Front-Load Washers: A triumphant return and one still among the missing.

[lorainfurniture]

All living complex organisms die after 120 degrees. All bacteria/viruses/ etc dies at 165.

As John said , bleach is basically your only shot at truly disinfecting , or just save yourself a lot of trouble and dry on high heat which will totally eradicate everything.

 

[launderess]

Perhaps for domestic use, and certainly in the USA that might prove true, but certainly isn't across the board.

In Europe and or commercial/institutional use state of the art for some time now has been activated oxygen bleaching systems that will deliver same sanitation/disinfecting properties of chlorine bleach, but without any of the drawbacks.

https://www.rapidcleannewengland.com.au/products/ecolab-eltra-20kg/

Have mentioned this previously; peracetic acid formed by bleach activator (TAED usually) and oxygen bleach (sodium perborate or percarbonate), and or stand alone solution is a powerful disinfectant, fungicide, etc.... Breweries, poultry plants and others use peracetic acid to disinfect without the cons of using chlorine based products.

https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Peracetic-acid

https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/guidelines/disinfection/sterilization/peracetic-acid.html

http://www.laundryandcleaningnews.com/news/newsclarifying-the-use-of-peracetic-acid-4308754

Then of course there are the quat based laundry sanitizers used in final rinse. Persil, Dettol, Lysol among other brand names.

Chlorine bleach remains the standard or go to option (at least in United States) because it is cheap, easily accessible and the old reliable standby that most are familiar with, and or can wrap their heads around.

 

[foraloysius]

Well, I'm certainly not going to wash my dark blue cotton satin bed linens with chlorine bleach. And I prefer getting the dustmites out in the wash cycle, not in the dry cycle with my dustmite allergy. I have a heatpump dryer, I can't count on the dryer for getting the dustmites killed. And bed linens smelling like chlorine bleach would be the last thing I would want. I don't need an asthma attack because of those linens bleached.