The other night on Twitter a blog feed popped up that looked to be fabulous. Once I began to read I knew this information had to be shared with you.
The blog post came from Mona of Eco Nuts. Mona makes most of us look like slackers (just take a look at her bio)!
I really appreciate her devotion to teaching others how to be more eco-friendly.
The title of her post is Common Laundry Disinfectants. Mona takes us through the natural and the harsh ways you may choose to disinfect your cloth diapers.
With Mona’s permission I am going to provide the information here. As a thank you I encourage you to hop on over and thank her for this valuable guide!
Here are some common laundry additives and methods to disinfect.
Hot water: This isn’t a laundry additive but is the most common way to disinfect laundry. If you are disinfecting diapers, hot water is a must. Hot water doesn’t kill everything, but most additives work best in hot water because the high temperature speeds up the chemical reaction. It’s a simple, easy method to help clean clothes that are really soiled. If no one is sick in your house and there is no pressing need to disinfect something, you don’t need to go any further with disinfectants. Your immune system will usually take care of anything that survives.
Chlorine Bleach: chlorine bleach is a common disinfectant. The downside is that straight bleach will ruin your clothes (so be careful what you’re wearing when handling it). While many online sources will talk about testing for color fastness on colors, I don’t advocate using it for anything other than whites. Color safe bleach does not disinfect, either. There are other options for colors.
Never pour bleach directly into the machine as it can ruin/weaken the fabrics it touches before diluting. Bleach also works much better in hot water. Make sure you are washing on hot before you add your bleach.
Do not mix bleaches. This means don’t mix chlorine bleach with oxygen bleach or colorsafe bleach. Use one bleach to avoid a potentially hazardous chemical reaction.
Bleach is the second most common disinfectant after hot water and it is effective and kills just about everything. The major cons of using bleach are that it can ruin clothes and can cause clothes to wear out/fade more quickly. It is dangerous to inhale and while it kills yeast, it doesn’t kill yeast spores (for yeast spore killing, see Grapefruit Seed Extract below)
Oxygen Bleach: Oxygen bleach is the third most common disinfectant for laundry. Unlike chlorine bleach, Oxygen bleach is colorsafe and starts a chemical reaction that breaks down into oxygen and water. Like regular bleach, oxygen bleach works best in hot water. Oxygen bleach works on many bacteria and viruses and does not harm fabrics while having the bonus of removing stains. Oxygen bleach works best in hot water, although be aware that your garments may have to soak in it for 6 hours or overnight (start with hot water) for it to really work.
Tea Tree Oil: One of the better known disinfectants. Tea tree oil is available in different grades, so it’s smart to educate yourself on what the grades mean when you buy and use. You want to look for a quality Australian Tea Tree oil (melaleuca).
Two major chemical components that make up tea tree oil are called 1,8 Cineole and Terpinen-4-ol and you want to look at the numbers associated with those components when selecting your tea tree oil for disinfecting.
1,8 Cineole is the compound that gives tea tree its camphor-like scent and is also found in eucalyptus oil. Cineole is a skin irritant so you want a low number for disinfecting. If a bottle says “for aromatherapy” there’s a good chance it has a high cineole percentage and will not work for disinfecting or any kind of application that will touch skin.
Terpinen-4-ol is what gives the tea tree oil its germicidal properties. It’s related to alcohol and is a good antibacterial and antiviral. You want a high number.
Top quality tea tree oil for disinfecting has a maximum of 5% cineole and a 35-40% Terpenin-4-ol
To use: add ½ -1 teaspoon to laundry*
For diapers, don’t put it directly on diapers. Add it to the water after the machine has filled. If you are using a frontloading machine, add the tea tree oil to some water and put that in the soap dispenser.
* I understand lots of people use anywhere from 5-10 drops for normal “everyday disinfecting” but if you need to really disinfect a load of laundry (contagious sick person in the house, yeast infection, etc) more tea tree oil should be used.
Kills: bacteria, mold, some viruses, yeast, but not yeast spores (for yeast spores see Grapefruit Seed Extract)
Grapefruit Seed Extract: synthesized from the seeds and pulp of the grapefruit, it’s a very broad spectrum microbicide, bactericide, fungicide, antiparasitic, and anti-viral. Grapefruit Seed Extract is the only natural way to kill yeast spores. It also kills staph, strep, salmonella, and e.coli. It also kills herpes and influenza!
GSE has been tested and found to be anywhere from 10 to 100 times more effective against these offending microorganisms than chlorine bleach, tea tree oil, colloidal silver, and iodine.
It is becoming the disinfectant of choice in hospitals, too!
