Is it gross/unsanitary to combine kitchen towels with sock & underwear in the washer?

[extendedforecast]

This particular scenario includes the use of detergent and bleach and a front loading washer set to the sanitary cycle.

 

Thanks,

Cindy

 

P.S. I've never set up a poll, so please be patient while I learn how to do it correctly.

[Remudamom]

I can't decide. I've combined and refused to combine. It's nasty if you think about it too long.

[BikeBookBread]

I don't think it's unsanitary as long as the right settings and cleaning products are used, but I NEVER do it! :lol:

[myfunnybunch]

On the sanitary cycle? Nope, no problem. I'm too practical to think about it for long enough to get grossed out, lol.

 

Cat

[AuntPol]

I never thought twice about it- I mean we use hot water and bleach and detergent to kill any germs on either.

[dangermom]

I'm sorry, there is no way I can do that. :ack2:

[Big Buckin' Longhorn]

I never thought twice about it- I mean we use hot water and bleach and detergent to kill any germs on either.

 

:iagree:Us too. I didn't know it was controversial.

 

That's how my Mom did laundry, that's how I do it . . . we're all still alive.:D Apparently not as clean as we should be ;) but alive.

[Tree House Academy]

Boy, I hope not cause I do it all the time. When you wash with hot water and dry on med heat, I can't see how any *note worthy* germs could remain.

[TammyinTN]

I just wash all the towels together and then whites and darks. I don't had to face the issue that way.;)

[MicheleinMN]

Under the circumstances you describe probably not unsanitary, but still gross in my mind.

 

I just can't do it.

[LauraGB]

I've actually thought about this a lot. If your washing machine is not working well enough to clean your underwear in the first place, you shouldn't be putting them back on your body. I mean, wildly icky to do that, especially after they've sat there for a few days in the hamper with the family's dirty socks, kwim? And the same thing applies to those towels - whether for body or dishes. So, I have come to the determination that yes, if your machine, detergent, etc works properly, it is okay. If not, well, then don't and get your machine fixed.

[Rosie_0801]

You people wash with hot water?

 

:confused:

Rosie

[JoyfulMama]

I wash whites and towels of all kinds on hot. And yes, I do sometimes combine them. Makes more sense to me to do so when I am using the same detergents on them both.

[Orthodox6]

I'm the first vote for "other". If the bleach in question is Clorox, or a similar dangerous chemical bleach, then I would not be wearing any garment washed with its inclusion !

[justamouse]

Well I do it all the time and we're not dead yet. And I refuse to use clorox, so my germometer prolly just flew off. :D

[justamouse]

You people wash with hot water?

 

:confused:

Rosie

 

 

I know, I know. Perhaps it's just an American thing, but one I'm totally guilty of. Not very green of me.

[Embassy]

It never crossed my mind that it could be considered unsanitary. They are all getting washed, aren't they? I don't typically wash other items with my daughter's cloth diapers though.

[Gooblink]

:) I cannot do it, though I'm not sure how unsanitary it is in fact.

[aggieamy]

I don't think it's unsanitary as long as the right settings and cleaning products are used, but I NEVER do it! :lol:

 

I also don't think it's unsanitary but I don't do it because all my kitchen towels and washclothes are microfiber and get washed by themselves.

[LarlaB]

:iagree:Us too. I didn't know it was controversial.

 

That's how my Mom did laundry, that's how I do it . . . we're all still alive.:D Apparently not as clean as we should be ;) but alive.

 

 

:iagree:

[Gooblink]

Oh, this reminded me that I had a roommate years ago whom I caught washing her toilet scrubber and bathroom trashcan in the dishwasher with our dishes.

 

Ew! I fasted for a week, after that one.

[Rosie_0801]

I know, I know. Perhaps it's just an American thing, but one I'm totally guilty of. Not very green of me.

 

I wasn't thinking of environmental factors. I was wondering why you want to pay to heat water to wash clothes when cold water will wash them! Ah well, I now have a new tip to put on the frugality threads :lol:

 

Rosie

[Mejane]

I use bleach on all the above, but I still can't combine them. It just feels skeevy to me.

[MyLittleWonders]

You people wash with hot water?

 

:confused:

Rosie

I don't. I do tend to wash on warm/rinse on cold (the default on my machine) but if I think about it before hand, I'll switch it to cold.

 

Well I do it all the time and we're not dead yet. And I refuse to use clorox, so my germometer prolly just flew off. :D

:iagree: I don't use bleach, I don't use the sanitary cycle, and I don't wash on hot. But I do combine. There are not enough hours in the day for me to keep up with the regular clothes laundry, the sheets, the towels, the kitchen laundry, *and* the baseball laundry to separate. :tongue_smilie:

It never crossed my mind that it could be considered unsanitary. They are all getting washed, aren't they? I don't typically wash other items with my daughter's cloth diapers though.

