Dear Mary: Household ammonia, white vinegar and Pine-Sol are all disinfecting agents you can use in place of bleach to kill germs and bacteria in laundry. Hydrogen peroxide is another disinfectant, but it’s also a natural bleaching agent, so I wouldn’t use it on colors.
Herein, how do you disinfect laundry without bleach?
Using Household Items
- To use white vinegar, add 1 cup of it to the rinse cycle.
- To use hydrogen peroxide, add 1 cup of 3% hydrogen peroxide to the wash.
- Borax can be used in addition to your regular detergent.
- Oxygen bleach does disinfect, though it is not as strong of a disinfectant as chlorine bleach.
Similarly, do you need to disinfect laundry? Disinfecting laundry can be an important part of keeping it fresh and clean, so everyone in your household stays healthy. Using bleach in your washer’s cycle or to soak your laundry in prior to washing is an extremely effective way to sanitize cloth diapers, towels, bedding, and other items.
One may also ask, does ammonia kill germs?
Although it may be a more eco-friendly cleaning solution than chemical-based products, ammonia is not registered as a disinfectant by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Although ammonia might kill salmonella and E. coli, it is not an effective defense against dangerous staphylococcus bacteria.
How do you disinfect clothes?
Wash your clothes using appropriate temperature water.
- Wash cottons in cold, as hot water may shrink them.
- Wash colored fabrics in cold water, as hot water may make them run.
- Consider washing pre-shrunk or synthetic fabrics in warm water.