It is expensive, so the other options on here are far more economical for other disinfecting, but when it comes to yeast – this is the single most effective way to stop it in its tracks on your clothing and cloth diapers. You can buy it at your local health food store.
GSE can also be diluted and used as a swab on affected areas, for cleaning, or even internally for parasites, but I am a laundry queen, not a doctor, and not an expert on treating any kind of human infection – though there’s plenty of other books and websites that can tell you all about it.
For light laundry disinfecting: use 10-15 drops per load.
For heavy disinfecting (when dealing with something nasty or resistant): ½ to 1 teaspoon of GSE to each load of laundry. Wash and dry normally
Hydrogen Peroxide: This is a liquid oxygen bleach and breaks down into water and oxygen.
Use a 3% solution (what is normally available at most drugstores)
Be aware that hydrogen peroxide can damage clothes the same way bleach can, so test for colorfastness and never pour directly on your clothes.
Use ½ cup in the bleach cup of your laundry machine. If you don’t have a bleach cup, start the machine without putting clothes in. wait until your machine is filled with water, then add the peroxide and let the water agitate with the peroxide in it before adding clothes.
Do not mix Vinegar and Hydrogen peroxide! They combine together to make peracetic acid which has different properties than vinegar or peroxide and is very corrosive, and can have dangerous effects and can bleach fabrics.
The Sun: This is a free and overlooked disinfectant in the western world but it can be just as effective as chlorine bleach. Line drying exposes your garments to ultraviolet radiation and infrared light. Too much exposure to the sun can ruin fabric however by permanently fading it. It’s a great way to get impossible stains out of whites, though. In small doses you won’t see any damage so it’s fine to leave laundry out in the sun for a day. A few hours is sufficient to kill bacteria. After a week you will see fading. Delicate fabrics can also be damaged by direct sun, so use filtered sunlight (underneath an umbrella or a tree).
Lemon Juice: Lemon juice is great on perspiration stains and is a great disinfectant. It will also help whiten fabrics as a bleach alternative. You can use ½ cup in the laundry. The disinfecting property of lemons comes from its high acidity. It changes the pH levels in bacteria so the microbes can’t survive. Lemon juice is best utilized in a separate wash cycle or in the rinse cycle from using other additives like borax or baking soda because borax and baking soda are both very alkaline, and will kill a different range of microbes. Adding lemon juice at the same time as other alkaline additives can alter the pH and not kill anything or create a reaction.
Vinegar: Another acidic disinfectant. You should use it on a separate wash cycle from Borax as you will lose the benefits of the pH changes each does that contributes to killing germs (Borax is basic and Vinegar is acidic). Lots of people add it to the rinse but I recommend another plain water rinse after using to bring the pH back to neutral. Contrary to popular belief, vinegar is not a strong disinfectant for laundry but should serve for gentle disinfecting. It does have disinfectant properties, but it is not as acidic as lemon juice. It is better utilized in the rinse cycle to help get rid of soap residue.
To use, add ¼ to ½ cup in the rinse cycle or regular wash load. Vinegar can be used safely at any water temperature. Also, Vinegar can be used with Baking Soda as the two together will also kill food germs and bacteria (and fight stains!) without creating any toxic byproducts.
Borax: Borax is a pH buffer and raises the pH of your water to make it slightly basic. Borax is used best as a laundry booster. It works by converting some water molecules to Hydrogen Peroxide and works best in hotter water. The pH buffer it create in the water make a stable environment for chemical reactions to occur between the soap and your clothes, thus its “laundry booster” qualities. The reactions that borax undergoes in hot water does the disinfecting.
To disinfect with borax, wash on hot and add ½ cup per load. Use in the wash cycle and not the rinse cycle. Borax can also be toxic if consumed, so keep away from little ones and pets.
As stated above, don’t use borax with vinegar or lemon juice.
Baking Soda: This isn’t a disinfectant but a lot of people think it is. It works with vinegar to disinfect but is not effective on its own.
There you have it! What methods do you use to disinfect your laundry?
My favorite part was that I learned something new!! I DID NOT know that bleach does NOT kill yeast spores! This information is going to influence my recommendations in the future.
Again, thank you, Mona, for your efforts to educate families and provide natural products for us to enjoy.
