new product for laundy

[pierreandreply4]

hello to all aw members just discovered a new product made by Lysol that go in the fabric softner dispenser if washer a front load or in rinse water its Lysol sanitizer for laundry read the label in store seem like a good product but do not know much about this product

 

[liamy1]

Laundry disenfectant

Not sure if it’s new in Canada, but has been around for a good few years now in the US and UK (of course under the Dettol brand in the U.K.),

It’s a disenfectant based on quaternary ammonium, aimed at providing bacteria kill for when low temperature cycles or non bleaching laundry products used.

I have some for the odd occasion I feel something would benefit. But to me, no chemical is going to beat a hot wash with and oxygen bleach based detergent.

They smell nice though (we have a few different scented versions here in U.K.)

 

[cuffs054]

I tried it. The instructions call for a cold rinse (no problem), but 20 minutes of cycle time.

 

[launderess]

Nothing about the product nor concept is new.

We've discussed Lysol's version of laundry sanitizer a while back when it first was introduced.

It joins a long list of "hygiene" laundry rinse aids including Persil, Sagrotan, Dettol and others. Those are just on the domestic consumer end, commercial/industrial laundries long have had their own.

These are all quat based sanitizers mostly intended for laundry that cannot or was not laundered with high temperatures, use of bleach (oxygen or chlorine), and thus for "protection" from *germs* should be treated with said products.

In Europe and else where such products have been around longer for domestic use the prime target consumer was women. Specifically their undergarments (which often today are made from mad made textiles in whole or part), that cannot withstand high temperatures and or heavy bleaching. After a bout of certain lady's "illnesses" it was advised (mostly by product makers, but sometimes personal physician) to use these hygiene rinses.

Male equal would be athlete's foot and socks.

All this being said, as one has repeatedly pointed out such hygiene products are not necessary for normal laundry routines. Cases of illness transmitted via contact or whatever from textiles (freshly laundered or otherwise) are rather few. Well suppose if one wrapped themselves up in blanket taken from a smallpox suffer that *might* be different.

There are more things growing on every day surfaces people come into far more contact than laundry. From computer keyboard, to toilet seats, to shower curtain/glass enclosures. Yet few if anyone bother about such things.

For nearly all purposes merely washing clothing, then drying (especially) in tumble dryer reduces any germs or whatever to low enough levels. Ironing with a hot iron instead of and or in addition to tumble drying reduces those counts even more.

Lysol Laundry Cootie Killer

Picked a bottle of the new Lysol Laundry Sanitizer. I hoped it would help me feel better about not being able to wash in real hot water. Sadly, I'm a bit disappointed. It is made to go into the RINSE water and for maximum effect needs a 16 MINUTE RINSE cycle. Of course neither of these is...

www.automaticwasher.org

 

[circlew]

Quat based sanitizers are also usually effective fungicides. These would be useful if you let your wet clothes or linens set too long, and they developed mildew or mold.

 

[lakewebsterkid]

This isn't new. It has been discussed quite a bit on ths.gardenweb. As mentioned above, it requires 20 minutes of contact and cannot be mixed with detergent.

 

[rolls_rapide]

"20 minutes of contact time..."

Then it is a pointless product.

Any machine I've used, has had a rinse of about five minutes per bath.

You would either have to stand over the machine and add some for each and every change of rinse water, or have some kind of auto-dose machine especially programmed for this type of injection.

Miele could probably tweak their Twin-Dos programming a little more, to allow for a standard liquid detergent in one bottle, and the sanitizer in the second - rather than the current oxybleach or fabric conditioner options.

 

[iej]

They're mostly totally, and utterly unnecessary. Your normal wash will reduce bacteria and viral content to safe levels very effectively, particularly if you're using a good detergent.

You're adding more chemicals to your clothes that are going to be in contact with your skin if you're using them in the last rinse.

In my view all of these sanitisers are just appealing to germophobes and are at best giving you some kind of psychological comfort.

 

[launderess]

Product contains: Quaternary ammonium compounds, di-C8-10-alkyldimethyl, chlorides.

Neither are substances one would want to come into contact with one's skin; especially after bathing and drying off with a towel treated with Lysol sanitizer.

However that is exactly what will happen given the large dosage of product required per rinse cycle. There is bound to be residue since it goes into final rinse.

A quick glance at Amazon.com reviews turns up a few cases of dermatitis or other skin issues after using product. https://www.amazon.com/Lysol-Laundry-Sanitizer-Additive-Crisp/dp/B01NBFHFZN?th=1#customerReviews

Post WWII germs replaced Germans as the enemy for Allied housewives. Suddenly things no longer just had to be clean, there was this huge effort to get housewives to protect all they hold near and dear. Much of this was in form of various products that killed "germs".

Sanitizing ones home is one thing, but there is such a thing as going too far. The pan, bathroom and kitchen surfaces ok, one can see there. But laundry just isn't a vector of germs that many seem to believe. If one has a desire to go down that road then you want plenty of hot to boiling water, alkaline detergents/soaps and some sort of bleach.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Does Lysol recommend a rinse after using this product? I see the ad pouring this in the fabric softener dispenser, but most dispensers don't hold a lot. I guess you could reset a Miele for a starch cycle and get about 16 minutes of contact, based on my machines' cycles, but hell, when you can fire them up to 190F, why would you need that product? I boil 2 gallons of water to get a 153F wash in my Speed Queen FL after preheating it with a hot fill when I do white bath sheets. That is over 140F so it should kill most evil microbes.

