How to use a washing machine - what temperature to set ?

How do I know what program and temperature should I set on washing machine to wash my clothes ?

The washing machines work quite similar in general. Description of available settings for your washing machine is written in the manual, that was most probably included in the package, when the washing machine was bought. If you don't have it, you can try to search for it online.

Washing machines usually have many different programs to be chosen, but there should be at least the basic three: program for cotton, program for synthetics and program for daily wash. The program for daily wash is often considered as the universal option.

What you should do before choosing of the program, is to turn the clothes inside out and separate them according to colours. You can separate the laundry by grouping dark, medium, light and white colours and wash each colour group separately. But definitely you should group the clothes to at least 2 groups, to white and non-white. So you should never wash the white laundry with non-white laundry together.

When your clothes are not too dirty, you should wash them at lower temperatures, between 30°C and 40°C / 86°F and 104°F. Use high temperatures like 60°C / 140°F only when it is necessary, like in case of bath towels, bed linen etc. You should check the recommended washing temperature of your clothes. It is usually written on the clothes' label. For some temperature-sensitive materials even the 40°C / 104°F may be considered as too high temperature.

Using of washing machine is not difficult. You just set the washing cycle (washing program) and temperatue, add washing powder, washing liquid or gel pod and press the run button.

Before running a washing machine, separate your laundry.

• Don't wash white clothes together with non-white clothes, because color clothes can dye your white clothes.
• Don't wash your clothes at a higher temperature than recommended, because they can shrink or lose colors.

How to set the washing cycle and the temperature:

First check the care label of your clothes. On the care label, there is usually written what temperature should you wash the clothes at. Alternatively you can check what material is your clothing made of. Then set the temperature according to a material:

• 30°C / 85°F - Delicate clothes, color cotton, synthetics, wool
• 40°C / 105°F - Cotton clothes, polyester, acrylics
• 60°C / 140°F - White cotton like towels and bedding

Set the washing cycle according to the clothing material and depending on how dirty your clothes are. Washing cycles may have different names in case of each washing machine manufacturer. Because of that it is recommended to check the manual to find out what washing cycle matches your needs.