Home Cleaning - Re: True that washing machines in many parts of the world don't heat

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Re: True that washing machines in many parts of the world don't heat

Charles Self

2008-02-10, 9:25 am

On 9 Feb., 20:50, Phisherman <no...@nobody.com> wrote:
> I am surprised to hear washing machines contain heaters! I prefer hot
> water (125 degrees) for white loads and that's the output of our
> 45-gallon gas water heater. Many folks prefer to use cold water to
> wash clothes, but hot water kills germs faster and seems to get white
> clothes cleaner. Soaps specially formulated for cold water washing
> are found in most stores. You can get an extra "boost" by soaking
> clothes in cold water for a few hours before washing in cold water.
> Most automatic dishwashers in the USA contain heater units.

I have interesting information about the "kills germs faster" bit: I
just heard an interview with a researcher on hospital hygiene who said
that a regular washing machine wash removes and kills all germs
completely even with cold water. The only parasites it doesn't remove
(or kill) are lice and worms. Also, Cholera germs are removed
completely but not killed *in the waste water*, which is why hospitals
may chose to still "cook" the laundry at least of some of their
patients. Actually the bigger threat comes from infected laundry that
is being left lying around without washing.
Bottom line: except in a few exotic cases (lice not being that much
of an issue these days) you can wash the laundry of even seriously
infected people at low temperatures.

E Z Peaces

2008-02-11, 8:25 pm

Charles Self wrote:
> On 11 Feb., 02:10, "Mrs Bonk" <a...@nospamcutey.com> wrote:
>
> http://www.br-online.de/b5aktuell/i...chermagazin.xml
> You can hear the guy in the podcast. He's Armin Schuster of the
> Institut fuer Krankenhaushygiene (Institute for Hospital Hygiene) /
> Freiburg.
> Sorry, it's in German.
> I think that you make the interesting point that a cold machine wash
> might not kill off superbugs such as MRSA, which is why hospitals,
> care homes etc. might want to forbear from cold-washing their
> laundry. I on the other hand wanted to point out that cold washes
> appear to be surprisingly (if not totally) effective even against
> serious "bugs".
>
I don't know about cold washing, but Staphylococcus Aureus (of which
MSRA is a variety) cannot be detected after washing at 40C. Other germs
grow in washing machines, but tumble drying kills them.

E Z Peaces

2008-02-15, 5:25 pm

Mrs Bonk wrote:
> E Z Peaces wrote:
>
> I don't have a tumble dryer.
> I would be slightly happier to do a cold wash if I could peg out my washing
> and let the sun have a go at it. With the short dull winter days, freezing
> fog or continual rain I am not taking chances. I have lost two family
> members within the last year both of them contracted MRSA.
>
I'm sorry.

MRSA appears to be transmitted by direct contact. Lots of people have
colonies of SA. Hospital personnel are likely to have the
drug-resistant kind, and they are often lax about hand washing.

If you must stay in a hospital, hire a bodyguard to keep doctors and
nurses out of your room. It's better to entertain them at home, where
you can meet them at the door and say, "I'm sure you want to freshen up
first." A lavatory security camera is cheap insurance if you invite a
doctor to your home.

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