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What's the difference between a synthetics mode and a cotton mode of a washing machine, and does it have any environmental relevance? I think it's better to put it all together and wash in one go than to subdivide your laundry into two smaller groups, one cotton heap and one heap of clothes made from synthetic or mixed fibers, and then launch two washes one after another with twice as much energy consumed. Am I right? What good would it make to separate your clothes at the end of the day?

Sergey Zolotarev
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    Most washing-machine modes exist for the sole purpose of letting the marketing department say "Our machine has more modes than our competitors". – Mark Dec 02 '21 at 21:34
  • This will likely vary between washing machines. My one has a bunch of adjustments for spin speed, washing temp and rinse temp, and those vary as I switch between cycles. So at the very least the wash temp will change and that significantly affects energy use. – Móż Dec 03 '21 at 00:36
  • FWIW the major beneficial change most people can make is just to wash clothes less often. Even underwear can often be worn more than once, but most clothing can be aired and then re-worn (or in the case of teenagers "rested" on the floor for a while then re-worn) – Móż Dec 03 '21 at 00:38
  • The synthetics mode, if used correctly, produces microplastics in the wastewater, and the cotton mode, if used correctly, washes clothes the production of which consumes massive amounts of fresh water, causing water shortages in cotton-producing areas. – juhist Dec 03 '21 at 17:55
  • You might be interested in this old news item: Delicate wash releases more plastic microfibres. – Fred Dec 21 '21 at 22:52

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Mine lacks any override controls for temperature and spin speed, so I have a range of preset temperatures for cottons, a slightly different range for synthetics, and a few other presets (delicates ×2, quick half-load, etc.)

The biggest difference is spin speed.

As I understand it, cottons would traditionally have been ironed (e.g. shirts, washed fairly cool) or hold a lot of water (towels, washed hot). Synthetics would include blended "permanent press" items - not very absorbent and to be treaty fairly gently.

Despite washing cold, I tend to sort by colour (white/pale v.s dark/bright) and not by fabric, and wash everything on the cottons program. Most of what I wash is synthetic exercise kit*, which gets stinky quite easily if neglected so is washed frequently (some days, wearing it for both morning and evening bike or run commutes is too much really). Most of what I wear is natural fibres and washed less frequently. So effectively I use cottons to make up a load of exercise kit.

The vigorous spin of the cottons program does no harm to functional synthetics, which I get as much life out of as possible. Unless you can reliably air-dry outside, it saves power to remove water mechanically than by evaporation. In my case drying at this time of year is done by hanging indoors in a barely-heated room, with a dehumidifier running. That's also slow so you don't want things too wet to start with.

(Edit) In any case, if you're washing part loads, change your habits so you don't - mix fabrics or wash less often. If you really don't have enough clothes or storage/drying space to avoid washing part loads, use the part-load program, with mixed fabrics. And wash as cool as you can. I use the cold program except for things with grease stains and an occasional hot wash to clean the machine.

* It needs to be high-performance given that I can be wearing it wet for several hours, and I don't have the budget for merino.

Chris H
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