[jrochkind1]

Shocking as it will be to you -- I'm just realizing that this differs between US and rest of world -- a home washing machine in the US can only go as hot as what comes out of the faucets. It cannot wash at 90C water, and likely can't even do 60C water. It can only do as hot as the "hot" tap water, which depends on what the hot water heat is set at, which is usually somewhere between 120F (49C) and 140F (60C).

[bombcar]

Do people really boil clothes? Obviously that's not a thing in the US, but I could see it being useful for whites, perhaps.

[masklinn]

> Do people really boil clothes? Obviously that's not a thing in the US, but I could see it being useful for whites, perhaps.

It's usually for really sturdy whites you want to disinfect after they've been soiled for instance. Use of that program has definitely gone way down over time. The energy requirements alone make it not a routine wash thing.

It's also used to basically deep clean the washing machine itself.

[bombcar]

It seems that the high-end commercial units for hospitals, etc come with a steam inlet and the option for an electrical heater added:

https://unimac.com/products/washer-extractors/high-performan...