Cloth diapers were the only thing that I ever washed separately. Otherwise, I only separate by colors - and in my house, that's two options: white or colors. I can't get into darks, perm-press, etc. ;) Everything comes out clean, and most the time, it gets to its proper drawer/closet before being worn again.

[JudoMom]

I've actually thought about this a lot. If your washing machine is not working well enough to clean your underwear in the first place, you shouldn't be putting them back on your body. I mean, wildly icky to do that, especially after they've sat there for a few days in the hamper with the family's dirty socks, kwim? And the same thing applies to those towels - whether for body or dishes. So, I have come to the determination that yes, if your machine, detergent, etc works properly, it is okay. If not, well, then don't and get your machine fixed.

 

:lol: This is my exact thought process on the matter.

[nukeswife]

:iagree:Us too. I didn't know it was controversial.

 

That's how my Mom did laundry, that's how I do it . . . we're all still alive.:D Apparently not as clean as we should be ;) but alive.

 

:iagree:

 

Love the last part about maybe not being as clean as we should be, but alive. I guess we're in the same boat. I don't even have a front loader anymore (don't get me started on the lemon I had) but use my Fisher Paykel Top loader on a hot wash with detergent and consider it good.

[Guest Virginia Dawn]

I guess y'all won't be visiting me.;-)

 

I wash towels and and underwear/whites and lights together often. I don't use bleach, and I use a warm water wash/cold rinse.

They get dried in the drier in winter and outside once the weather gets warmer.

 

I wash everything else with cold water.

 

I guess we are gross and unsanitary.

[Jennifer in MI]

I guess many of you wouldn't want to come visit me! I throw it all together, wash on cold, and hang them to dry. Am I gross?

[Jennifer in MI]

I guess y'all won't be visiting me.;-)

 

I wash towels and and underwear/whites and lights together often. I don't use bleach, and I use a warm water wash/cold rinse.

They get dried in the drier in winter and outside once the weather gets warmer.

 

I wash everything else with cold water.

 

I guess we are gross and unsanitary.

 

I guess many of you wouldn't want to come visit me! I throw it all together, wash on cold, and hang them to dry. Am I gross?

 

:lol: Great minds think alike, I guess!!! Hey - we could visit each other!!!

 

I should also add that I never use bleach.

[Meriwether]

It is unsanitary if the underwear belong to one of my boys.

[Meriwether]

Oh, this reminded me that I had a roommate years ago whom I caught washing her toilet scrubber and bathroom trashcan in the dishwasher with our dishes.

 

Ew! I fasted for a week, after that one.

 

 

Okay, that makes me :ack2::ack2::ack2::ack2:.

 

 

 

 

:ack2: Sorry, that needed one more.

[AHASRADA]

I guess for me it's kind of like the "5 second rule" for eating food that has fallen on the floor :). Probably not too sanitary, but oh well, I doubt it ever made anyone sick. I've also been known to leave food out a bit longer than advisable, and perhaps eating leftovers a little older than ideal. Hasn't hurt any of us. I am encouraged by the studies that have shown that our modern "over-clean" and "sanitized" environment can be detrimental, that all kids need a little dirt and germs (that's my theory, and I'm stickin' to it ;).)

 

Theoretically, if I had enough laundry to warrant more specific load divisions, or a particularly small washer, ie: need to do 2 loads of whites anyway, then I would probably divide along those lines: towels alone, undies alone. Since this is not the case, I don't give it a second thought, and throw them all in. We have darks, mediums and whites, and sometimes a pink/red load if there are enough to separate.

 

Incidentally, I wash on warm, rinse on cold, and use a dryer. I expect the extreme heat of the dryer kills anything the water and soap missed. Oh yes, and I never use bleach (don't want the stuff in my house), but I put white vinegar in every load, which I once read kills germs equally as well as bleach, without the danger to non-whites and to accidental ingestion or skin irritation.

[Renee in NC]

I never thought about it and don't really care.

 

ETA: I don't even sort clothes all that often!

Edited May 12, 2010 by Renee in FL

[Renee in NC]

You people wash with hot water?

 

:confused:

Rosie

 

I don't.

[Crissy]

Those of you who are disgusted by the thought of combining, do you have separate hampers so a pair of undies never touches a dish towel?

[Crissy]

It is unsanitary if the underwear belong to one of my boys.

 

:lol:

[KS_]

Those of you who are disgusted by the thought of combining, do you have separate hampers so a pair of undies never touches a dish towel?

