Editing Washing machine (section)

===Washing===
Many front-loading machines have internal electrical heating elements to heat the wash water, to near boiling if desired. The rate of the chemical cleaning action of the detergent and other laundry chemicals increases greatly with temperature, by the [[Arrhenius equation]]. Washing machines with internal heaters can use special detergents formulated to release different chemical ingredients at different temperatures, allowing different types of stains and soils to be cleaned from the clothes as the wash water is heated by the electrical heater.

However, higher-temperature washing uses more energy, and many fabrics and elastics are damaged at higher temperatures. Temperatures exceeding {{convert|40|°C}} have the undesirable effect of deactivating the [[enzyme]]s when using [[biological detergent]].

Many machines are cold-fill, connected to cold water only, which they internally heat to [[operating temperature]]. Where water can be heated more cheaply or with less [[Greenhouse gas emissions|carbon dioxide emission]] than by electricity, a cold-fill operation is inefficient.

Front-loaders need to use low-sudsing detergents because the tumbling action of the drum entrains air into the clothes load, which can cause excessive foamy suds and overflows. However, due to the efficient use of water and detergent, the suds issue with front-loaders can be controlled by simply using less detergent, without lessening the cleaning action.