Need help with sweatshirts

9 years ago

I wear a black sweatshirt a lot, but I noticed it has happened with different colored sweatshirts too. I washed it recently and then a couple days later, I was caught in some rain. I noticed when I got home, the shoulders and part of the back looked like it got white scuff marks on them! Kinda bizarre. I dabbed my finger in tap water and went over all the marks to hopefully remove them. Really at a loss on why that happened. I use liquid detergent...ALL in cold water using the second rinse function, and I do dry my clothes in perma press. My hunch is maybe it was still detergent embedded in the clothes, and the rain brought it out? Not sure. Anybody out there know why that happened? It's been going on, off and on for years. Thanks!

Featured Answer

mamapinky0

9 years ago

Wpaglow, don't feel badly about using cold water many people do not understanding. And the gov has not helped matters.

I'll explain a little. Cold water constricts (tightens up) fibers in textiles. Hot and nicely warm relaxes the fibers allowing them to open up. In order to flush out soils the fibers must be relaxed in order for the solution (Water&detergent) to get down deep and flush out the soils. This can't be done in cold water. Sure some of the surface soils may be removed but all the muck down deep remains causing dingy whites, dull colors, and odors. Another thing the biggest soil on our clothing and bedding is body oils and oil requires very warm to hot to remove. This is why so many people have bed sheets that they complain have an odor.

All of our textiles have different water temp requirements this is where I think some people become confused. For instance you wouldn't wash your dress darks in very hot water but you should be washing your bed sheets in very hot. Kitchen towels need super hot but colored tee shirts can do nicely at 120F.

As for shrinking...you have to consider the fabric type before choosing the temp, but I've noticed many won't wash in even warm for fear of shrinking yet they will toss the garments in a dryer which can be much hotter than tap hot water.

Stick around Wpaglow, and feel free to ask questions there are some brilliant laundry experts here that love nothing more than a good challange. LOL Its always great to have a new member here and I'd bet you know some laundry related stuff you can teach us.

Welcome to the Laundry Room! !

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Comments (13)

mamapinky0
9 years ago
Yep its probably detergent. Try at least a warm wash. Do you wash everything in cold?
wpaglow
Original Author
9 years ago
Yes..I was told all my life that cold water was the best. Does cold water help the detergent to bond to the clothing? I never used warm water.
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beaglenc
9 years ago
There are different water temps on the machine for a reason. Cold water will not clean well at all, not deep down. It takes at least warm to shift and lift dirt and body oils from fabrics. Warm also dissolves detergents, liquid or powder better than cold, and hot better than warm. Try bumping the temp up. Warm water will not make clothes fade. If you are concerned about something bleeding, wash it alone a time or two and see how it goes. I have a red sweater that bleeds no matter what temp I use. So it always flies solo.
wpaglow
Original Author
9 years ago
I didn't know that. My Mom and 3 sisters always stressed the fact of using cold water for everything. Maybe because they were afraid that warm water may cause shrinkage or something. Not sure. Just a guess. It just became one of the gospels of laundry and we always stuck with it. But I will take your advice and give it a whirl. Can't hurt. Thanks for your help.
dadoes
9 years ago
Tumble drying typically reaches 135°F to 165°F ... so what's the benefit of washing in cold and then exposing the clothes to much higher temperatures when drying?
sparky823
9 years ago
Change your detergent. All detergent is good but fades color especially black.
wpaglow
Original Author
9 years ago
Well..."All" brand detergent is hypoallergenic and that's why I use it. I used Era for years, but the stuff they put in there to make the clothes smell fresh and good gives off an allergy reaction. All is the only one I can really stick with for now. You mentioned putting kitchen towels in super hot water, but the washer only has warm and cold settings on it. I put the kitchen towels, hand towels, and bath towels together in a load of cold water too. I put my jeans and sweats together in a separate load of cold water as well. So..if I put all the things mentioned in warm water..that would be fine? Warm water will not shrink my jeans? The dryer doesn't shrink them, but not sure if the warm water would or not. Since my kitchen towels are old and thin...generally after I run the wash/rinse/spin cycles along with 2nd rinse: I select: "large load" and fill up the washer a second time just with water..so I can run it through all the cycles again to get out any extra detergent that may have lingered after the first time. I noticed when the water is filled up and the cycle begins: I open the lid up and I can see a misty fog in the water indicating that detergent is still in those towels. I want to make sure it all gets out of there, because I use those towels to wipe my eating plates dry after I wash them by hand. That gets a little spooky to me at times. I wouldn't mind finding something "green" free of chemicals you could use in a washer so it would clean the clothes as well as be safe for you. I hate chemicals..don't use them. Struggle with detergent.
sparky823
9 years ago
Any detergent that has brighteners in it will cause darks to look faded especially black. Try using a little dish detergent for the sweatshirts. (Ivory, Palmolive etc. )
littlegreeny
9 years ago
Never heard of a washer that didn't have a hot setting. What brand/model do you have?
mamapinky0
9 years ago
I'm also wondering what washer doesn't have a hot water setting.

Washing kitchen towels with bath towels and face cloths with no thermal or chemical disinfection gives me the creeps. Sorry.
wpaglow
Original Author
9 years ago
My apologies..upon "closer observation" I did notice that I have cold, warm, and hot settings. I got it honest: I watched Mom put all the towels in the wash together..face towels, hand towels, bath towels..etc. She did it for decades and was not hung up on it. To her: towels were towels. She would just say the detergent cleans it all off anyway. Didn't mean to alarm anyone...just how things were done. As you can tell: I'm still trying to learn the ropes and not very savvy with all this. So..to get it straight: I should put the kitchen towels in the wash by themselves in hot water? And then put the hand, face, and bath towels together in warm water? And also the jeans, and sweats together in warm water? Also: will the jeans shrink in warm water or be okay? Just trying to bring success and order to obvious erroneous laundry habits. Thanks.
jkayd_il5
9 years ago
I wash sheets, bath towels and kitchen towels each separate in hot water. I wash good light colored clothes in All detergent in cold water. If you want your underwear washed in hot water put them in with the sheets. Not bras just underpants. I wash dark clothes in a dark clothes detergent. I don't use warm water for much.