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Sunlight as a Disinfectant for Laundry

April 1, 2013 By 1 Comment

Dear Home-Ec 101,

I’ve seen a couple of posts where you’ve mentioned that sunlight is a disinfectant… I wondered if you had any idea how effective it actually is, and whether the temperature outside influences its effectiveness? I hang my laundry outside to dry whenever possible (generally when it’s above freezing) but a recent cold/flu epidemic in our household has me wondering if I should be doing more to get rid of germs in my laundry than just hot water washes and sunlight.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Sincerely,
Sunny days taking my cares away

Heather says:

You pose an outstanding question and I wish I had a good answer, backed up with strong data, for you, but the sad truth is I don’t.

There are so many variables involved with hanging clothes outside in the sun to dry that don’t really translate well to laboratory testing.

Think about it, off the top of my head here’s what came to mind:

  • What latitude? The equator is significantly different than Norway
  • Direct / indirect sunlight
  • ambient temperature
  • humidity
  • relative cleanliness of the clothing hung outside
  • thickness of the fabric

So I began researching. Had I really been using an old wives tale as a resource here on Home-Ec 101? (You really don’t want a peek inside my head, it’s quite cluttered in there and filled with second and third guessing)

I highly recommend you check out The Naked Scientists. Don’t worry, you’re not going to get an eyeful, go ahead and visit. Anyhow, they have forums and someone asked a very similar question and some responded with the whole that’s baloney, the sun isn’t good for disinfecting, but The Bored Chemist also weighed in, thank goodness.

The truth is that the UV from the sun does kill bacteria quite effectively.

And from Penn State:

Microbes are uniquely vulnerable to the effects of light at wavelengths at or near 2537 Angstroms due to the resonance of this wavelength with molecular structures.

However, so does heat and generally drier conditions.

So what does this mean?

Sunlight is a disinfectant. Remember though that the term disinfectant only means:

an agent that frees from infection; especially : a chemical that destroys vegetative forms of harmful microorganisms (as bacteria and fungi) especially on inanimate objects but that may be less effective in destroying spores

Sunlight will reduce the overall amount of bacteria living on your fabrics, but it won’t sterilize them. (Remember, we’ve talked about the difference between clean, sanitary, and sterile before). So, yes, if you have a contagious bug making the rounds in your home, go ahead and hang the sheets and towels in the sun, after washing them properly, the fresh air certainly won’t do you any harm, either. (Apply sunscreen, yada yada yada).

Unless you have people still in the chewing on fabric phase -or have a houseful of pinkeye the relative cleanliness of your laundry isn’t a huge deal – do take care with your kitchen laundry, of course.

If however, you have someone in the house with severe allergies, know that the collection of pollen on their pillowcases is probably going to make them absolutely miserable and it’s not worth the extra effort.

I hope everyone is feeling better.

Submit your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

Filed Under: Wash It

How to Clean Kitchen Laundry in a Public Laundromat

March 11, 2013 By 4 Comments

Dear Home-Ec 101,

I love your website, your tips have been extremely helpful to me. I have a question, though, whose answer I couldn’t find in your archives.Maybe you can help me out?

I don’t have a washer at home so I take most of my laundry to a laundromat. I’ve been washing my dishcloths in a bucket with regular laundry detergent and dish washing liquid for stains. But when it comes to bigger items like aprons and table cloths… I’m embarrassed to say, I’ve been buying new ones because it just feels strange to wash them on a public laundromat, even if I wash them separately from my clothes.

If I don’t have a washer, how should I wash kitchen things?

Thanks a lot,
Clueless Germaphobe

Heather says:

If you had your own washing machine and knew what exactly was being washed and when I’d suggest you take a deep breath and not worry. You can always disinfect your own washing machine after doing something awful like cleaning up after a toilet overflow or dealing with toddlers and potty training accidents. Let’s face it, not everyone out there is considerate and when it comes to food safety, go ahead and let your germaphobe tendencies run free.

The following information is from the New Mexico State University Agricultural Extension:

Use a disinfectant when washing at a laundromat. Illness from another family can be passed on if the washing machine is not disinfected before it is used. Wipe off the surface of the machine with a disinfectant, then add disinfectant to the wash cycle. Follow the directions on the disinfectant’s label.

We’ve talked, in the past about how to use chlorine bleach safely.

First of all, in your situation it makes more sense, both from an economical and food safety sense to use paper towels for any clean up involving the preparation of raw meat and grease.

