A single wash cycle of the laundry does not ensure you have washed off all the pollen and bacteria. You need a reliable and effective disinfectant to help the laundry detergent do its job. Will bleach be enough to enhance and disinfect your wash cycle?
Bleach in the wash cycle introduces harsh chemicals that may damage your clothes and harm your skin. Instead of harming yourself in the hopes of effectively disinfecting your clothes, there are alternative solutions to disinfect your laundry without bleach.
These alternative solutions can remove tough stains and eliminate bacteria, and you might even be surprised that staff at the laundry app blog use them too.
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Essential Oils
It is impressive that essential oils help in disinfecting laundry. Essential oils have antifungal, antibacterial, and antiseptic properties which prevent the growth and spread of bacteria. Add two teaspoons of essential oil to the wash load to disinfect your laundry.
Adding natural oils to your wash load does not only disinfect them but adds a pleasant scent to your clothes.
Borax
Add borax to your regular laundry detergent to boost its disinfectant property. When using borax, fill the wash bin with warm water and add a half cup of borax to the load. The warm water activates the cleaning element of the borax powder. As the mineral dissolves into the wash cycle, it evenly covers and disinfects all the laundry items.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Yes, that hydrogen peroxide in your medicine cabinet that you use for occasional skin cuts or scrapes, works great as a laundry disinfectant. Fill a cup of hydrogen peroxide and add it to the wash load, bacteria on your clothes will be eliminated. Hydrogen peroxide is only best for white garments.
Hydrogen peroxide has bleaching properties. So do not pour it directly into colored clothes. If you want to assure your clothes are safe after the load, do a spot test first to ensure any unwanted bleaching.
Distilled White Vinegar
Distilled white vinegar is the best option for alternative bleach and fabric softener. It does not contain any harsh chemicals, so you can use them regularly to disinfect your clothes. White vinegar has acetic acid, eliminating viruses and bacteria during a wash cycle.
Add a cup of distilled white vinegar to remove those germs and soften your fabrics. Distilled white vinegar does not have any exemptions. It works well in cleaning white and colored garments. Clothes washed with vinegar result in bright, soft, and fresh smelling.
Sunlight
It is common for people to consider sunlight as a natural sanitizing agent. You can hang your clothes outdoors to dry them in the sun’s heat. It only takes 30 minutes for the sun to eliminate the bacterias on your clothes’ surface. However, do not let them dry under the sun for more than 30 minutes; longer sun exposures can cause fading.
Indeed, you do not need bleach to disinfect your laundry. You can bring these disinfectant alternatives when doing your laundry at the nearest laundry service.