April 10, 2012 at 12:37 pm
This is so helpful. I have a question about disinfecting/yeast/wool. I just recently bought some wool diaper covers new for the first time (going to see if using wool will get me back to loving cloth after my NatureBabycare disposables stint), brand new. I also recently bought a pair of Lana wool breast pads at a children’s consignment sale. They looked brand new, came with all the literature, looked unworn unwashed un-everything, and even the plastic bag they were in was the original bag with the Danish labeling. Also the sale rules were it had to be new, so I’m 98% sure they were unworn and new. Anyway, yesterday I set about to lanolize everything and I just threw all the covers and the pads all in together. Then I realize, wait a minute, I don’t know absolutely without a doubt for sure for sure if the pads were new, what if they somehow weren’t and now I’ve infected a hundred dollars worth of wool covers as well??? So I boiled the covers and the pads per Lana’s instructions, with fresh lanolin, and when it cooled down I added GFSE after reading on here. I feel like it should be fine but the thing that freaks me out is the whole single-user thing, you’re not supposed to re-use stuff like pumps, pads, etc. It’s just I was quite certain that they were new, and I also felt like, how bad could it be? The issue with pumps seems to be that you can’t guarantee sufficient sterilization because of the pump design, and that makes sense to me. But it seems to me that you ought to be able to sterilize a breast pad just as much as you can sterilize a cloth diaper, and it’s considered acceptable to buy used diapers. Is there any reason that used diapers would be okay but breast pads not if I’m going to the trouble of sterilizing both? The bacteria of concern all die on surfaces within two days or less, and are killed by boiling. Any yeast of concern is killed by boiling, and the spores by the GFSE. Still my anxious nature says, “but what if??” Should I just give up on the pads but the covers really should be fine still? Is everything fine? Or is everything ruined now? I guess I just keep thinking, if I had bought used wool covers from someone, they could easily have washed the covers together with their wool breast pads and I would never know, so is this any worse than that?
April 11, 2012 at 10:56 am
I’ll give you the answer I would give myself. Have I done everything I can to properly sterilize these items? Can I prevent every what-if possible? When I have thoroughly cleansed something I let it go at that.
March 25, 2012 at 12:21 am
Wow. What great information! I have a lemon tree – I’m going to start using lemons. I have GSE too! Wonderful post!
March 14, 2012 at 9:48 am
We have been battling yeast on the baby’s diapers so I went and bought some GSE. How am I to use this in a front-load HE washer? Should I put the GSE into the prewash dispenser or in the detergent dispenser, wash and then re-wash normally. OR should I add the GSE directly into the wash drum and then wash like normal? Thank you for any help, we need this month-long battle over with!
March 14, 2012 at 11:34 am
I would add it the same way you would bleach. You want it to dilute EVENLY into the load. Most fronties have a separate bleach tray. In lieu of that you can add it to the fabric softener tray. Since you may want to do a 2nd wash to make sure the oils are gone, after the first wash is probably ok. Still waiting for Autumn to write back. Maybe she can think of something else. But I would want the gunk off before using it to ensure it’s getting all the dipes and their parts evenly. Hope that makes sense@!
March 9, 2012 at 12:46 pm
Hello!
How much GSE should be used in an HE FL? What would be the best approach? Using it during the normal wash with detergent or during the rinse cycle? I always do double rinse.
Thanks!
March 10, 2012 at 10:25 pm
I add it to the detergent. There is a recommended amount on the side of my bottle and I know I have reds on the blog somewhere…I’m typing this on a mobile device so my ability to look it up is hindered. Run a search for grapefruit seed extract.
March 14, 2012 at 11:38 am
For a NORMAL washing I would add it to the load like you would bleach. So with the wash. In fact my biokleen has it as part of the detergent) But for serious problems I would risk doing a separate wash with the GFSE and then make sure the oils are washed out and rinsed well. Keeping in mind I use the laundromat and maybe this makes more sense. Hope this helps!
March 1, 2012 at 12:30 pm
I am so sorry if this is in the wrong place!!!
I have a question that I can’t quiet find the answer to, so I figured I’d go to the expert! I just started CDs a week ago, and it has been a steep learning curve for me! My LO is 16 months old, and I decided to start with flip( SD and organic), BG 4.0’s, and some good ole prefolds + econobum. For starters, he HATES the diapers. Esp the prefolds. I think it just feels so different to him. Next battle, He got a moderate red bumpy rash all over his boy parts and in the creases. So, after reading your website a while, I decided to get another detergent and do an extra rinse (3 total). This hasn’t helped either. My novice thoughts… When I change him (whether he’s wet or dry) his diaper area is sweaty/ sticky. And the bumps/ rash is also on his upper legs, where the diaper doesn’t come in contact at all, like a heat rash type thing. So I started using the cotton prefolds in the 4.0’s, thinking this might be more ‘breathable’, and this has helped, but not solved the problem. What do you think? Maybe he needs a more breathable diaper cover? I ordered a SBish wool cover and the ‘magic’ diaper, but really wanted your opinion (or anyone else who has an idea) before I ordered anything else! Thank you so much in advance! I have learned SO much from your website!
