Is it really necessary to sanitize towels every wash?

[niclonnic]

I have an interesting question to ask.

Whenever I wash towels in my LG WM2650HWA front-load steam washer, I have a tendency to wash them on the Sanitary cycle. Sometimes, I wash them on the Cotton/Normal cycle, but select the Steam option. Both cycles take about 2 hours to complete, which is why I tend to wash towels toward the end of the day.

But today was a little different. My dad's girlfriend washed the towels on the normal cycle, but with hot water. My dad told me that it takes an enormous amount of energy to do a 2-hour Sanitary wash. Then, his girlfriend stated that we should wash them on Sanitary only if there is blood or poop on them. So I decided that from now on, I'll use the Sanitary cycle only if it's absolutely necessary.

Do you agree with me on this?

 

[rp2813]

I agree that the average load of towels (assuming bath towels) doesn't require the "sanitary" cycle.   You should be fine using hot water and the "normal" cycle, which will deliver savings on time, energy, and towels.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

I do whatever it takes so my hands don’t smell like I need to wash them again after I just dried them...

— Dave

 

[appnut]

If you still wa t hot use you whites cycle and light or normal soil.

 

[norgeway]

Hot water

And high heat in the dryer and they should be fine.

 

[iheartmaytag]

I vote with the majority

Hot water, good detergent, heat from the dryer will take care of most contamination.
Now your Dad's girlfriend is accurate, if someone has a contagious condition such as TB, C-Diff or MERSA. Then by all means Sanitize, Bleach and Dry hot.

 

[moon1234]

I am going to disagree with the above. We sanitize all of our towels. Towels and underwear are the two types of laundry that are most likely to be contaminated with fecal matter. There have been LOTS of studies that show that unless you use bleach the only effective way to eliminate ecoli and other bacteria/parasites is a sanitize wash/rinse.

If my parent had a "girlfriend", who was not my mother, I would be sanitizing anything that touch her vagina or rear end. I wouldn't know what (or whom) she did outside of the house or how well she cleans herself (do you shower with her? Didn't think so.)

In most studies where towels and underwear are checked AFTER a wash they find a gram or two of fecal matter. Add to that yeast infections, potential STDs, etc. and I am ALWAYS sanitizing these items.

We don't have live in girlfriends/boyfriends, but we DO have 11 kids. It is hard enough to get the boys to lift the seat UP when the pea and put it back down when their done. They miss sometimes and hit the floor. Ohhh, there is a towel over there by the shower. I'll grab that and wipe it up.

You get the picture. Most sanitize cycles in an 8kg machine will use 1.5-2kw hours of electricity. For MOST of us in the USA that translates to $.20-.30. A "normal" wash at 122F or 140F will use .75-1Kwh or $.10-.15. The amount of water used is about the same. Only thing different is how hot it got.

Is a dime worth it to you to make sure your aren't passing around "issues?". It sure is to me. It might save you less than $3 per month to switch from sanitize to hot/very warm, but if you get sick even ONCE in 10 years due to this, then the doctor bill alone will more than eat up any savings in energy.

We usually use the hottest water the fabrics can routinely withstand with all loads. Not only will detergent work better, but oil/grease stains will dissolve better. The only reason NOT to do this is your machine doesn't have the capability. I would much rather sanitize my wash than pump up the heat in the dryer. If you want to save money, hang your wash outside on the line to dry. Costs nothing other than your time and you will get a nice bleaching effect from the sun.

 

[iheartmaytag]

I will acknowledge your decent

However, I will remain with the majority decision; than unless there is some known contagion; a sanitize wash is usually not warranted for every load.

As for STDs, other than crabs, most are not transmitted by toilet seats, towels, or underwear. That's why they are known as sexually transmitted diseases.

But, hey, I'm OCD enough that I wash all my dishes on Sanitize, because I like having the feeling that I killed the little boogers. Just not sure my towels always deserve a boil wash, but I do also love LCB. Chlorine is your friend is what I always say.

 

[iowabear]

Millions of people don't wash in anything but cold water using the cheapest detergents money can buy.  If it was a real problem we'd know about it.

 

You are keeping your machine nice and clean with all those sanitize washes though.

 

[jerrod6]

If you are using the normal cycle are you sure you have hot water in the tub? The normal cycle is used to measure energy efficiency, but sometimes it gets to be efficient because cool water is being used or spins between the rinses, or only one rinse is being used.

 

[appnut]

Jerrod is reinforcing what I'm about to say. I suggested Whites cycle because it has a hotter hot temperature than Normal. Normal is the energy star rated cycle. Select whites with the heaviest soil level to allow more time for water heating. also, use your Allergene cycle, that may be hotter than Whites. It is on my machine. But I also use Santize temperatures when dealing with cleaning rags, kitchen towels, kitchen dish cloths, and terry cloth napkins that have food residue on them.

