Reduce the spread of dangerous bugs – advice for washing clothes

The pasta sauce stains might have disappeared — but are your freshly laundered clothes really clean?

In our desire to be greener, as well as softer on clothes, many of us are lowering the temperature of our washes, and mixing different types of clothing to make up a full load.

The maker of Ariel Gel is encouraging consumers to wash at 15°C rather than 40°C in order to halve energy costs. But experts are concerned our bid to save the planet — and money — will affect our health.

Two contributors that make a bug’s life easier

Lower temperature washing programs and mixed loads of clothes could be spreading disease.

While we associate laundry with cleanliness, some estimates say the average washing machine load contains 100 million E.coli at any one time.

A report by the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene warns that low temperature washing might not be strong enough to kill disease-causing bugs.

In winter, the norovirus (the vomiting bug) could easily spread through a family via the washing machine if you’re not using a high enough temperature wash.

While most people are resilient to such infections, for those with reduced immunity, such as the elderly and patients recently discharged from hospital, this can cause real problems.

Separate your washing into different loads

If you work with food and put your uniform in with the rest of the family’s dirty laundry, including dirty underwear, it could become infected with e.coli or salmonella — or whatever else is on those clothes,’ says Dr Lisa Ackerley, a consultant in environmental hygiene.

Many of us think nothing of throwing our underwear into the machine with the rest of the laundry. In fact, there’s a high risk your undies will harbour bacteria and they should be kept separate from low-risk items, such as skirts and shirts.

Instead, your underwear should have a high-temperature machine wash to itself or be cleaned with towels and sheets, agree experts.

A study by Hygiene Audit Systems found living bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus and E.coli, on 83 per cent of laundered underwear samples.

Of the samples tested, 89 per cent had been washed at temperatures of 40°C or lower. Dr Lisa Ackerley, who carried out the study, says: ‘Washing underwear separately and at a high temperature is even more important if the wearer is ill or suffering from an infection,’ she says. ‘Some organisms secreted by the body when a person is ill are infectious even in low doses.’

Washing underwear with household items such as tea towels is a big no, as if Staphylococcus aureus and e.coli are present they will be transferred to your cloths and then onto kitchen utensils.

Bathroom and kitchen-related items should each have their own hot wash.

In terms of temperature, the Hygiene Council recommends that all clothes, linens and other fabrics should be laundered at a high temperature — i.e., 60°C — to be sure bacteria, viruses and dust mites have been destroyed.

Washing tips if someone is ill.

If a member of your family is unwell, with flu, stomach ache, diarrhea, vomiting or worse, be particularly careful to avoid the risk of cross-contamination with other family members.

• Everyone should wash their hands carefully with soap, after using the toilet and before preparing or eating food.
• The unwell person should have their own towel and not share the family towels, in the bathroom or in the kitchen.
• Dirty clothing, towels, bedding etc. should be kept separate, and washed separately and at the highest temperature that fabric will tolerate.
• Underwear, hankies and other items in contact with bodily fluids should be handled with care, kept separately and washed very thoroughly at the hottest temperature permitted
• If someone in the household works in the food or catering industry, or the care services be particularly careful, and check if there are guidelines from their employer.

Read more about this topic via the Daily Mail website.

If you feel that your company guidelines should be reviewed and updated in  light of these issues please contact Acorn and we’ll do what we can to advise you.