Bacterial and Viral infections are all around us, they can make you and those around you sick, especially when you fail to get disinfection services from an expert.
Luckily, there are some things we can do to protect ourselves from these nasty bugs.
One of the most important is laundry disinfection. When you wash your clothes in hot water with detergent and bleach, it kills 99% of bacteria on them!
Want to learn more about what you can do with your dirty laundry? If so, then read on below!
Use Bleach to Eliminate Germs
Dirty laundry is everyone’s worst nightmare. Other than being stinky, dirty laundry contains thousands of bacteria that can make you sick. Luckily, there are some steps we as consumers can take to help protect ourselves from these germs.
One of the most important is laundry disinfection. When you wash your clothes in bleach and hot water, you end up killing 99% of the bacteria on them!
For those who have never cleaned their clothes with bleach and hot water before, here are some tips to get started:
To make sure your laundry is clean you should wash it in warm or cold water first. Warm water helps break down stains and dirt while cold rinse fixes color fastness issues like yellowing from perspiration or chlorine.
Once you’re done rinsing out all the soap bubbles, add a cup of regular detergent (or one for sensitive skin) to counteract any residual chemicals that could irritate your skin when wearing the clothing later.
Just be careful not to use too much because this can cause other problems such as suds overflow during washing cycles, which will require extra time to clean up.
Next, pour your bleach in. Be careful to not use too much because it can ruin clothes and make them wear out prematurely (not to mention the other negative effects of bleach that we mentioned earlier).
Finally, wash your sheets cold for at least 45 minutes with a cup or two of chlorine bleach added into every load. This is important to prevent certain bacteria from growing back!
Vinegar and Detergent Will Disinfect Laundry
Another way to disinfect laundry is by using vinegar and detergent. Vinegar will break down the bacteria on your clothes without any of the negative side effects that come with bleach, like wearing out clothes prematurely or giving off toxic fumes when mixed with other things!
To start washing your clothes in a mixture of vinegar and water: first, add one cup of white distilled vinegar into cold water (or warm for stains) then pour this onto fabrics.
Let soak for at least fifteen minutes before adding in detergent if you want it clean without smelling weird.
Finally, wash as normal, before hanging to dry under the heat of the sun!
Lemon Juice and Hot Water Kills Bacteria
If you don’t have vinegar, then lemon juice can be used as an alternative since lemon has a natural disinfectant in it.
One thing that’s important to note is the fact that lemon juice and hot water only kill bacteria on contact, meaning your clothes or sheets need to be wet for this method of disinfection to work!
To make sure you’re using enough: add one cup of warm water with a tablespoon of lemon juice per gallon into your washing machine before adding clothing.
Make sure all clothes are submerged in this mixture before starting your cycle, then let set for at least seven minutes before rinsing out!
However, this method will not kill all forms of bacteria, so if that’s a concern, make sure to use bleach instead (or better both).
Liquid Chlorine For Viral Infections
Another way to disinfect your laundry is by using liquid chlorine bleach. Liquid chlorine bleach can be used in a variety of situations and for different types of laundry you have on hand: whites, dark, colors (etc).
It’s important to mix it well into the water before adding clothes because the chemical stabilizers will wear out quickly otherwise and won’t last long enough! To use this method correctly, add one cup per gallon of water, then let soak for at least thirty minutes before washing as normal.
This should get rid of most bacteria that are causing viral infections.
Conclusion
This post has given you a few tips on how to remove bacteria and viruses from laundry. You can use these methods in your home or for professional purposes, like washing laundry.
These are just a couple of the many ways that disinfection is improving our lives every day! Have any questions? We’re always here to help answer them.
If not, we hope this article helped change your perspective about what it means to do laundry; at least now you know more than when you started reading!
Jamie Wong has years of experience in the field of disinfection services. As a result, he is able to provide her clients with excellent service and advice on disinfection and sanitizing.