Fleece and towels question

[DizzyDinosaur]

When it comes to washing them.
Will it perfectly fine to wash them in the machine at 30 or on a cold wash with using trigene as the detergent?

Mum is moaning at me that if I swap from woodshavings to fleece and towels is that it will cost loads to keep them wash them at 60 to kill the bacteria.

Yet we already do 60 washes for the towels and bed linen :x

 

[Toffeewoffee]

Why do you wash your towels and bedlinen on 60?!

Anyway, they will need to be washed on a hot wash, otherwise they will probably come out smelling worse than when they went in, so i have heard, and do trigene do a detergent?

How much fleece and twels do you tend to wash at a time? If its only a small amount you can use a quick wash cycle but on a 60 deg. I did this with mine when i had 2 towels and once fleece and they were ok.

 

[Toffeewoffee]

Why do you wash your towels and bedlinen on 60?!

Anyway, they will need to be washed on a hot wash, otherwise they will probably come out smelling worse than when they went in, so i have heard, and do trigene do a detergent?

How much fleece and twels do you tend to wash at a time? If its only a small amount you can use a quick wash cycle but on a 60 deg. I did this with mine when i had 2 towels and once fleece and they were ok.

 

[Bekki]

60°C isnt hot enough to kill bacteria, a 90°C wash isnt even hot enough! A boil wash would do the trick but costs a flaming fortune.

I worked out that using finacard is actually cheaper than using the washer for 1 wash a week for piggie stuff!

 

[DizzyDinosaur]

Our machine is 8kg and I just dump 4 towels and 2 fleeces it in and it washes them, Machine was about 3/4 full since they are not that big

When I was volunteering at a rescue centre they used trigene disinfectant in the washing machine for the dogs blankets and they came out clean.

Also washing the towels and bedline at 60 kills all the bacteria on them. Hence that's why we wash them at that temp.

 

[DizzyDinosaur]

Our machine is 8kg and I just dump 4 towels and 2 fleeces it in and it washes them, Machine was about 3/4 full since they are not that big

When I was volunteering at a rescue centre they used trigene disinfectant in the washing machine for the dogs blankets and they came out clean.

Also washing the towels and bedline at 60 kills all the bacteria on them. Hence that's why we wash them at that temp.

 

[DizzyDinosaur]

60°C isnt hot enough to kill bacteria, a 90°C wash isnt even hot enough! A boil wash would do the trick but costs a flaming fortune.

60c wash doesnt kill bacteria? I thought bacteria denature (die) above 40c

Well anyway with washing at 60c the machine hasn't had any sludge build up. compared to the old machine which we did 40c washes almost all the time

 

[Bekki]

60c wash doesnt kill bacteria? I thought bacteria denature (die) above 40c

Well anyway with washing at 60c the machine hasn't had any sludge build up. compared to the old machine which we did 40c washes almost all the time

I studied biology but I am a chemist by proffession, bacteria can survive 60°C some will denature but to use heat as an effective way of removing bacteria temperatures need to be huge, its easier to use an antibacterial detergent :-) reading some peoples experiences on here about fleece and they suffered repeated URIs with their piggies on fleece despite washing using "hot" and similar.

Also on the temperature point did you know that there is no scientific evidence to say that "hot" tap water is any more effective than cold tap water for hand washing? the water would have to burn the skin before it would be hot enough to be beneficial for that :-P

Boiling babies bottles doesnt actually kill off all the bacteria either, only an autoclave will.

theres an idea, autoclave piggy stuff!

After all that waffle - buy a detergent that states its antibacterial and wash with that at the directed temperatures if you're worried about bacteria

 

[DizzyDinosaur]

I studied biology but I am a chemist by proffession, bacteria can survive 60°C some will denature but to use heat as an effective way of removing bacteria temperatures need to be huge, its easier to use an antibacterial detergent :-) reading some peoples experiences on here about fleece and they suffered repeated URIs with their piggies on fleece despite washing using "hot" and similar.

Also on the temperature point did you know that there is no scientific evidence to say that "hot" tap water is any more effective than cold tap water for hand washing? the water would have to burn the skin before it would be hot enough to be beneficial for that :-P

Boiling babies bottles doesnt actually kill off all the bacteria either, only an autoclave will.

theres an idea, autoclave piggy stuff!

I did not know that, GCSE science has failed me despite me asking the damn question about low temp washes.
We use laundry disinfectant on normal 40c washes anyway. Might just switch to 30c as then it will be done quicker

I knew the hot tap thing as the human skin can tolerate water about 42c before its painful.

Hmmm maybe its time to get an autoclave |)
Anyway with trigene its a disinfectant so it should kill the bacteria right?
Ive worked out our machine uses 60ish litres of water on the wash cycle so add the appropriate amount for that amount of water and should disinfect stuff?

 

[Bekki]

I did not know that, GCSE science has failed me despite me asking the damn question about low temp washes.

I knew the hot tap thing as the human skin can tolerate water about 42c before its painful.

Hmmm maybe its time to get an autoclave |)
Anyway with trigene its a disinfectant so it should kill the bacteria right?
Ive worked out our machine uses 60ish litres of water on the wash cycle so add the appropriate amount for that amount of water and should disinfect stuff?

Everyones skin is different I know I can tolerate 65-70°C , I dislike having 80°C on my skin but even thats pointless with antibacterial soap so I save on gas :-) and use cold at home. I can lift things out of the oven and eat food straight out of the oven - asbestos hands and mouth ahah :-)

If thats the right amount for that amount of water go for it :-) but only use it up to the temperatures it says otherwise you may totally deactivate the disinfectant chemicals :-)

I briefly dabbled in microbiology, growing bacteria on purpose for fun haha and even heat sterilising all my equipment left me with agar plates with many more residents than the bacteria I actually wanted to play with (I was playign with salmonella)

 

[Pepperdog]

I must be manky then as I wash my fleece and towels on the 30 wash, with non bio liquid (no softner of course) and it doesnt smell at all. The fleece and towels all go in with the beds, although in the summer there is smaller fleece and less towels and a couple less beds, so I do need to do two loads in the winter as there is much more to wash.

 

[Poppy'sMum]

reading some peoples experiences on here about fleece and they suffered repeated URIs with their piggies on fleece despite washing using "hot" and similar.

Do you mean the risk of catching a URI from fleece? I would have thought they chances of a piggy getting a URI from a clean freshly washed fleece would be impossible or at least very unlikely, anymore so than a woman getting cystitis from a clean pair of pants she previously wore whilst suffering from cystitis? rolleyes

I would say the repeated URI's are more likely if fleece is not changed regularly enough, if piggies sit in wet bedding of any kind it won't be good for them.

 

[DizzyDinosaur]

My brain is now hurting. :laluot_08:

So temp doesnt kill bacteria?
Piggies get repeat UTI from fleece?
Told different things about stuff.
Ack!

 

[MrsB]

Oooo interesting post, I am learning! I use fleece, fleece beds, towels etc for our hamster and 2 pigs (pigs currently in conserveratory over winter) and love it being so clean with no mess plus it must be so nice for them to walk on especially our old hamster! I am fine about rinsing my fleece, towels and washing fleece in the machine and then washing them on a 60 degree wash from a cost point of view as it only requires washing once a week but am interested in the antibacterial washing stuff, where can I buy this please?