I even wash my dark towels in hot water.

when I use my normal cycle, I always select hot because it uses so little water it doesn't maintain the hot temp for very long.

 

[niclonnic]

I agree with most

Like I said, I think washing on the normal cycle with hot water will be fine for most towel washes, regardless of color. I just mix whites and colors, and they never bleed.

Jerrod6, my washer doesn't have a Whites cycle, but it does have an Allergiene cycle, which I generally use only for sheets and stuff that collect dust and allergens.

One thing I observed on the Normal cycle is that the hot water temperature slowly drops over time. This is especially noticeable on the heaviest soil level.

 

[appnut]

The temperature drops because the heater isn't being engaged to maintain water temperature. That's common with "normal" cycles. If you want water temperature to be maintained, you'll have to use the steam option to energize the heater. On my Normal/Casual, with steam, the hottest it gets is about 120. Without steam, Whites gets to 125-127. Allergene 131-133. Sanitize 153-155. All on heaviest soil level. Does your model have a Heavy Duty cycle? If so, see if hot water temperature is maintained. [this post was last edited: 12/17/2018-19:10]

 

[jeb]

Sani Towels

In America most of our parents never heard of a washer with a heater built in and washed in whatever temp came from the tap-we are still here, our grand parents used wringer washers with the water being used multiple times and our parents made it, our great grandparents washed in wooden tub washers and our grandparents lived to produce our parents. Our great, great grandparents scrubbed the clothes on wooden boards in water that was cool enough to put your hands in and they conceived our great grandparents. Our great, great, great grandparents beat their clothes on rocks in cold streams and our great, great grandparents still came along. Germs have been around for centuries, as a person who was an infectious disease teacher I can say the problem is not germs but our phobia about them. Our bodies are having a harder time fighting off common germs that a generation ago would not have been a problem. Our bodies are not building antibodies so that stray germ on the shopping cart that didn't get hit by the germicidal wipe now causes us to get sick because we haven't let our body build up an imunity to it.

 

[ea56]

Re: Reply #13

Jeff, great job putting things in perspective with your words of wisdom. Unless there is an infectious disease outbreak in the home, washing in normal hot water as it comes from the tap with a good detergent should be adequete to clean towels.

I have to agree with you, there is an obsession with the iradication of germs in our country. And at the same time many people are careless with their general housekeeping, If you keep the dirt you can see in check, by regular house cleaning and doing your laundry, chances are you are good to go, and have little to worry about illness due to bacterial infection. And just as you wisely pointed out, you will also develop immunities to normally present germs and bacteria.

Eddie

 

[henene4]

Towel sanitation

I would make it dependent on how long you use the towels, how you store them while you use them, how store them after use until the wash, how long you store them after use and how you use them while you use them.

I use my towels for a week, my shower towels for 2.
I do store them hanging and let them dry before I throw them in the basket.
They stay there for up to 3 weeks and are usually quite heavily soiled, so I do wash them at 140°F. That is in a EU machine though.

So, my point is, if you wash all your towels weekly, they always air out after use and aren't contaminated to much, just a hot wash will do.

If you use them longer and only wash towels once you collected a full load over a few weeks, sanitizing them seems like a good idea.

 

[norgeway]

A Funny story!

Until I was 7 or 8, My Grandmother boiled all the wash cloths, hand towels and dish cloths before she washed them in hot water and bleach,,,She was OBSESSED with cleanliness She scrubbed the finish off our sink and tub with Ajax cleanser!

 

[norgeway]

When my Mother

Was a little girl, in the 30s and 40s, Grandmother boiled the clothes in a iron pot in the yard, and until 38 when they got electricity, washed on a board!

 

[moon1234]

I think a lot of people forget it was common to boil clothes before automatic washers. Many of our grandparents didn’t live to the same age we do now. Diseases such as typhus, TB even influenza were death sentences. Pasteurization (again heat) ended most sickness due to milk contamination.

Thinking all our ancestors where washing clothes in a stream is strange. Both of my great grandparents boiled their wash before scrubbing. They don’t have bleach. They butchered their chickens for dinner. Milked cows and hauled manure. They were not washing in cold water. They knew that caused infections and stuff just did not come clean in cold water.

It’s a lot easier now to get heat for washing. Miele’s oldest washer was designed for boil washes.

Think how many people wash their hospital scrubs in “hot” 120F water at home. One of the reasons Germs move around hospitals so quickly.