Next, you most need to remember when laundering your kitchen dishtowels, aprons, and dish cloths in a public laundromat is to not overload the machines. Your wash cloths and towels need enough room to move freely and enough water for the the dirt and germs to be suspended in the wash water so they do not end up re-deposited on the clothing.

Use the dryer on the hottest setting possible. Most bacteria can’t survive the heat of a dryer.

Don’t use the same laundry basket you used to bring the icky dishcloths and towels in -use a laundry bag that also gets washed- to transport the clean laundry home. OR simply give it a good wipe down with a sanitizing solution while you wait for your clothing to dry.

So here’s the short and sweet answer:

  • Use chlorine bleach – not the fancy scented kind, the traditional, plain sanitizing sodium hypochlorite version in your wash water -this is why I highly recommend buying cheap bar towel style dish cloths and towels.
  • Disinfect the surfaces of the machine and the folding table. Pretty much assume someone has used it as a changing table without cleaning it.
  • Use the largest load setting possible and don’t overload the machine. Use an appropriate amount of detergent.
  • Use the hottest setting of a dryer.

 

Send your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com

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Why Are There Holes in the Crotch of These Men’s Pants

January 31, 2013 By 9 Comments

Hello, Home Ec 101!

I’m so glad I found you, considering the poor grade I got in school in the class.  I’ve managed along over the years, honing my sewing skills, cleaning skills and, ahem, well the cooking part still would get a well deserved C.

Anyway, I need help or suggestions.  My beloved husband was once a professional cyclist (sprinter).  Needless to say he has huge thighs that used to provide that great bursts of speed around the peloton. Now that he’s older and an IT Guy, he isn’t as fit as he used to be, but his legs didn’t reduce in size.

He wears nice khaki slacks in different weights to work as he never knows if he’ll be working with upper management or in the trenches.  He is wearing little holes that only get larger at the crotch of said pants.

I have taken to ironing on patches in the areas that wear quickest, but it doesn’t really do anything for the outside of the pants.

Are there any suggestions as to how to toughen this area? Are there any tricks or techniques that anyone uses to stay the creation of holes that look good?

Signed,
Crotchety in Crawford

Heather says:

I’m a 6′ tall woman who has a small frame, finding jeans and not spending a ridiculous amount of money is a big challenge, so I can definitely relate.

Off the rack clothing is designed to fit people within a vary narrow range of body types. The trouble is, some of us don’t have off the rack body types.

You have taken the only approach I would recommend with his current pants and obviously it’s not the quality of the fabric or it would only happen with some but not every pair of pants. For future pants,  have him buy pants that fit his thighs with a little bit of room. Take the pants to a tailor and have them take in the waist and taper the legs, if the fit of the rest of the leg is too loose. PANTS! Could I have possibly used the word pants any more excessively in this paragraph?

Here’s a forum where some cyclists are discussing this exact issue, maybe some of these brands would be worth investigating. After a bit of research though I found this is a pretty common problem for men with your husband’s body type and the consensus is to buy the pants larger and have them tailored, they will last much longer.

I’m sorry there wasn’t a quick, magical solution.

Send your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

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Ideas for Renewing a Stained T-Shirt

January 23, 2013 By 7 Comments

Dear Home-Ec 101,

I have a grey t-shirt that has significant memories and it has a grease blotch or something in it. Not sure, honestly. I’ve tried.everything to remove it and give up. The stain is above the belly button location. So an odd place. However, I wondered how I might make a bleach design that would cover the lower half of the shirt.
Any ideas?

Signed,
Crafty in Cranston

Heather says:

Thank you for understanding that sometimes stains are permanent. As frustrating as that can be, sometimes there is no way to remove it.

I’m not exactly the crafty type, but I think you can do something called a mask and spray the shirt with a 50 / 50 bleach mixture to make some pretty cool upcycled shirts.

A quick search on Google gave me this easy project that just requires freezer paper, an iron, bleach, water, and a spray bottle. (And an artistic hand, you won’t find that here, hopefully you can print out a template or something to trace, this girl can barely draw a stick figure.)

I looked it up on Pinterest, because seriously, where else do you go for crafty and DIY ideas?

My advice would be to make sure the stain lies in an area where the color is transitioning so it’s less obvious, like in the example below. The mottling would do more to hide a stain than if you removed all the color and the stain remained.

We all know that ombre is in.

A slightly more in-depth can be found on Saved By Love Creations -again via a Pinterest search. (I did not take this photo, it belongs  to Johnnie, go check out her site)

 

Bleached Tee by Johnnie

Do not Pin this photo, please. Click the image and go to the craft tutorial itself, so they get the credit.

 

And of course, you know I was attracted to this one.

