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How to do laundry to kill and prevent athlete's foot fungus?
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Ludeman Eng
How to do laundry to kill and prevent athlete's foot fungus?
Edit: COVID and your laundry
If you're worried about SARS-CoV-2 (the novel coronavirus) or COVID, you're looking at the wrong post. Instead, please see a related question of mine and the answer I've posted there. Both the question, and the answer, discuss COVID.
A scholarly report discusses the matter
Some years ago, a scholarly report was published. The report's "Appendix A" discusses, among other things, how to clean your laundry if there's a risk that it may be somewhat contagious.
The advice given
The report advises:
Whenever you do laundry, add some activated oxygen bleach (AOB).
Notes: You can use standalone AOB, or a detergent with AOB included. This link discusses your options. In the US, Tide powder is one good choice. Certain products are probably not good disinfectants, including Tide liquid, Tide pods, and OxiClean.
If possible, also do laundry at 140 °F (60 °C).
Note: This may shrink and/or destroy certain items. (Source.) Read their care labels.
Use the regular cycle. Don't enable "quick wash", "water saving", or any other environmentally-friendly options.
Make sure each item goes through the rinse and spin cycles at least twice. Preferably three times.
It's best to wash items belonging to the infected family member in separate loads from everyone else's laundry.
If you can also dry the items in sunlight, this is an extra bonus.
The report also gives other advice; please see here.
Water temperature
In some countries (including the US and certain others), if you want to wash clothing at 140 °F (60 °C), there's a problem.
An article on the Bottom Line Inc. website states that, in these countries,
household water heaters typically are set to 120 °F [50 °C] to minimize the risk of scalding.
The article suggests three possible workarounds.
One (dangerous) workaround would be to raise your water heater's temperature to 140 °F (60 °C). But this is a dangerously-high setting. (Source.) It may also be illegal in your jurisdiction. (Source.) Water at 120 °F (50 °C) takes 5-10 minutes to cause a third-degree burn; but water at 140 °F (60 °C) takes just 3-5 seconds. (Source.) Third-degree burns sometimes kill people. (Source.) Maybe I should email the Bottom Line Inc. and suggest that they revise their article.
Another workaround might be to pour a kettleful of boiling water into your top-loading washer shortly before it's finished filling.
A third workaround is to use a washing machine with a water-temperature-boosting feature, "such as the Whirlpool Front-Load Washer with Deep-Clean Steam, model #WFW86HEBW, which can get the water up to 150 °F [65 °C]".
If you're worried about SARS-CoV-2 (the novel coronavirus) or COVID, you're looking at the wrong post. Instead, please see a related question of mine and the answer I've posted there. Both the question, and the answer, discuss COVID.
A scholarly report discusses the matter
Some years ago, a scholarly report was published. The report's "Appendix A" discusses, among other things, how to clean your laundry if there's a risk that it may be somewhat contagious.
The advice given
The report advises:
Whenever you do laundry, add some activated oxygen bleach (AOB).
Notes: You can use standalone AOB, or a detergent with AOB included. This link discusses your options. In the US, Tide powder is one good choice. Certain products are probably not good disinfectants, including Tide liquid, Tide pods, and OxiClean.
If possible, also do laundry at 140 °F (60 °C).
Note: This may shrink and/or destroy certain items. (Source.) Read their care labels.
Use the regular cycle. Don't enable "quick wash", "water saving", or any other environmentally-friendly options.
Make sure each item goes through the rinse and spin cycles at least twice. Preferably three times.
It's best to wash items belonging to the infected family member in separate loads from everyone else's laundry.
If you can also dry the items in sunlight, this is an extra bonus.
The report also gives other advice; please see here.
Water temperature
In some countries (including the US and certain others), if you want to wash clothing at 140 °F (60 °C), there's a problem.
An article on the Bottom Line Inc. website states that, in these countries,
household water heaters typically are set to 120 °F [50 °C] to minimize the risk of scalding.
The article suggests three possible workarounds.
One (dangerous) workaround would be to raise your water heater's temperature to 140 °F (60 °C). But this is a dangerously-high setting. (Source.) It may also be illegal in your jurisdiction. (Source.) Water at 120 °F (50 °C) takes 5-10 minutes to cause a third-degree burn; but water at 140 °F (60 °C) takes just 3-5 seconds. (Source.) Third-degree burns sometimes kill people. (Source.) Maybe I should email the Bottom Line Inc. and suggest that they revise their article.
Another workaround might be to pour a kettleful of boiling water into your top-loading washer shortly before it's finished filling.