 

I have a basket for towels only - I change out my kitchen hand towel and dishrag daily so they don't get smelly (and bathroom hand towels about every other day), and often will hang them over the edge of the basket so they can dry a little and not mildew (which they would if I put them in the hamper with the rest of the clothes). I end up with enough towels at the end of the week that it's a full load of just kitchen and bathroom hand towels and dishrags.

 

ETA: My kids each have their own hampers, and dh and I have one, in addition to the towel basket.

Edited May 12, 2010 by KH_

[Nakia]

\

 

:iagree: I don't use bleach, I don't use the sanitary cycle, and I don't wash on hot. But I do combine

 

Me too. :D

[OH_Homeschooler]

Due to some plumbing issues we've found it's easier to do most of our laundry at the laundromat. This has forced me to think about how I do laundry more than it ever has since I've been married, and this very poll question has crossed my mind.

 

I actually do wash our underwear and our towels together, but only in hot water. I don't take bleach because I want one less thing to carry. A load of laundry costs me the same whether I wash it on hot or cold, so I definitely use hot for its germ-killing properties (and I have read articles suggesting to do this) for my combined underwear/towel load but warm and cold for my other loads.

 

Before I had to take my laundry elsewhere I would have run smaller separate loads but when you just want to get in and get out, you find your standards of cleanliness drop. You are able to stomach much more.

[katemary63]

All my whites go in one load, on hot water, with detergent and a little chlorine bleach. No problem.

[choirfarm]

I wasn't thinking of environmental factors. I was wondering why you want to pay to heat water to wash clothes when cold water will wash them! Ah well, I now have a new tip to put on the frugality threads :lol:

 

Rosie

 

Because cold water will not sanatize the blood on my underwear, poop on kids, discharge etc. I wash some things on cold, but underwear is on sanitary.

 

Christine

[Laura Corin]

I guess many of you wouldn't want to come visit me! I throw it all together, wash on cold, and hang them to dry. Am I gross?

 

Laura

[NanceXToo]

Wow, I had no idea this was an issue for anybody either lol, I never ever thought about. I still think nothing of it, though.

 

I don't separate anything. Unless it's something that's new and black/red and I'm afraid it will run in the initial washing, it all gets thrown in together, no matter what laundry article it is, and no matter what color it is, and no matter who it belongs to, and it gets washed with cold water and laundry detergent.

 

It then gets thrown in the dryer with a fabric softener sheet, folded, and handed to the appropriate individual to put away in their own rooms.

[LauraGB]

Because cold water will not sanatize the blood on my underwear, poop on kids, discharge etc. I wash some things on cold, but underwear is on sanitary.

 

Christine

 

In light of this post, I should point out that while I do combine everything, some things do occasionally require some sort of pretreatment.

[PinkInTheBlue]

It never crosses my mind. I do separate lights, darks, towels, etc but if I need to wash and put things together a kitchen towel can go wherever it needs to. :)

[Kim in TN]

I can't imagine washing them together! Like someone else mentioned, I keep a separate hamper for the kitchen rags and towels. The thought of body hair and other things on my kitchen rags and towels completely grosses me out.

[Nestof3]

I combine everything and have never given it a second thought. My mom has always combined as well.

 

What's the danger of washing them together?

[MicheleinMN]

Those of you who are disgusted by the thought of combining, do you have separate hampers so a pair of undies never touches a dish towel?

 

yes.

[Peri]

Those of you who are disgusted by the thought of combining, do you have separate hampers so a pair of undies never touches a dish towel?

 

Yes I do. I have a hamper (actually a laundry basket) in the laundry room for all my dish towels, rags, and tea towels. I have a hamper in each bathroom for towels. I have a hamper in the linen closet for all our dirty sheets and blankets. I have a hamper for each kid for their dirty clothes.

 

I do wash seperately because all the sheets are enough for 1 load and I can't add anything to the load ... there's no more room. All the towels are another load for the same reason and all the rags are yet another load for yet the same reason. I would love to do away with the bleach except for the fact that I have two boys that are still too young to know how to keep themselves clean.:glare:

[dirty ethel rackham]

I've actually thought about this a lot. If your washing machine is not working well enough to clean your underwear in the first place, you shouldn't be putting them back on your body. I mean, wildly icky to do that, especially after they've sat there for a few days in the hamper with the family's dirty socks, kwim? And the same thing applies to those towels - whether for body or dishes. So, I have come to the determination that yes, if your machine, detergent, etc works properly, it is okay. If not, well, then don't and get your machine fixed.

 

:iagree: I probably would not wash them with diapers, though. :D