Who wouldn’t want a bleached t-shirt with a Tardis? I mean, really, who?

Photo Credit Emily from Emmy-Lou.com:

Tardis Bleach Design

Do not pin this image. Click the image and go to the craft itself so they get credit :)

I’m pretty sure I can hear Jenn Fowler and Melanie Nelson *squeeing* from here and neither of them are the type to squee.

Good luck with your stained shirt. I hope this idea works out. If not, you could always save it and other t-shirts with memories to turn into a quilt or wall-hanging.

Submit your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

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How to Quickly Fold a T-Shirt

October 8, 2012 By 17 Comments

Heather says:

Folding laundry is a giant pain in the rear, but it’s something that everyone (except those that pay for laundry service) has to do. I’ve taught all three of my children (currently 9, 7, and 5) how to quickly fold a t-shirt. If they can manage this simple shirt folding technique, you can, too.

One of the awesome (or heinous) truths of this how to, is that you’ll probably never run out of chances to practice quickly folding your shirts. And, if you’re a little OCD like me and feel guilty for unfolding a shirt when out shopping, you can quickly fix the mess you made while checking to see if the shirt was long enough.

I always get nervous when demonstrating anything, even something as simple as folding a shirt. One of my co-workers at the pub likes to hover over my shoulder when I’m trying to ring in an order just to aggravate me.  You’ll get it down in no time, generally each shirt only takes a few seconds once you understand the technique.

Oh and notice, the kids are 9, 7, and 5? That explains the shrieking in the background. They were told to go upstairs for all of 40 seconds. . . Sigh.

Is this how you fold your t-shirts?

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Who Needs Dryer Sheets?

September 14, 2012 By 100 Comments

Heather says:

We have talked about fabric softener and dryer sheets ad nauseum on this site. We’ve talked about how fabric softeners can make your towels less absorbent. How some of you hate the smell of vinegar in the laundry.

We know that dryer sheets have a few serious problems:

  • Many are made from polyester (yes, like the leisure suits) or polyethylene and are generally not recyclable or compost-able. (I’m kind of a slacker when it comes to composting, if it’s not passive composting, I’m not even going to try).
  • Polyester and polyethylene are typically made from petroleum products, don’t like paying a lot for gas? Try reducing the amount of petroleum products in your life. Reducing consumption takes a conscientious effort.
  • Hey vegetarians, have you checked to see if your dryer sheets are veggie friendly? Many brands use tallow (animal fat) to improve the handfeel of your clothing.
  • Dryer sheets are well known for causing public humiliation. With no actual sheet, there’s no chance you’ll find one sticking out of the leg of your jeans or peeking out from the hem of your skirt.

Method has a new line of dryer sprays and as you would expect I’m a happy person. Those of you begging me to give you an alternative to vinegar as a softener, HERE YOU GO. You can have your non-headache causing scented towels and eat it, too. As with the scented laundry detergent, I’m happy to report that I can use Method’s products headache free. (For those of you that don’t know, I really can’t stand strong chemical scents, many leave me with a headache.)

How do you use the Method Dryer Spray?

Throw your clothes (wet or dry -since sometimes you just want to get rid of the obnoxious smoke smell -I work in a pub- from your reasonably clean shirt -I wear an undershirt, thank you very much, you may quit judging now) into the dryer and spray four times. Yes, Method likes the number 4 for some reason, four pumps of detergent, four squirts of dryer spray, you have no reason to get confused.

So now you don’t have to rely on home dry cleaning kits (which contain some really special chemicals -the scare quote kind, not the I’m going to mislead you with scary science terms kind)

Oh and I have been using this product for a couple of weeks and thankfully no bunnies have jumped out of my dryer, velvet or otherwise. . .

You’ve got two scent choices, Fresh Air (my favorite) and Lavendar Lilac (I’m just not a flowery kinda gal). I had to laugh, last night as my eldest was getting ready for his football game, I caught him sniffing his jersey. I assumed it was because it smelled terribly (yes, we’ve already had to have the deodorant discussion and I’ve been incredibly busy and couldn’t remember if I had actually washed it or not) turns out he was just really enjoying the Fresh Air scent. There you go, an endorsement from a very persnickety 8yo. (And yes, Mom, I used that word on purpose, you win, I had a kid exactly like myself, stop gloating. /sideeye)

And for reading this far?

I’m giving you a chance to win one of three bottles of Method Dryer Spray. Why? I don’t know, Method isn’t paying for this giveaway*, I just felt like doing it. I’m a little weird sometimes. Apparently I must really want to go to the post office next week or something.

