Had a flood from a broken toilet while on vacation in Hawaii, my sister-in-law used all my good towels to wipe up
by
Lacie V
+10
What can I use to disinfect my towels . The hygienist from the insurance said to throw them away, but I have some I got on my honeymoon that are special?
13 answers
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There is color safe bleach products that you can use. As someone who does mold testing and writes protocol for cleanups after accidents such as this. You can always send the towels to the dry cleaner and have them professionally clean them for you.
Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com
on Feb 27, 2012
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You should be able to disinfect the towels in hot water with bleach or Pine-Sol or similar disinfectant. Just follow the package directions.
3po3
on Feb 27, 2012
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I use Borax. Available at my local Dollar General store.
AA Marble & Granite, LLC
on Feb 28, 2012
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Vinegar, just plain old white vinegar. Soak them for as long as you can in vinegar.. The longer the better. Vinegar is a great anti bacterial agent without damage to towels. Just wash & rinse (with a cup of vinegar in the rinse) afterward. Fluffs up the cotton fibers and no vinegar scent when dried. Doesn't affect color either. Also, you could boil them in a big pot. Lots of work & possibility of burning yourself, but could be done. If the water was from a broken toilet and not a back up, you don't need to worry about contamination as much. If it was a back up & you wiped up something other than water...... you will need to use regular bleach; sodium hypochlorite. That's the only thing that will kill most every kind of bacteria. 1 or 2 parts per million parts of water will do it. Can fade colors tho. Perhaps check out diaper cleaners to see what's in those?
Sun79032
on Feb 28, 2012
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Buy the way I found a laundry disinfectant called Triclosan. Health Guard Laundry Additive - Disinfectant is a unique antibacterial product that reduces the risk of cross-contamination with its strong working ingredients and it long lasting residual activity. Health Guard is active against gram-negative and gram-positive bacterial, viruses and fungi. Can be diluted and used as an economical disinfectant, a spot and odor remover, a carpet shampoo additive, and an antibacterial room fogger. (See container for mixing instructions. Remove pets and food/water dishes before fogging.)Gives residual protection until the next washingA must-have when birthing puppies, kittens, or other animalsActive in wet or dry environmentsNon-toxic and non-irritating formulaOdorless and colorless, non-staining
Lacie V
on Apr 16, 2013
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TRICLOSAN is NOT something you want to use at home; it is one of the REASONS we have MERSA etc. It does kill germs etc--the problem is it does TOO GOOD a job and leaves us with no germs for our immune systems to learn to fight. Many scientists feel we should NOT be using all of these "anti bacterial" products; that this is one of the reasons we now have "Super Bugs"--Triclosan is one of the WORST offenders. There are many MANY other ways to "disinfect" something depending on what it is made from. For skin--plain old saop and water is excellent--just wash and scrub long enough--no passing hands under the water for a nano-second!--and dry well.
Comet
on May 17, 2015
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To use TRICLOSAN once to disinfect some towels is not going to cause this family to get MRSA. She just wants to use it once. Granted if you use these strong disinfectants continuously, you run the risk of super bugs but that is not what she is asking. She just wants to clean some towels for heavens sake!!!
Deb Martin Knaff
on May 17, 2015
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Pure White Vinegar about 4 cups in your Laundry Wash Cycle, lift lid and let them soak for a While... then wash as usual in Warm or Hot water ..sorry But Bleach will take all the Color out and Weaken the Fibers in the Towels...then Tumble a while in dryer and Hang out on Clothes line to Dry... I agree with Diane S from Houston above..
Jean Thompson
on May 18, 2015
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I agree vinegar is the best.
Wendy Cochran
on Nov 17, 2015
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I too agree, use vinegar in the first cycle. Wash a second time with Arm & Hammer laundry detergent with Oxy power. Hang outside to air dry. (Dryer heat will "set" any odors.) You can fluff in a cool dryer with fabric sheets for a sweet smell afterwards. Good luck.
Diana Deiley
on Nov 26, 2015
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so lucky your family member was on hand too, right?....send them to the dry cleaners?
GrandmaCarol Speight
on Jan 15, 2016
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bleach disinfects but it does not clean the temperature can NOT be over 90 degrees or the bleach is neutralized and wash in soap after soaking in bleach, soap neutralizes bleach also
Barbara
on Jan 21, 2016
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Vinegar is the best disinfect then use Lysol in the brown bottle I did it for my nursing uniforms when I had patients.
Abbigail Hunter
on Apr 13, 2016
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