March 1, 2012 at 11:37 pm
Do you have a Snappi? Try putting the prefold on with it and see if that helps. For a breathable, non wool cover check out MotherEase airflow covers. Wool is great but there is a slight learning curve with it as well.
March 2, 2012 at 6:08 pm
Thanks for the suggestions! I have ordered a snappi to try ( a week ago!) so hopefully it’ll be here soon. And I have seen the motherease covers in scanning but haven’t paid them any attention. So that’s what I’m about to do! Thank you so much again for all the great advice!
March 14, 2012 at 11:40 am
How are you doing on this? Are things getting better for you and your sweetie?
March 16, 2012 at 10:52 pm
Heather, I deal with that with my 8 month old ALL the time! He had the exact same rash and I use my pockets with him 24/7! His rash is actually a yeast infection! He gets them on and off all the time, especially after antibiotics! I have to feed him yogurts and such so it fights the infections constantly!
February 26, 2012 at 9:40 pm
I could have sworn that bleach was killed by hot water, or at least degraded… I was always told to use bleach in cool water. Like in washing dishes, you wash in hot, rinse, then dunk in cool bleach water… why do you recommend to use it with hot water?
February 26, 2012 at 10:15 pm
Most people I know use bleach and hot water. And I was always taught to rinse in PLAIN water, hence the point in rinsing, to use the bleach in the hot with the soap. I’ve washed both ways and for some reason hot seems to work better. Eats the clothes more over time as well. Maybe this is like the toilet paper, which end do you leave the loose part out on, lol!
May 12, 2012 at 9:23 pm
Carolena ~ you are correct. I took a safety class for certification for child care and bleach IS degraded in hot water AND it is used in rinsing dishes (with COLD water), it’s done this way in restaurants, bars and daycare facilities that don’t use high temperature dishwashes. It’s actually required by law in the state of California. Therefore, washing with bleach in hot water WILL reduce the bleaches ability to disinfect.
February 24, 2012 at 6:54 pm
Thank you so much for sharing this!
February 24, 2012 at 5:36 pm
and you are correct in stating that it does not kill mold unless on hard non- porous surfaces. in the hospital people always foam their hands to clean them after seeing a patient. however if the patient has “c-difficile” which is a simple name for “the unconrollable runs” after being on antibiotics normally (bc the good bacteria in gut is killed as well as the bad. which is where probiotics are very beneficial to help reestablish good bacteria in the gut!!) —the foam is alcohol based which does NOT kill spores. so it is ineffective with killing cdiff. wait why am i talking abouyt this LOL i heard bleach and thought alcohol LOL sorry. point of story. bleach doesnt kill spores and neither does alcohol
February 24, 2012 at 1:20 pm
Thanks for sharing. That’s awesome information to know!
February 24, 2012 at 10:44 am
Also, when you run out to the store make sure you’re getting GrapeFRUIT Seed Extract and not just Grapeseed Extract. They are different!
February 24, 2012 at 12:41 pm
Exactly!
February 24, 2012 at 7:10 pm
VERY true, I had a hard time at my natural store today when I checked. Oddly enough (or maybe not) the right stuff was next to the vinegar, lol!
February 24, 2012 at 9:57 am
I have been washing my diapers with warm water should I be using hot? I put them in our front loader with a TBS of lil outlaws detergent and do a prewash with a couple squirts of Bac Out and an extra rinse. We also spray our poopy diapers with bac out when we take them off her. Also is the prewash on the washer with cold water?
February 24, 2012 at 12:41 pm
It isn’t necessary to regularly use hot water.
February 24, 2012 at 7:17 pm
Most newer front loaders will warm the water a bit when it enters the machine. In the colder months (When water can be almost freezing) you may want to use warm water IF the water from a nearby sink is very cold. Sometimes machines won’t work or soap doesn’t dissolve in super cold water. But otherwise no you don’t need to use hot water all the time or even the sanitize setting. (It wears your precious dipes down faster)
February 24, 2012 at 9:34 am
“Color safe bleach does not disinfect, either.”
I’m not sure that’s accurate… most color safe bleaches have the main ingredient of hydrogen peroxide, so yes they do disinfect to some degree
February 24, 2012 at 12:42 pm
I agree there is some disinfecting occurring but is it enough to feel confident the viruses and bacteria are killed??
February 26, 2012 at 12:43 pm
According to the Clorox website, their color safe bleach doesn’t disinfect.
