Is this weird or am I a slattern

[allgoodinthehood]

I think it totally fine to wash tee towels in with clothes washing .
My partner thinks they should be washed separately on a hot wash.
He thinks it just not right to have tee towels and underwear washed together as its unhygienic.
My clothes washing is on a 40 degrees wash.
Tell me Im not mad .
Happy Easter everyone.

I wait until I have a pile of tea towels then wash them on 90. Pants and socks have their own wash on 60 with dettol cleaner, I actually wait until everyone has their own pile of underwear and wash them separately from other family members, I really don't want my underwear washed with my Ds's 11&17 underwear 🤮 plus it's easier to sort afterwards if it all belongs to one person. Clothing I wash separately at 40 and normally tends to be one person's at at time but I wait for a full load. Everyone has their own basket. I understand it's not how most people do it but it works for me and I don't think I use the washer more than anyone else because I always wait for a full load.

Wish I'd never looked into this.

If you're a slattern, so are most of us. I use an all-temperature disinfecting detergent, and wash everything together, with the exception of whites, which occasionally get a bleaching when they look a bit off.

The worst case of this I've run across is a friend, who insisted that her children use one face cloth for faces, a different one for bodies, and washes those separately! With all the sorting and washing, I'm shocked she can afford the utility bills!

If your DP has that big an issue, tell him to wash them. Or put up and shut up.

I chuck tea towels in with clothes! The only things I do on a really hot wash is white bedding and my babys bum flannels that we use instead of wet wipes! Unless he's wiping his bum with the tea towels I see no harm in a 40 wash!

Wish I'd never looked into this.

And yet people aren't ill.

Whites and bedding at 60 everything else at 40. Dishclothes in machine daily after use - usually washed with the 40 dark colours. Everything tumble dried. High temps are surely about stain removal and keeping whites bright rather than germs- asurelycann decent wash with a good detergent will do the trick unless the items are rancid

I was mine in with my other washing.

What's wrong with washing at 30 🤔

@Ifeelsuchafool. Do you also wash your hands at 90 degrees because ordinary soap and water kills Covid - nothing to do with the water temperature.

@Discofish. I now have a lovely mental picture of a baby wiping his bum on a tea towel - I am also going to adopt the term ‘bum flannel’ and use it as often as possible !!!

Whites and bedding at 60 everything else at 40. Dishclothes in machine daily after use - usually washed with the 40 dark colours. Everything tumble dried. High temps are surely about stain removal and keeping whites bright rather than germs- asurelycann decent wash with a good detergent will do the trick unless the items are rancid

Modern detergents are designed to be used at low temperatures. I wash my whites at 40 and they look great, I do wash them separately to other colours though, I find that's what makes them go grey if you mix

Soap and water doesn't, "kill" bacteria and germs. It works on your hands because it strips grease from the skin and dries it out. Bacteria and viruses survive within the grease layer. They don't survive on dry skin so well. This is why hand gel contains alcohol. When you wash your hands, you're not, "killing germs", you're demolishing their home.

Some viruses have an outer lipid cover (like covid!) So when you wash with soap/use sanitiser you destroy that outer layer and do in fact destroy the virus

Well today I learned what a slattern was. And I also learned that if you’re not meant to wash them together then I definitely am one!
If you have a new tea towel every day and they’re used to dry a granite worktop then presumably it won’t be utterly filthy.

We’ve always washed almost everything together. Both me and my husband are still alive. Only do the cloths used for cleaning the bathroom separately because they are definitely absolutely minging and can’t have fabric softener anyway.

I agree with your partner. I have always washed tea towels separately. The idea of putting them in with knickers, boxers, socks etc is gross. As for floor cloths and flannels 😬. Disgusting!
If it’s a time issue or if your partner doesn’t do their fair share that needs addressing!

Soap does destroy bacteria and viruses - generally through disrupting cell membranes or functions within each cell, or by simply removing them from your skin /item being washed. So, provided you are washing your clothes in detergent you really don’t need to be using high temperatures. Modern detergents even often say that they work at low temperatures. I wash all of my clothes and towels etc etc at 30. If you switch to this temp you will save a lot of money over a year! See this article for a good explanation of how soap and detergents kill bacteria and viruses www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/health/soap-coronavirus-handwashing-germs.html

Clothes (darks and lights separate) on 30/40 with the exception of some items like wool which go on a cool wash.
Towels, tea towels, undies (so hygiene wash) all go on at 60 with dettol laundry additive.

Each to their own but I feel that any extra loads beyond this is a waste of time, water and leccy.

So basically what I am saying is they separating your dirty laundry (other than by colour or for softener reasons) is a personal choice rather than anything founded in science!

Everyone has their own basket. I understand it's not how most people do it but it works for me and I don't think I use the washer more than anyone else because I always wait for a full load.

How long do you have to wait for a full load for one person? I’m not exactly slim but think it would take about a month for me. Not sure I like the idea of germs undies festering in the washing basket.

The only divides I do after clothing colour dividing are -

Things which may smell not to be washed with clothes - so this means tea towels/hot pads/cleaning cloths.

Things which will lint all over other things are quarantined to what I think of as ‘dusty/dirty wash’.
Rugs/walking socks etc. these first two categories are sometimes done together.

Bedding and towels - these segregated on colour grounds (all white) and because they have a complicated and slightly haphazard rota of hot wash and ecover laundry bleach - generally every other wash.

I use t towels once, then wash in a general 40 degree low temperature wash. Once a week I wash on 90 degree wash, hoping to kill bacteria on all dish cloths and tea towels, & flannels

I wash tea towels and towels/flannels together on a 60° wash. They go in a basket in the utility room until I have a full load.

@dementedpixie Well clearly you're the ignorant one then.

@midnightstar66

Honestly never in my 41 years heard of a dish wipe. A wipe to me is something disposable like a baby wipe or a surface wipe. The thing pictured is definitely just a cloth 😆

@midnightstar66 That was my point. Those dish wipes are DISPOSABLE, not washable. HENCE, wipe. Not a cloth. They ARE made of the same gauze material as baby wipes. That's the clue.

They are still cloths