Also, my machine sometimes squirts in occasional blasts of cold water even when I have it set on hot. I think maybe it has some kind of automatic temperature control. So maybe turning up the hot water heater wouldn't actually do anything.
The only real danger in turning up the thermostat on your water heater is that you greatly increase the risk of scalding. Most water heaters will come from the factory with the thermostat set at 120 deg. F. I keep mine set at 130 deg. F. If you have small children or mentally challenged people in your family, it's best to keep your water heater temperature down so that they don't accidentally scald themselves. If it's all mature responsible adults in your household, then I'd say go for it. Just be more careful with that hotter water.I have to launder a bunch of really dirty stuff. Is there any reason I shouldn't crank the temperature on my hot water heater all the way up? Half of me thinks that's completely nuts and something would surely explode, but the other half of me thinks it must be fine or they wouldn't put those settings on the hot water heater. I've got a 60 gallon natural gas tank that is only a few months old. I figure it would just take a few hours to heat up and then I could put it back. What do you think?