February 26, 2012 at 3:06 pm
Thank you!
February 24, 2012 at 8:07 am
WoW, needed this years ago, and next payday. ok, gotta go find the grape seed now, hum!
February 24, 2012 at 3:08 pm
Anastasia, make sure you buy “GRAPEFRUIT”seed extract as I accidentally purchased grape seed extract. It is not the same thing.
February 24, 2012 at 7:24 pm
Yep that actually happened when I went to the store today, lol! They had the little “aroma therapy” bottles and the larger bottle (a full liter) of the right stuff, next to the vinegar of course, lol, AND I check the biokleen and the purple box and bottle BOTH have grapefruit and orange extract (I’m shortening here, lol) and the clerk was PREGNANT so she got a Demo and a few web links. Not to mention actually getting her hand on the clean Flip in my bag and seeing my weehuggers and bag, lol! (note to self, go back with a list of links and such for the store to keep on hand, since a family runs it) 2nd time this week, lol! Last time my angel’s DOLL was wearing a stripped down Bitti Tutto (on a bitti baby no less, lol) and another pregnant mom asked after watching another sposie blow out at the park, lol! But apparently biokleen has it and I WILL be picking up an emergency box and rewashing all dipes and undies in it! (hey we need clean stuff too)
February 24, 2012 at 7:53 am
I’m curious about the vinegar and tea tree oil in the wash… I have researched this a bit myself and couldn’t find any references that they had been tested for disinfection properties when diluted in water. They have been tested and proven effective when used full strength (think for use on countertops or cutting boards). But they haven’t been tested when significantly diluted in water. This makes a huge difference, I’d love to know if the original author has managed to find such tests…
And not to seem argumentative but I disagree with the original author on a couple of other points as well. Oxygen bleaches will fade clothing if used in too heavy a concentration and/or left to soak for too long. I have had this happen myself… It works by chemically reacting with water to form hydrogen peroxide so whatever warnings apply to peroxide apply to oxygen bleaches as well.
And finally the sun… It is indeed a great disinfectant but only when the sun’s UV rays can actually reach ALL the layers of fabric. If you’re talking flats then yes, they’re probably being disinfected effectively. But if you’re talking prefolds or fitteds with 6-8 layers then probably only the first layer (maybe parts of the second if it’s a loose weave) is actually exposed to the disinfecting UV rays.
Just a few things to keep in mind…
February 24, 2012 at 12:06 pm
What your latitude is will make a difference. Down south, I have regularly burned under my clothes (usually a t-shirt or other light fabric), because the sun was so strong. But, up in WI, I’ve been able to stay out for an hour before burning.
Here, in Central Texas, in the summer, I’m guessing even the inside layer s of multi-layer items does get some good disinfection — also via the amount of heat and dryness imposed upon the drying item!
February 24, 2012 at 12:43 pm
Karen, thank you for your input!
February 24, 2012 at 7:29 pm
Same here, in FL, burned at a christmas party, lol! (so definitely fully dressed, it was cold) and YES the longer you let something soak in oxygen bleach the MORE likely it is to fall apart. I washed a load recently and found that out the hard way! All the towels I disinfected were gone (Literally shredded) but the dipes (which I never leave more then a few hours) were fine. I soaked them separately, and cuz the towels were extra nasty I left them longer and repeatedly resoaked them. OOPS, will never do that again…..Washed all together but soaked separately.
February 24, 2012 at 6:41 am
What a great post! Such good information. Thanks for sharing! I’ve used some of the disinfectant treatments listed above but not in the manner she had suggested, so my way probably wasn’t very effective.
February 24, 2012 at 2:25 am
Borax works great! I use it all the time. I just stripped my sons cd’s yesterday and I used borax and it worked awesome!
February 24, 2012 at 2:07 am
I may be mistaken, but I believe Biokleen utilises (or maybe did in the past) GSE in its Plus laundry powder and possibly its oxygen bleach as well.
February 24, 2012 at 7:31 pm
Both the purple box and bottle have grape and orange in them, lol! (I’m shortening the names) I even compared them to the bottles so the clerk at the natural food store could see the difference.
February 24, 2012 at 12:42 am
Great information! My little one had c-diff and the Dr’s were clueless about treating our cloth to kill the bacteria and we ended up losing our entire stash (diapers, wipes, wet bags) even after double bleach washing! Yikes! This is great info! Thanks!
February 24, 2012 at 12:33 am
I’d forgotten about GSE. I had to use it on my second daughter when she got a horrible rash that wouldn’t go away (ironically, she got it when I’d washed her diapers with econuts.)