Renowned cleaner shatters conventional laundry myths, unveiling a new era in stain removal

In a groundbreaking departure from conventional laundry wisdom, renowned dry cleaner Zachary Pozniak found himself questioning a well-established belief about stain removal.

Pozniak, celebrated for his garment care expertise, recently conducted a series of experiments challenging the widely accepted notion that hot water sets stains and the results were nothing short of surprising.

In order to challenge this theory, Pozniak conducted a series of tests and shared the intriguing process and results on his TikTok page.

Pozniak’s experiment involved staining four cotton swatches with pig’s blood, grass, olive oil with turmeric, and tomato sauce. These swatches were left to dry overnight before undergoing a meticulously planned testing regimen.

“I washed AND rinsed one in cold water, washed and rinsed another in hot water, pretreated one to ensure the stains were actually removed, and then DRIED a swatch in the tumble dryer for 20 minutes and then washed on warm,” he explained.

Pozniak’s experiment debunked the age-old belief that hot water sets stains, as the fabric washed in hot water showed significant stain removal.

“Hot water will always remove more stains than cold as there are more interactions between the water, detergent and stains, which means better cleaning results. This is even true for protein based stains like blood and grass,” he says.

@jeeves_ny Replying to @Buzyz It seems like every time I rinse a stain in a video I get a comment along the lines of, “Make sure to rinse in cold water or else it’ll set the stain”! I too was taught this lesson when it came to laundry as even most of the dry cleaners out there have heard of this ‘rule’. However, after doing a few hundred laundry detergent tests with cold, warm, and hot water, I wasn’t sure if it was correct. To find out if this laundry urban legend was true or not, I decided to test it. To do this I stained 4 cotton swatches with pig’s blood, grass, olive oil with turmeric, and tomato sauce. I let these swatches dry overnight before testing. Then I washed AND rinsed one in cold water, washed and rinsed another in hot water, pretreated one to ensure the stains were actually removed, and then DRIED a swatch in the tumble dryer for 20 minutes and then washed on warm. Turns out that hot water DOES NOT set stains, but HOT AIR does. This is likely because the hot hair is removing moisture from a stain. Anyways, this is GOOD NEWS!!! I hope you found this useful #mythbusting #laundry #laundrytips #STEM #mythbuster #urbanlegend #explained ♬ original sound – clean freakz

Fellow users reacted with a mix of relief, nostalgia, and gratitude to the experiment’s findings, with many relieved to debunk the cold-water myth and others fondly recalling past laundry practices while expressing thanks for the insights into the role of hot water in stain removal.

“Finally. It drives me insane that people think cold water is better at washing – It doesn’t make any sense at all to me as someone with a chemistry degree,” one user commented.

“My mom used to boil our towels with detergent like once every year or every two years and they always came out WHITE, like new.”

“Fabulous experiment! Thank you,” another said.

“Thank you! This is very helpful.”

As we bid farewell to traditional laundry norms, Pozniak’s revelation offers a fresh perspective in the realm of stain-fighting techniques.

Here’s to cleaner, smarter, and more innovative laundry practices ahead!