14: Laundry Recommendations

Q: What should I do to disinfect clothes?

💁Tracy:

Take off outer clothes upon returning home. Spray disinfectants around collars, elbow, cuffs, and other areas that are frequently soiled. If there are no other clear contaminated areas, dry in a well-ventilated place, such as outdoors in the Sun.

For frequently soiled items, such as clothes, hand or face towels, and bed sheets, soak at high temperatures (above 133℉) for at least 30 minutes or with disinfectant bleach (for white-colored cloth only), then wash with detergent. For machine wash, set at the highest temperature possible and wash with detergent.

If you have to use shared washers, please wear gloves and clean the surface of the washer first and then add disinfectant before washing. If disinfectant is unavailable, please set wash mode to hot water and use detergent.

If potential contaminants are found on clothes or beddings, such as blood, fecal matter, or other excretion and bodily fluids , you should wear gloves, soak clothes or beddings with disinfectant or boiling water for 30 minutes.
When handling clothes (or other items) from infected individuals, you should wear disposable gloves, place clothes at designated and well-ventilated area, or seal them in plastic laundry bags (garbage bags work too), and wash them after 3 days (when viruses are inactivated).

Use high temperature setting for dyers, and do not overload, so that every item can be dried completely. If dryers are unavailable, hang them outside in the Sun or well ventilated area. Dry thoroughly before folding.
Read and follow instructions from washers, clothing, and disinfectant labels.
Follow the recommended highest temperatures from clothing labels for soaking, washing, and drying.

The EPA has a list of disinfectants on its website for use against COVID-19:
https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/list-n-disinfectants-use-against-sars-cov-2

Reference

Writing: Yingde Zhu; Translation: Chaoyu Xie; Artwork: Sun Liu