You would expect that laundered clothes would be squeaky clean. Wait…
Energy-wise people and many manufacturers often advocate using cold water to launder clothes. But this is an area where health and hygiene should dictate a more balanced look at energy savings.
Clothing is carrying more germs than before for two main reasons. First, certain items such as undergarments and small children’s clothes likely carry e-coli bateria and other germs. Washing these togther with other clothing in cold water without disinfectants enables spreading of germs. Second, because people are traveling to more places than ever. There are opportunities for the well-travelled clothing to pick up more undesirable germs.
The International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene warns that the lower water temperature in washers is not hot enough to kill germs in our clothes. Research has found that in order to eradicate the bacteria we need to wash clothes with water temperature at 140 degrees F or higher. Most germs, viruses and dust mites will not survive 140-degree temperature. Many laundry manufacturer recommend running a cycle of very hot water to clean out our washing machine, but how many of us are doing it.
Here are some practical tips.
- Use powder detergents, because they usually contain bleach, while liquid detergents often do not.
- If you cannot use bleach for avoiding color fading, use products containing peroxide.
- Separate clothes in different loads – never mix with bathroom items (including undergarment, sheets and towels) with kitchen-related items.
- Set water temperature to 140-150 degrees if possible.
- If low temperature is used, add disinfectant especially if small children and elders will be using the laundered clothing.
- Run the dryer for 45 minutes. Better yet, line dry the clothes to take advantage of the solar ultraviolet light which is a great natural and free disinfectant. This is where energy savings will not compromise health.
- Disinfect laundry tables, or use separate tables for sorting dirty and cleaned clothing to avoid germs transferring to cleaned clothing.
Do you have additional tips to share?
