4 Easy Ways To Disinfect Your Laundry

As soon as someone falls ill in the family due to a bacterial or viral infection, your first act should be to prevent others from catching it too. This means washing clothes, linens, and other laundry to get rid of any germs.

However, merely washing these items may not be enough to get the germs and bacteria out of them. You need to know how to disinfect them as well.

Why We Need To Disinfect Laundry:

Bacteria and germs are everywhere, including on your body and the surfaces you are in contact with. A sneeze, cough, or handshake will spread more germs than you think, and touching surfaces transfer those germs on to your clothes as well.

According to a Time article, one gram of fecal matter contains millions of viruses, and being exposed to just a hundred of these can make you ill.

Our underwear has up to a tenth of a gram of fecal matter on it, which can spread to other clothing items in a washing machine.

The only solution is to disinfect your laundry and washing machine to eradicate these germs from spreading.

With Bleach:

Use hot water to wash your white clothes and use laundry detergent and bleach. After washing, place them in the dryer for a minimum of 45 minutes.

For colored clothing, use the warmest water temperature allowed, and use laundry detergent with a bleach alternative safe for colors.

For any delicate fabrics like wool or silk, you may want to get the item dry cleaned or use a mixture of two parts water to one part isopropyl alcohol over the clothing. You can also steam some fabrics to remove germs and bacteria.

Vinegar:

Vinegar contains acetic acid that helps kill viruses and bacteria. Vinegar works well on both colored and white clothes.

Add a half cup of white vinegar when rinsing clothes to kill germs and make your clothes soft.

Peroxide:

Peroxide is a great germ killer for laundry. Use a cup for white clothes after the washer is full but before the cycle starts.

For light-colored garments, use a cup of peroxide in the bleach dispenser to disinfect colored clothes. For brightly colored clothes, it’s best to test before you put peroxide on top of your fabrics.

Disinfecting The Washing Machine:

Your washing machine gets a fair amount of bacteria and germs from every wash, so it is essential to disinfect it after every few washes.

Use two cups of peroxide and run it on the hottest water cycle before using one and a half cups of baking soda on another cycle.

Use a spray bottle with vinegar to spray and wipe the lid and rubber areas before wiping everything down with a clean cloth.

Sterling Cleaners ensures you and your clothing remain virus-free with our disinfection processes. Get in touch with us to find out how to book our laundry services in Washington, DC, or call us at (202) 785-1444.