on energy, we also reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants that produce electricity. Additionally, the eco warm feature uses less water than hot water washes, which helps conserve this valuable resource.
Cost Savings
You're not just saving the environment or reducing your energy use with the eco warm feature. It's also a simple way to lower your energy bills. It might not seem like a lot in the first month, but over time, these savings will surely add up.
Garment Cleanliness
Some people incorrectly assume that cold water washes don't clean clothes effectively. However, with advancements in laundry detergents and technology, this is not the case anymore.
Eco warm settings can clean your clothes just as well as hot water washes while also being gentler on fabrics. Again, your colored clothes won't fade as quickly, and your whites won't turn gray. Trust us.
Color Retention
Let's talk a little more about color retention. You may have noticed that some of your colored clothing fades over time. That's because hot water can cause the dyes in any colored garment to bleed and eventually wash out.
On the other hand, lukewarm or cold water washes help retain the vibrancy of a colored garment. Therefore, if you've got a few dresses that you want to keep looking like new, try switching to the eco warm setting.
Energy & Cost Savings with Eco Warm in Washer
Since cost-savings and energy efficiency are the most attractive advantages of using the eco warm setting in your washer, it's understandable why most people want to know more about them. Let us explain with an example.
Suppose you use the hot water setting for your laundry once a week, and it costs you $10 per load. Why so much? Because heating water requires a lot of energy, and it's an ongoing expense every time you do laundry.
Now, if you switch to the eco warm setting, which typically uses cold water mixed with a small amount of warm water, it cuts your energy use by as much as 50%. That's $5 in savings right there.
Do the math for the whole year, and you'll see how much you save by using the eco warm setting.
If you're a one or two-person household, you might not see significant savings. But for a family with kids, the savings can add up to hundreds of dollars every year.
Another interesting aspect here is stain removal. Remember how we talked about the pre-soak feature earlier? Normally, you'd have to pretreat your stains with hot water and a stain remover before throwing them in the wash.
But when you wash clothes in the eco warm setting, you can skip that step, thanks to the pre-soak feature. It's gentle on fabrics but still strong enough to remove most stains without pre-treatment.
Care for Laundry & the Environment With Rinse
Sometimes, you just don't want to do the laundry yourself. You may have had a tough week at work, or it might be time for spring cleaning, and you can't be bothered to handle the laundry yourself. That's perfectly fine.
Rinse steps in to help you with your laundry needs. Not only do we provide top-notch laundry and dry cleaning services, but we also take care of the environment while doing so.
We've been doing laundry for a long time. We're familiar with advanced washer settings and every new technology that rolls out in this space. Rinse's cleaning partners use up to 50% less water than traditional washers, saving millions of gallons of water annually while keeping your clothes clean.
Plus, our use of high-speed spin cycles means your clothes don't have to spend a lot of time in the dryer. We also use cold water to preserve your clothes' colors and reduce energy usage. Our eco-friendly laundry and dry cleaning practices are just one aspect of our service.
Another is the convenience we provide to our customers. You don't have to bring your clothes to us; we come to you. Schedule a pickup with Rinse, and we'll pick up your clothes from your doorstep and deliver it back to you in no time.
Contact us at Rinse today to see our skill in action.
