Many washing machines have a fast speed option that reduces the total cycle time to as little as 15 – 20 minutes at the low end. Compare that to a normal wash cycle that might last around 1 hour and clearly consumes more time along with additional water and electricity, too.
The fast wash cycle is best for lighter loads and clothes that aren’t heavily soiled. Heavier loads such as towels and heavily soiled or stained clothing benefit from a longer wash time such as a regular wash cycle.
Is it a good idea to even use the fast wash option or is not worth the bother in some cases? And are there any potential side effects that we should be aware of before using it regularly?
We’ll answer these and other important questions below.
Fast wash cycle vs regular wash cycle
Here are some comparisons between the fast wash cycle and regular wash cycle on your washing machine.
| Fast wash cycle | Regular wash cycle | |
| Time | About half the time of a normal cycle. This is typically around 15-30 minutes at the short end and up to just under 1 hour at the higher end depending on your washer brand. 30 minutes is typical. | About twice the length of a short cycle. This is typically around 50-60 minutes in total. 1 hour is typical. |
| Suitability | Use the short wash cycle for smaller and lighter loads and for clothes that aren’t particularly dirty. | Use the regular wash cycle for heavier and larger loads such as towels and bedding which gets very heavy when wet. |
| Energy usage | Short cycles can often reduce energy costs by 50% – 60%. | Regular wash cycles can use up to 2x the energy that short cycles too. Energy costs increase if you use hot water, too. |
| Cleaning | Can be difficult to clean clothes with heavy stains with a shorter wash cycle. | More suitable for heavily soiled clothing due to the extra time allotted. |
| Considerations | Shorter cycles can be difficult to fully mix washing powder and dissolve detergent pods or caps when compared to liquid detergent. They often need more time to fully dissolve and mix especially if your short cycle spends significant time soaking and not agitating. | Using longer wash cycles will increase your total washing time which can be noticeable if you do most of your washing on the same day. |
Another consideration regarding saving water and energy usage is to compare a top loading washing machine and a front loader. Front loaders tend to use less of both.
One major consideration against using the fast wash cycle
Using the short wash cycle for large bulky clothing such as bath towels can be problematic if the towels stick or get balled up. If your washer also uses less water – or you choose to use the lowest water setting – the towels can quickly get stuck together.
The short wash cycle compresses the time of various events to shorten the total wash time. Water enters the drum and towels quickly suck up the water. It can be easy for several towels to stick together which can itself cause two problems.
Not only may your towels not get properly washed, you may do damage to the washing machine itself.
The drum in your washing machine can be damaged if during a fast spin cycle, the towels sit on one side of the washer and pulls the drum out out alignment. Your washing machine should have an uneven load sensor that shuts the machine off until you rebalance the clothes but damage can still be caused in rare cases.
It’s something to think about when using the shortest wash cycle of your washing machine as drum repair or replacement
can be expensive.
Summary
In many cases, using the shortest wash cycle on your washing machine is fine especially for small loads and lighter clothing that isn’t heavily soiled.
For larger and heavier loads with bulky items such as large towels or bedding, use a longer cycle not only to ensure proper washing, but to ensure that the cycle is long enough to properly mix the clothing and separate them in the case that they stick together.