Laundry on The Doctors today.

[mrb627]

I recorded the Doctors today because the subject matter involved laundry. The question posed by a viewer was, can my laundry make me sick? The answer that was given was a yes. With the recommendation that clothing should be sorted properly. Undergarments should be washed in 140 water regardless of color. The risk of sickness increases if you share your washing machine with others. I was surprised that it wasn't mentioned that not all washing machines can achieve a 140 target wash temperature.

What are your thoughts on the subject?

Malcolm

 

[tomturbomatic]

I don't know if the show has a website, but with most people otherwise occupied at that time of the day, I don't think many people will be trying to achieve the 140F wash temperature based on their recommendation. Most people are convinced that cold water, so long as it does not have ice forming on the surface, will clean all loads because washing machine & detergent manufacturers, in cahoots with the quack scientists at the Department of Energy push that malarky in every article on doing laundry that shows up in print and on line.

Oh yes, and rinsing is such a waste of resources that it something that can be accomplished with miniscule amounts of fresh water. [this post was last edited: 10/12/2012-19:57]

 

[whirlcool]

And let's not forget that some people don't sort at all. They wash undergarments with denims and scatter rugs too!

Think of it this way... you may save a few quarters on energy washing your clothes improperly but I guarantee you all those savings will be lost when it comes time to pay the doctor bill because you became sick from your own methods.

 

[arbilab]

Did your laundry make you sick while you were wearing it? Do you consider yourself a biohazard? No? Then if there's nothing on there that sickened you, there is nothing to wash off that will sicken you.

OK, worst case. Last week you had the flu but this week you're over it. Will last weeks' clothes make you sick again? No. If you got internally immune enough to get over it, you're still immune to that specific strain.

Can someone else's clothes make you sick? Maybe, but drying at 140-160F inhibits most crawlies regardless what happens in the washer.

Can underrinsing make you sick? If you call poison ivy "sick", definitely. Detergent is highly irritating and you can be sensitive/allergic to it.

Got to think these things through for ourselves. Media definitely isn't going to do it for us, they're most interested in sensationalism.

 

[whirlcool]

What about people who line dry their clothing? Washing undergarments in cold water and then line drying may not kill all the e-coli in the garments.

There is a reason there are generally accepted methods of doing laundry.

 

[frigilux]

I washed everything in temp-controlled cold water for about 1-1/2 years when powdered Tide Coldwater first appeared and a 2002 Frigidaire front-loader was the daily driver. I washed all whites together (personal and kitchen), but used liquid chlorine bleach, as I always have. These loads were often line-dried. Excellent stain-removal results, but found that was due to the bleach, as Tide Coldwater alone was not as good a stain-remover as it is today.

Eventually, I became bored of using the same detergent for everything, and reverted to washing in a wide range of temperatures.

Since acquiring a 2010 Frigidaire front-loader with a water heater, I wash loads of kitchen/personal whites using the Sanitize cycle. Those loads get dosed with bleach and an extra rinse.

I'll never buy a washer without a heater. It's the only line of defense against the dumbed-down water temps in new washers. I have yet to find a stain that isn't removed using the 1-hour 47-minute sanitize cycle coupled with an excellent detergent. The sanitize cycle would be about 10 minutes shorter without the extra rinse. That makes it only a little longer than the normal cycle on most 2012 washers--and you get 155-degree wash water.

All bed and bath linens are also white, and those are generally washed on the Heavy cycle with the steam option selected. This provides an extended hot first rinse (the "Adding Steam" portion of the cycle) and a warm second/final rinse. Using maximum wash time, cycle is about 1 hour 12 minutes.