Proper disinfection of laundry can assist in avoiding illness, germs and other diseases that cause potential harm to you, your family or customers in your business. For many years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the United States Department of Agriculture have studied how naturally-occurring compounds and man-made disinfectants can help disinfect laundry to keep homes and facilities clean, germ-free and healthy. Generally a combination of water temperature, specific disinfectant products and following manufacturer instructions can assist in keeping your laundry clean and healthy.
Water Temperature
Although many people feel using warm or hot water can ruin or shrink specific fabrics, it’s recommended to wash laundry at the highest recommended water temperature as directed by the manufacture of the fabric. Although the CDC has standards for maintaining hot water temperatures for different types of hot water holding systems and laundering facilities, generally, the temperatures should be over 120 degrees Fahrenheit. With the focus on saving energy and using high efficiency systems to save money, some water heaters don’t meet those standards. It can be costly to maintain a high temperature in a hot water holding tank, especially for large facilities that require a lot of laundering.
Disinfectant Detergents – Old and New
A multitude of new detergents have come onto the market to remove preset stains such as blood, grass, grease and other tough-to-tackle stains. A large majority of those detergents don’t disinfect. They may brighten, whiten or mask stains, but don’t have the proper components to disinfect. It’s critical to select the right products to disinfect your laundry. Many disinfectants for laundering clothes have been around and trust for many years, but often overlooked because of new products sold that attract consumers with exciting claims and commercialization. There are also several steps to ensure you don’t get sick laundering infected linens, clothes and other items in an area that may still harbor bacteria.
Use Gloves and a Laundry Basket
Before you wash potentially infected laundry, wear protective gloves and move the laundry into a laundry basket to carry it to the washer, rather than carry it in your arms. After all the potentially infected clothing, linens, pillows and other items are laundered, dispose of the gloves and wash the laundry basket in hot water and a disinfectant. You can also spray the laundry basket with a spray disinfectant and let it dwell for about 10 minutes to kill germs and viruses before using the laundry basket again.
Chlorine Bleach
Chlorine bleach is an excellent disinfectant for white clothing and linens. Not all chlorine bleach products are strong enough to kill germs and bacteria, so it’s critical to understand the concentration of the main ingredient in laundry bleach, which is sodium hypochlorite. To launder clothes and linens, it should be at least 3% to 6% sodium hypochlorite. Worldwide Janitor has a variety of chlorine beach products, including Pure Bright Bleach 10% that provides enough disinfectant to clean and sanitize white clothes and linens. To ensure you don’t ruin clothing, always allow the washer to fill completely before adding the appropriate amount of bleach to the load according to the manufacturer’s suggested amount. Bleach is aggressive and can ruin laundry if it is poured directly onto it. It can disinfect in hot, warm or cold water with the same ability to disinfect the laundry.
80% Pure Pine
For many years, pure pine has been known for its natural disinfectant agents and has been aggressively tested by a number of international government safety agencies. Derived from the wood of pine trees, its needles and cones, it’s been used for centuries. Even today, scientists are finding new ways that pure pine oil can be helpful in stopping the spread of germs, viruses and harmful insects. 80% Pure Pine can be added directly to the wash at the beginning of the wash cycle and works best in hot or warm water. The 80% Pine oil is the most powerful and works best as a disinfectant for a variety of laundry and even works well on other surfaces to clean and sanitize. It can be used directly on very soiled areas of laundry, such as collars, cuffs, grease stains and other heavily soiled areas that require aggressive disinfecting and cleaning. Using it directly on heavily soiled stains won’t ruin clothes or linens. 80% Pure Pine can be shipped from Worldwide Janitor anywhere in the United States. Some pine products are only available in certain states in accordance to EPA standards.
Even in today’s world with the commercialization of literally thousands of laundry products, tried and true disinfectants have withstood the test of time. Allow Worldwide Janitor help you select the best products for your laundry disinfection needs and help you with tips to get the most out of the products. We only distribute the highest quality products so our customers get only top quality at discount prices.