Tell me which scent you’d like to try in a comment below. I’ll close the comments Sunday night by 10pm Eastern and randomly select three winners. Since I’m handling this portion, heck I didn’t even run it by Method, I hope they don’t mind, and I’m occasionally cheap, I’m limiting this giveaway to US Residents only. I’m sorry, blame the international shipping rates. I’ll ship each of the winners one bottle of their preferred Method Dryer Spray to try.

While you’re at it, check out the Method Facebook Fan Page to keep up with the brand, they do some really cool things. (I can’t wait to tell you about some of it later this fall.)

Good luck!

This post has been sponsored by Method, all opinions are my own, and the 3 giveaway prizes were not provided by Method.

Filed Under: Wash It

Removing Fabric Softener from Baby Clothes

August 27, 2012 By 2 Comments

Dear Home Ec 101,

OK, Heather, help me out here! I’m about to have a baby, and while I’m loving all the hand-me-downs we’ve gotten, but I’m at my wit’s end tryng to get the stench of fabric softener out of them. :( I have really severe skin allergies, and all the laundry soap I use is non-scented, and I use vinegar for softener. I’m pretty sure that all the allergy-causing chemicals are out of them, because I can handle them just fine, but they still SMELL like fabric softener and fabric softener smells gross to me.

Signed,

Heather says:

Part of the problem may actually be that you are still pregnant.

Pregnant women are often much more sensitive to odors than non-preggos. Seriously, if you think about it, it makes evolutionary sense. If you’re more sensitive to the smell of bad meat, you’re not going to eat it and put the baby at risk. Isn’t biology marvelous? When I was pregnant, I couldn’t handle the smell of cooking poultry. Heck, thinking about it can STILL make my stomach flip and I haven’t been in that condition in 5 years.

That said, since you’ve already gone the acidic route, it’s time to go the basic route. Yep, we’re back to chemistry in the laundry room. Give the clothing another wash, but this time with Borax. Adding borax to the wash water will raise the pH and improve the solubility of some of those molecules clinging to the baby clothes. Additionally, wash the clothing in the hottest water tolerated by the fabric.

If you can, allow the clothing to dry outside, unless the pollen count is really high or you’re not allowed to have a clothesline. The sunlight and fresh air will do wonders, too. Or hang the clothing outside in the fresh air for a few hours and THEN wash with borax before drying in the dryer. The order is up to you.

Good luck and congratulations!

Submit your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

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Getting Rid of Mildew Odor in Towels

August 3, 2012 By 7 Comments

Dear Home Ec 101,

I’m not always great about making sure my towels get dried the same day they are washed. This leads to them smelling like mildew. Will the smell go away? Can I do anything to make it go away? Or did I just ruin all my towels?

Signed,
Mildewed in Minneapolis

Heather says:

*READER WARNING* I don’t think I’ve stopped sneezing because of my allergies since my eyes popped open this morning. I have a kleenex shoved up my nose (hawt! I know) so I can type without getting anything disgusting on the keyboard, and having to write a post on that is not on my list of things I want to do. . . ever. All that is to say I’m in a fairly REALLY foul mood and if I accidentally over-snark, I’m sorry.

Your mildewed towels are not ruined. In fact, towels with mildew odor are a frequent topic here on Home-Ec101.com, so don’t feel too alone in your habit of not drying the towels.

First of all, preventing mildew in towels by drying them promptly and thoroughly is the best tactic; but seeing as how it’s too late for that, we’ll work on remedying the mildew situation.

Check out this post on stripping detergent and fabric softener from your towels. You see, mildew can get trapped by the sticky residue left behind by using too much detergent, or ANY fabric softener. (You do know that using fabric softener on towels reduces their absorbency, right). If you consistently have a problem with detergent build up, go ahead and read this post on whether or not to wash clothes in cold water.

If there are mildew stains, use oxygen bleach or sunlight to get rid of the mildew spots.  Just be aware that strong sunlight and the overuse of oxygen bleach (or lemon juice or vinegar) can all weaken the cotton fibers in your towels. They can also fade the dye, if your towels are dark colored. Remember weak fibers = more lint; and who needs lint in their laundry? No one, that’s who! Have a problem with lint? Read How to Reduce Lint in the Laundry Room.

Finally, if you consistently leave your laundry in the washer, and you have a front loader; then you may need to read how to get rid of mildew in a front loading washer.

These tips should help you both prevent and solve your mildewed towel problems.

Good luck!

Send your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

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Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, and Poison Sumac, It’s All About the Urushiol

June 20, 2012 By 7 Comments

From Facebook:

How do you deal with poison oak, sumac, and ivy in general?

