Modern Consumer Laundry Will Protecting the Environment Protect our Clothes? Vikki B. Martin Cotton Incorporated

Modern Consumer Laundry Will Protecting the Environment Protect our Clothes? Vikki B. Martin Cotton Incorporated

Use Phase of Cradle to Grave O Consumer use impact is due mainly to energy and water used for laundering garments over their lifetime

Best vs. Worst Behavior Best Case Average Worst Case Wash Temp Cold 54/46 Heated Load Size Extra Large Medium Small Washer Efficiency Energy Star 30/70 Conventional Water Heater Natural Gas 50/50 Electric Drying Method Air Dry 16/84 Electric Dry Dryer Efficiency n/a 30/70 Conventional

Should we recommend washing everything in water? O What about care labels? O Trending towards O Less than half of U.S. consumers (48%) say they always or usually read care instructions before washing

determine impact of wash water temperature, detergent type and laundry platform on basic clothing attributes Funded Research with Dr. Elizabeth Easter of University of Kentucky

Load Types (mix of fiber contents) O Towels O Jeans O Khakis O Polo Shirts O Mixed (dress shirts, shorts, t-shirts, khakis, polo shirts) Tests Performed (AATCC & ASTM) O Abrasion Resistance O Colorfastness O Color Transfer (wet crocking) O Dimension Stability O Smoothness Retention O Soil Release O Towel Absorbency O Residual Moisture

1200 loads of laundry!

Lots of statistics later...

we concluded O There are major detergent, water temperature & laundry platform interactions that vary with garment type. O No one perfect scenario for all products and all issues!

Smoothness Retention Cold water best Top Load best for jeans & mixed loads Front Load best for khaki & polo shirts Colorfastness Color Transfer Top Load, warm best for khaki, towel, & mixed loads Front Load, best for jeans Polo Shirts: Cold water best, washer no effect Front Load, best for khaki & polo shirts Top Load, warm best for mixed loads

And that O There are differences in results when garments are washed in common load versus mixed load

Mixed vs. Common Load 100% Cotton Polo Abrasion Rating 5.0 5 Launderings 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 Mixed Polos Only

Mixed vs. Common Load 100% Cotton Polo Abrasion Rating 5.0 15 Launderings 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 Mixed Polos Only

Were a couple of fairly consistent trends O Cold water resulted in lowest dimensional change for ALL load types O Warm water loads best soil release ALL load types (did not stain treat prior to washing)

Soil Release Warm vs. Cold Gray Scale Rating 5 5 Launderings 4 Khaki Warm Polo Warm Khaki Cold Polo Cold 3 2 1 Front D1 Front D2 Top D1 Top D2

Dimensional Change Warm vs. Cold

however, mainly it depends answers Pilling Colorfastness Color Transfer Dimensional Change Smoothness Retention Soil Release Jeans warm FL varied TL warm n/a Khakis TL warm FL FL FL warm Polos warm varied FL FL FL warm Towels TL warm varied n/a Mixed TL warm TL warm TL FL warm

But to answer our question: Should we recommend washing everything in water?

Yes, maybe O Overall no detriment to clothing aesthetics when washing in water O Unless you have stains or can effectively stain treat O And while study did not look at cleanliness common sense should prevail???

Up Next what happened to the water in our washers?