A third workaround is to use a washing machine with a water-temperature-boosting feature, "such as the Whirlpool Front-Load Washer with Deep-Clean Steam, model #WFW86HEBW, which can get the water up to 150 °F [65 °C]".
@LangLangC: In America, many (perhaps most) washing machines lack heating elements. They draw hot water from the household water heater instead. ❧ In many places, it's illegal to set a household water heater to anything higher than 120 °F (50 °C), because such hot tap water may cause severe burns and possibly death.More
@Narusan Isn't this quite conflating hand washing and machine washing? Even my mom used boiling water for 'hand' washing (with sticks instead of hands of course). Where is it not legal for a machine to use even 95°C settings? (quick check online left me really puzzled about this.) House hold water heaters have nothing to do with laundry machines?More
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Bleach was never an option for me due to the discoloring of the fabric, but after several years I've noticed a major improvement using Lysol Laundry Sanitizer:
Bleach was never an option for me due to the discoloring of the fabric, but after several years I've noticed a major improvement using Lysol Laundry Sanitizer:
Edit: COVID and your laundry
If you're worried about SARS-CoV-2 (the novel coronavirus) or COVID, you're looking at the wrong post. Instead, please see a related question of mine and the answer I've posted there. Both the question, and the answer, discuss COVID.
A scholarly report discusses the matter
Some years ago, a scholarly report was published. The report's "Appendix A" discusses, among other things, how to clean your laundry if there's a risk that it may be somewhat contagious.
The advice given
The report advises:
Water temperature
In some countries (including the US and certain others), if you want to wash clothing at 140 °F (60 °C), there's a problem.
An article on the Bottom Line Inc. website states that, in these countries,
The article suggests three possible workarounds.
One (dangerous) workaround would be to raise your water heater's temperature to 140 °F (60 °C). But this is a dangerously-high setting. (Source.) It may also be illegal in your jurisdiction. (Source.) Water at 120 °F (50 °C) takes 5-10 minutes to cause a third-degree burn; but water at 140 °F (60 °C) takes just 3-5 seconds. (Source.) Third-degree burns sometimes kill people. (Source.) Maybe I should email the Bottom Line Inc. and suggest that they revise their article.
Another workaround might be to pour a kettleful of boiling water into your top-loading washer shortly before it's finished filling.
A third workaround is to use a washing machine with a water-temperature-boosting feature, "such as the Whirlpool Front-Load Washer with Deep-Clean Steam, model #WFW86HEBW, which can get the water up to 150 °F [65 °C]".
Edit: COVID and your laundry
If you're worried about SARS-CoV-2 (the novel coronavirus) or COVID, you're looking at the wrong post. Instead, please see a related question of mine and the answer I've posted there. Both the question, and the answer, discuss COVID.
A scholarly report discusses the matter
Some years ago, a scholarly report was published. The report's "Appendix A" discusses, among other things, how to clean your laundry if there's a risk that it may be somewhat contagious.
The advice given
The report advises:
Water temperature
In some countries (including the US and certain others), if you want to wash clothing at 140 °F (60 °C), there's a problem.
An article on the Bottom Line Inc. website states that, in these countries,
The article suggests three possible workarounds.
One (dangerous) workaround would be to raise your water heater's temperature to 140 °F (60 °C). But this is a dangerously-high setting. (Source.) It may also be illegal in your jurisdiction. (Source.) Water at 120 °F (50 °C) takes 5-10 minutes to cause a third-degree burn; but water at 140 °F (60 °C) takes just 3-5 seconds. (Source.) Third-degree burns sometimes kill people. (Source.) Maybe I should email the Bottom Line Inc. and suggest that they revise their article.
Another workaround might be to pour a kettleful of boiling water into your top-loading washer shortly before it's finished filling.
A third workaround is to use a washing machine with a water-temperature-boosting feature, "such as the Whirlpool Front-Load Washer with Deep-Clean Steam, model #WFW86HEBW, which can get the water up to 150 °F [65 °C]".
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Bleach was never an option for me due to the discoloring of the fabric, but after several years I've noticed a major improvement using Lysol Laundry Sanitizer:
https://www.lysol.com/products/laundry/lysol-laundry-sanitizer/
Note that you need to let your clothes soak in the product for at least 20 minutes, and the longer the better.
Bleach was never an option for me due to the discoloring of the fabric, but after several years I've noticed a major improvement using Lysol Laundry Sanitizer:
https://www.lysol.com/products/laundry/lysol-laundry-sanitizer/
Note that you need to let your clothes soak in the product for at least 20 minutes, and the longer the better.
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