Scratchy in Santa Fe

Heather says:

If you come into contact with poison ivy, oak, or sumac the most effective “treatment” is to immediately and thoroughly wash the affected area thoroughly with soap and water. All three of these plants (and interestingly their distant cousin the mango) have the same allergenic oil, urushiol. Interestingly, not everyone is allergic to urushiol. While I’m allergic to everything else Mother Nature throws at me, I’ve never had a case of poison ivy despite my years and years of rambling in the woods, but enough about me.

So the structure of urushiol looks a bit like this, with alkyl chain at the R in the image. An alkyl chain is simply a bunch of carbon atoms with hydrogen attached kind of like this C/C\C/C\CH3 (That’s about the best I can do in a standard text editor, just pretend you get it). That alkyl chain makes the urushiol molecule difficult to dissolve in water.

However your skin has oils and urushiol will gladly hang out in those oils, having a party, raising blisters and an ugly rash.

The urushiol can be spread through contact, if you have some on your arm and you scratch, you may get the urushiol under your finger nails which will then be spread to your face or wherever you decide to touch before you wash. (And gentlemen, I’ve heard plenty of embarrassing stories about men not washing their hands thoroughly and -how do we put this delicately- spreading the fun to less public body parts and later assuming they have other issues that require a visit to the county health department.)

Despite the persistent old wives tale, you cannot spread poison ivy from the rash itself, UNLESS, that rash never got washed and still has urushiol. Got it?

If you don’t wash the oil promptly your skin may absorb the urushiol; which, as you can imagine may intensify your reaction. Some people even have systemic (whole body) reactions to poison ivy and will break out in rashes, even in places that have not had contact with the irritant.

Keep in mind that animals that have come in contact with poison ivy, oak, or sumac may spread the urushiol on their fur. If you’re especially sensitive, try to keep animals off of the furniture (especially beds) and bathe them thoroughly.

When removing poison ivy, sumac, or oak from your property, your best defense is to wear long pants, long sleeves, and gloves. Take this clothing and immediately place it in the washer – check out How to Remove Poison Ivy from Clothing, and wash your hands thoroughly. That’s it. There’s no magic trick. Sure there are plenty of products out there that claim to work especially well, but that’s mostly marketing. Wash the area with plain old soap or dish detergent (for hand washing, not the stuff you put in your dishwasher) and then treat the rash itself with your favorite OTC topical ointment.

Oh and a very important side note: Never burn poison ivy. That rash you get on your skin? It’s nothing compared to a potential reaction in the lungs.

Send your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

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How to Remove Poison Ivy from Clothing

June 18, 2012 By 1 Comment

Dear Home Ec 101,

After doing yard work this weekend, my dear husband has poison ivy. What is the best way to launder his clothes and keep the resin from spreading through the laundry?

Signed,
Trying to Contain the Irritant

Heather says:

You’re in luck!  Removing poison ivy from clothing isn’t that difficult, you just need to remember that the irritant in poison ivy is a resin called urushiol.

Try to keep all items that have come into contact with poison ivy separate from other items. Poison ivy is quite easy to spread from one item to another. If you can’t wash the clothing immediately, store it in a plastic garbage bag until you have time to deal with it.

To decontaminate clothing that has come into contact with poison ivy, all you need to do is wash the clothing in the hottest water possible, with your favorite detergent, for the longest cycle, and, if possible, on the largest load setting.

Why?

It’s all about laundry chemistry, my friends.

Urushiol is oily and not easily water soluble – yes, yes we’re back to the old oil and water don’t mix concept.

There needs to be enough detergent in your wash water to surround the molecules / globules of urushiol and bring it into solution (that’s your washwater). Remember effective laundering happens with the right combination of thermal energy, physical energy, and chemical energy1. The thermal energy is provided by the heat of the water, the physical energy is the agitation created by your washing machine, and the chemical energy is provided by the detergent. Using the largest load setting may sound wasteful, but you must remember that even with detergent, oils aren’t very soluble and having lots of solution -the wash water- is the most efficient way to remove as much urushiol as possible.

It’s more resource conscious to wash one large load than to run the same clothing through the entire wash cycle several times. 

The longest cycle helps give the detergent time to work and ensuring there is plenty of rinse water will help prevent the oily urushiol molecules from redepositing on your clothing in the rinse cycle.

See, it’s not that difficult to remove poison ivy from contaminated clothing.

Good luck!

Send your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com

1You know how when you look at a word too long it begins to looks weird? That.

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