Cold washing: better laundry, lower consumption

Let’s start with a familiar scene. The laundry basket has been full for a couple of days. There are socks, T-shirts, jeans, a shirt, a towel, and maybe something light-coloured mixed in with the darks. You look at the washing machine programmes and they all seem more or less the same: cotton, synthetics, delicates, eco, quick wash, wool, mixed fabrics…

So you pick one. Usually the quickest one. Or simply the one you’ve always used, because at least you know it has never caused any disasters.

In this rather confusing landscape, cold washing simply means washing at a low temperature (typically around 20°C or 30°C) without significantly heating the water. It doesn’t mean washing poorly or “just rinsing”; it means letting the washing machine do its job without using hot water when it isn’t actually necessary.

It’s a conscious choice. A small shift in mindset and in everyday habits.

The truth is that most of the clothes we wear every day aren’t heavily soiled. More often than not, they simply need refreshing.

The habit of washing garments and household textiles at high temperatures comes from a different era, when work was largely manual, physically demanding and, inevitably, much dirtier.

A T-shirt worn to the office, a sweatshirt you’d like to put back in the wardrobe clean, or a pair of jeans you’ve worn twice: in cases like these, a cold wash is often more than enough. In fact, when it comes to denim, it’s worth taking an even gentler approach. Here on Inspiring, we’ve already published a guide to washing and drying jeans, where one of the main recommendations is to wash them as infrequently as possible.

The belief that hot water cleans better is deeply rooted, and for good reason. A tablecloth stained with tomato sauce, heavily soiled kitchen towels, or bed linen that needs thorough sanitising all require higher washing temperatures.

At the same time, however, hot water can put unnecessary stress on fabrics. It may cause dark garments to fade more quickly, shrink certain fibres, or damage prints and decorative details. Gradually, clothes begin to look and feel different. It’s a slow transformation: you hardly notice it at first, but once it starts, it’s difficult to reverse.

Then, almost suddenly, you realise that your black T-shirt has faded, the indigo in your jeans has lost its depth, or your favourite sweatshirt no longer feels as soft as it once did. Of course, these changes are rarely the result of a single incorrect wash. They’re usually the consequence of many small decisions repeated over time without much thought.

Seen from this perspective, cold washing is an act of care towards the garments we love most, helping them maintain their appearance and last longer.

Cold washing works particularly well for garments that are only lightly soiled or that deserve extra care: T-shirts, lightweight shirts, jeans, sweatshirts, coloured garments, synthetic fabrics and delicate clothing.

It’s also the best option when you’re concerned about colours fading or fabrics reacting poorly to heat. In theory, the easiest way to know what to do would be to read the care label. In practice, many of us cut it off as soon as we bring the garment home because it’s itchy, bulky, and filled with symbols or instructions that all seem equally incomprehensible. After all, cotton is cotton, polyester is polyester, and wool is wool… isn’t it?

Yet some of those instructions are worth paying attention to, especially the maximum washing temperature the garment is designed to withstand.

And if we want to be practical, there’s another factor worth considering: our energy bill.

A significant share of the electricity consumed by a washing machine is used simply to heat the water. Whenever possible, washing at lower temperatures means using less energy, cycle after cycle. It saves money, conserves resources and helps reduce our environmental impact. When more and more people make this simple choice, its effect extends well beyond individual households.

Doing the laundry may seem like a small everyday task, but even small actions become meaningful when they’re repeated countless times.

Of course, cold washing shouldn’t become a rule to follow regardless of the situation.

When dealing with heavily soiled garments, greasy stains, persistent odours, towels that have seen extended use, bed linen, underwear or any clothing requiring a higher level of hygiene, higher washing temperatures remain essential.

Caring properly for our clothes doesn’t mean always selecting the same programme. It means choosing the most appropriate cycle based on both the type of fabric and the level of cleaning required.

For this reason, it’s important to sort garments according to both fabric type and degree of soiling before washing them, and to use detergents formulated for different temperature ranges while following the instructions provided on the care label. Yes, the very label many of us have already thrown away.

We also tend to forget that a garment’s sustainability doesn’t depend solely on how it was produced, but also on how long we manage to keep wearing it. Poor washing habits gradually strip fabrics of their colour, shape and texture. When clothes wear out prematurely, they’re more likely to become disposable. Cold washing, whenever appropriate, helps slow down this process: fewer garments to replace ultimately means fewer garments that need to be manufactured, transported and eventually discarded.

So far, we’ve been looking through the glass door of a household washing machine. In the garment industry, however, washing serves a much broader purpose than simply cleaning. It also transforms garments creatively, defines their character and helps shape a brand’s distinctive identity.

Think about denim. The faded shades, the whiskers along the seams, the worn-in appearance that looks so natural, but isn’t, are all the result of specific washing and finishing processes. For decades, achieving these effects required resource-intensive treatments involving large amounts of water, energy, chemicals and abrasive stones.

Today, however, the industry is moving in a different direction. The legacy of Adriano Goldschmied, who recently passed away, is a clear example. A key figure in establishing the global reputation of Italian denim, he spent his later years advocating for a more responsible, strategic and genuinely sustainable future for the denim industry.

This is where Tonello’s technologies come into play. The Laundry (R)evolution system was developed to rethink garment washing and finishing through more efficient and sustainable processes. Technologies such as EGO, based on ozone, and NoStone®, designed to achieve authentic stone-wash effects without using pumice stones, make it possible to create the desired look while reducing some of the industry’s most resource-intensive processing steps.
Even on an industrial scale, washing no longer needs to rely primarily on the force of water, heat, chemicals or abrasion. Instead, it can become a more precise, thoughtful process—one that aligns with what we expect from clothing today: garments that are visually appealing without compromising environmental responsibility.

Cold washing begins with a very simple question: can we achieve great results while using less energy and treating our clothes more gently?

The answer isn’t absolute. Often the answer is yes, but not always, not for every garment, and not in every situation. It is, however, the right choice often enough to make it worth adopting more regularly.

Ultimately, it’s about becoming more conscious users of our washing machines instead of treating them as appliances that make every decision for us. Lowering the washing temperature, whenever it makes sense, encourages us to pay closer attention to our clothes, to distinguish between garments that are genuinely dirty and those that simply need refreshing, and to stop relying on the same solution for every situation.

Perhaps the next time we open the washing machine and face the usual mix of colours, fabrics and uncertainties, we won’t simply select a programme at random.

That alone would be a great place to start.

Would you like to learn more about garment washing and finishing, or discover how Tonello’s technologies can enhance your production processes? Contact us at [email protected].

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