Let’s talk Laundry and Sorting

As I do most every morning, I walked into my laundry room to check if I left a load of laundry in the washer overnight. My washer was empty, the dryer wasn’t.
No big news flash there, but while I’m standing there contemplating the next load (you know, should it be darks or lights or whites) I noticed a funky odor wafting around.

Laundry rooms should smell clean and fresh, not like a sweaty sock!

My eyes immediately go to the white’s basket. Even though it’s only half full, I start sorting. Actually, I double sort my whites. I make two piles; one is only socks and underwear, the other towels and linen. My Mama didn’t teach me to sort clothes like this and I’m betting your Mama didn’t either. But I think you'll be a white's double sorter too after you read this.

Source

So why the double sort?

One word: Poop.

Yes! Poop! I saw this story on ABC News a couple of years ago and it has stuck with me. According to Charles Gerba, a professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona:

"If you wash a load of just underwear, there will be about 100 million E. coli in the wash water, and they can be transmitted to the next load of laundry," Gerba said. “There’s about a tenth of a gram of poop in the average pair of underwear," he added. Fecal matter can carry a number of different germs, including the hepatitis A virus, norovirus, rotavirus, salmonella and E. coli.

Gross, right?

Thinking our detergent was enough to keep the germs at bay is wrong. Thinking my hot water was hot enough to kill the nasty’s was wrong too.

So here’s what I do. I wash the underwear and socks in hot water with bleach first. Then, I clean the washer with a spray of diluted bleach water and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Then I wash the towels in hot water and bleach. Now I’m not spreading germs and poop and all those other gross things mentioned above.

It’s imbedded in my brain to double sort my whites and clean my washer now and I’m teaching my girls to do the same. I know old habits die hard, but if you could visualize drying your face with a dirty sock, you will be doing the double sort too.

You’ve just read the first in my new series of homemaking tips. I will share a new tip each week. Please let me know your thoughts and what topics you’d like to see me cover in comments.

Thanks!

15 comments

Ginny MarieOctober 4, 2013 at 5:01 PM
That sounds like a great idea to me! I always wondered if I was really getting our underwear clean!
Linda A KinsmanOctober 5, 2013 at 10:33 AM
Hi Ginny Marie,

Glad you found my post helpful~ makes me happy to help another Mom keep her family clean and in this case, healthy.
Happy Saturday!
Julie October 5, 2013 at 10:55 AM
I typically only wash underwear, socks, and white t-shirts together. I never use bleach for anything though. It scares me. lol
Linda A KinsmanOctober 7, 2013 at 12:17 PM
Hi Julie,

I used to be scared of bleach too, but sometimes the need to kill all those nasty germs just wins out.

alwaysblabbingOctober 7, 2013 at 12:53 PM
Very interesting thanks for sharing
Mom Knows BestOctober 7, 2013 at 2:49 PM
wow! This makes me rethink how I do laundry!
Buzz4MommiesOctober 7, 2013 at 3:20 PM
Oh wow Linda- I have never thought of that! We are just spreading those germs around!!
JamieOctober 7, 2013 at 3:25 PM
Gonna make some changes to the laundry routine now!! Thanks for the post!
MelissaOctober 7, 2013 at 4:00 PM
I have never thought about this before so I;m very glad you brought it to my attention. I have a load of white's to go in the wash next actually, I think I'll sort those again.
Linda A KinsmanOctober 7, 2013 at 4:58 PM
Hi Ms. Beniot,

You're welcome, happy to help.
Linda A KinsmanOctober 7, 2013 at 4:58 PM
Hi Tara,

It made me re-think my laundry routine as well. Especially now that the kids are back in school and are battling germs all day. They don't need their "clean" laundry making them sick too.
Linda A KinsmanOctober 7, 2013 at 4:59 PM
Hi Jamie,

So glad this post helped you!.

Thanks for stopping by.
Linda A KinsmanOctober 7, 2013 at 5:02 PM
Hi Melissa,

I know what you mean. Like I said in my post, I sure wasn't taught to sort my whites. They all got thrown in the same basket and bleached.
So glad you read this post before you did your whites.

Linda A KinsmanOctober 7, 2013 at 5:03 PM
Hi Heidi,

I know right? I felt the same way when I watched that report on how we could be making our families sick. I never dreamed my washer was a germ pit!
AnonymousOctober 9, 2013 at 12:28 PM
OMG-I will be double sorting all of my whites now too!! Thank you so much for sharing