 

The other thing about the quaternary ammonia products is that they greatly reduce absorbancy so you could drown in a towel given such treatment and a kid could float out of a diaper treated with it. I think that there were some fabric softeners that were quat-based because the treatment leaves textiles with a funny feel.

 

[circlew]

When I used such a product (GFS Array Quat-Clean) on laundry, I added it to water in the laundry tub, and soaked my soured/mildewed washcloths & towels. I then put them in the washer and rinsed, then ran through a normal cycle before drying. No more nasty moldy smell!

 

[launderess]

"Does Lysol recommend a rinse after using this product"

No, it goes in final rinse cycle on its own; no FS or anything else.

"No more nasty moldy smell! "

On occasion have bath linens (hand, face or even body towels) that get a whiff due to prolonged dampness.

One wash in either the Miele or AEG at 120F with either a detergent containing oxygen bleach, or added on its own, and problem is solved.

 

[mrboilwash]

Tom, those laundry sanitizers do not reduce absorbancy of towels at all although they do form droplets on the door glass of a FL just like FS does.
Unlike FS the active ingredient of sanitizers has more surfactancy or detergency, but both are classified cationic surfactants or quats. I`m no chemist but I think the oil loving part of those quats used in sanitizers must be much less powerful or pronounced than those used in fabric softener. Maybe someone with more insight can explain it in a better way.
Since both products go into the last rinse and have a similar pH (sour) some manufacturers of laundry sanitizers say it`s OK to mix it with FS if the dipenser is large enough.
Personally I don`t like those sanitizers and consider them only as a last resort.
If boilwashing isn`t possible I`d rather go with one of those H2O2 based mild bleaches which are even suitable for wool and silk to reduce germs further than normal washing would if that is the goal.

 

[launderess]

Requies a sixteen minute contact time.

What modern washing machine (or old for that matter) has a final rinse cycle nearly twenty minutes long?

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/4455957/my-apologies-about-lysol-laundry-sanitizer

Also if you read above posts and elsewhere, plenty of persons are using this product incorrectly.

Quat sanitizers cannot come into contact with detergents and other cleaning chemicals, it will simply deactivate the product.

Also quat based sanitizers are for the "last mile" if you will; that is after a surface, laundry has been cleaned/washed and rinsed, *then* one applies a quat solution (in proper ratio), and allow it to remain in contact for required time.

Presence of soils, organic matter and or even large enough "germ" colonies will simply overwhelm and or deactivate quat based sanitizers.

 

[iej]

You also have to think about why you're using a useful disinfectant frivolously for nothing but s notional reason that's giving you some psychological sense of peace of mind.

Bacteria and viruses have very short life cycles and adapt extremely effectively. Over use of sanitisers just breeds bugs that can easily suvive them.

If your clothes are coming out smelly, you need to change something else. You're either using a totally inappropriatly short cycle or a very poor detergent, or you've a very poor performance washing machine. It could be a faulty recirculation pump, a failed heater, badly clogged filters etc etc

If you wash clothes they should be coming out clean, fresh and free from odours without any use of sanitisers or heavy perfumes.

Laundress' tips are great on their and plenty of other threads.

Your end result should be clean, relatively chemical free laundry. Not something drenched with anti microbials.

Bear in mind *we* are made of cells that contain all of the same components as your typical bacteria or fungus. Chemicals that kill them tend to be quite damaging to us too.

Laundry processes largely wash away the bugs without resorting to scorched earth chemical warfare. It's just a case of removing them along with the general dirt, stains, oils, sweat and so on. You're making your clothes clean and rendering them inhospitable to bacteria.

Anything beyond that is really unnecessary.

If you're dealing with clothing that's carrying potentially hazardous microbes - laundry from someone with a compromised immune system who is very unwell eg having chemotherapy, or laundry coming home from hospitals, then you need to wash longer and if possible hotter and ideally use bleachy detergents. That's why you're better to wear clothes that can take heavy laundering if you're in hospital and avoid easily faded items and synthetics.

 

[circlew]

Launderess, I had tried washing them in detergent & hot water, and soaking in Borax to no avail before resorting to the Quat-Clean.

 

[ea56]

When I was still a practicing, licensed Cosmetologist in the State of California we used Quaternary Ammonium Compound, or “Quats” for sanitizing combs and brushes. The concentration of the solution was required to be 1000 parts per million and we were required to wash the implements prior to submerging them in the sanitizer, usually by soaking them first in a solution of Spic and Span and hot water. Then they needed to remain in the Quats solution for 10 mins. before they were considered to be sanitized. They were the rinsed, and allowed to dry on clean towels before the next use.

And if the State Board inspector made a surprise visit, this was one of the quesitons you could count on being asked.

Eddie

 

[iej]

They’re probably achieving the result by leaving it on the clothes in the last rinse so, the product is present for a lot longer than 12 mins.

The only way I would see that process as ok would be where the sanitizer is dosed as part of a long prewash and very few machines, other than Miele in my experience, can be programmed to do a 12 min prewash. Most do a pretty short one.

At least that kind of approach would mean a timed exposure to the chemicals and then a full cycle to rinse them away.

I’m not sure how those chemicals would interact with enzymes though. They might render them less effective.

All in all, they’re not a step that should be necessary in domestic laundry processing.

 

[mrboilwash]

Using such products in a prewash cycle is kind of pointless because clothes have to be clean (more or less free of organic matter) to make them work effectively.
On a front loader you could use the rinse hold option to get a longer contact time and then follow with another rinse if someone is afraid of chemical residue.