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Original poster

Is this weird or am I a slattern

489 replies

allgoodinthehood · 04/04/2021 08:56

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.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
HelgaDownUnder · 04/04/2021 10:36

I'm yet to hear of anyone catching a disease from a clean tea towel that was washed with their knickers.

murmurflation · 04/04/2021 10:37

Honest question, does anyone know why 40 or 60 kills more germs and how many more? I mean the research? I've just realised I follow a set of rules for washing at different temperatures and I don't really know why I'm doing it.

ChristinaYang10 · 04/04/2021 10:37

I wash everything together and don’t use fabric conditioner so don’t have that problem.

FreekStar · 04/04/2021 10:37

I wash tea towels with all the other towels or bedding and do them on a hotter wash than clothes to kill germs- usually 60, occasionally on a 90

callingon · 04/04/2021 10:38

I diligently separated tea towels , cleaning clothes and face cloths and washed them on 60 with bedding or towels for years. Then one day I wondered what was actually going to happen if I washed all the above on 40 and started doing that. So far absolutely nothing has happened. I stick bedding through on a 60 probably every 3rd/4th time I use it and I still get a bit edgy about washing face cloths with cleaning cloths on 40 - so try to avoid - but in terms of colds/blemishes on my face/general illness it has made no difference 🤷🏻‍♀️

ArosGartref · 04/04/2021 10:39

@gannett

I chuck everything in together without a second's thought.

I am a slattern though.

Same.
fizbosshoes · 04/04/2021 10:41

The way around this is to iron your tea towels. The iron will kill anything that's lurking from having been washed with your underwear.
And ironed tea towels are so much nicer! And kids can help with doing this.

I am a MN scumbag but I do iron tea towels (to kill germs and because you can fit them more neatly in a drawer when they're ironed.

awaits a MN hygeine police to tell me storing them in a drawer is a heinous crime for some reason

callingon · 04/04/2021 10:43

I did live with a boy who washed all his cycling gear on a 30 and they did stink tbf - it just didn’t cut it to wash stuff that got that sweaty that often on a 30. I was itching to stick it through on a hot wash although I think technical fabrics might be a PITA for that reason.

Macncheeseballs · 04/04/2021 10:44

What are these germs exactly thst need yo be killed

Macncheeseballs · 04/04/2021 10:44

*that need to be killed

Jocasta2018 · 04/04/2021 10:45

Everything goes in at 40c... Can't be arsed to separate stuff out. And the cat dishes go in the dishwasher as well.
I'm a self-confessed slattern, a woman in a dressing gown!

Blerg · 04/04/2021 10:50

I do underwear at 60 due to several run ins with threadworms. But I’ve googled and not sure that’s high enough.

We all do it quite differently but people aren’t dropping like flies if they combine stuff at low temps so maybe it doesn’t matter

Pantheon · 04/04/2021 10:50

I wash them separately at 60

tisonlymeagain · 04/04/2021 10:52

Mine go in with everything else. We have a dishwasher...but even if we don't use it and dry up - they're still relatively clean. It's not like we're drying dirty plates with them?!

Mercedes519 · 04/04/2021 10:53

Slatterns United. Amazing how we’re not all dead isn’t it.

For the person asking why...hotter temperatures do kill more germs. However it depends how germy your things are to start with as to whether it makes the slightest bit of difference to expend the time, effort and cost of electricity.

If you’re the PP who wipes her arse on tea towels then a hot wash might be advised Hmm For normal people who dry their clean hands or wipe some crumbs not so much?

You’ve just reminded me OP, I’m doing a whites wash. Must chuck in the towels and tea towels to make up the load Grin

FlyNow · 04/04/2021 11:00

I wash everything together, on cold. I think everyone uses cold here (I'm in Australia) and we are all fine. The hospitals don't need special tea towel disease wards or anything.

waterlego · 04/04/2021 11:00

I was itching to stick it through on a hot wash although I think technical fabrics might be a PITA for that reason.

Yes, that is tricky. Sportswear/gym kit tends to a) get very sweaty and b) is usually made of Lycra/other plasticky man made fibres.

My machine has a ‘Sportswear’ setting but I’ve never actually investigated what this really means.

LadyJaye · 04/04/2021 11:04

So many MNers would fall to pieces if they had to live in Japan, where all machine washes are done in cold water. Clothes still come out clean, though.

I was everything, all together at 40 degrees, but that's only because my machine doesn't have a 30 degree preset.

Cokie3 · 04/04/2021 11:04

@FlyNow Yes, I'm in Australia too. And if anyone's familiar with our summer, they'll know that on some days it's so hot that the Cold water tap is hot!

CecilyP · 04/04/2021 11:05

Honest question, does anyone know why 40 or 60 kills more germs and how many more? I mean the research? I've just realised I follow a set of rules for washing at different temperatures and I don't really know why I'm doing it.

I saw a TV program at the beginning of Covid where they tested how much bacteria was left on clothes after washing at various temperatures and it really made no difference. They did find that non-biological detergent killed more germs than biological.

VerityWibbleWobble · 04/04/2021 11:05

@callingon

I did live with a boy who washed all his cycling gear on a 30 and they did stink tbf - it just didn’t cut it to wash stuff that got that sweaty that often on a 30. I was itching to stick it through on a hot wash although I think technical fabrics might be a PITA for that reason.
If anyone has issues with rancid smelling sportswear then buy some Halo, it's the only time I'll wash something separately, when sportswear stinks and needs the magic washing liquid.
kereh · 04/04/2021 11:08

@MrsJBaptiste

I really need to go and get dressed but just want to ask, how are your tea towels getting so dirty? If you have a dishwasher then surely they don't really get used that often?

The poster that gets through 5-6 a day???!!! 😮😮😮

They're not dirty but damp. I don't use for drying dishes but drying hands and wiping surfaces.

If it's a day at home, cooking, cleaning etc then I don't know what is so startling about 5/6 a day. Unless you're the sort of person who cleans out the pet food dishes/ bins/ puts a wash on without washing hands.

pabloescobarselasticband · 04/04/2021 11:09

It doesn't bother me from a hygiene pov, but i wash my tea towels on a 60 degrees cotton wash purely to get rid of stains.

CityCommuter · 04/04/2021 11:10

@kereh surely you don't dry your hands on a tea towel as that's for dishes for cutlery! You need a hand towel for hands only...

Febo24 · 04/04/2021 11:11

Just stuck it to the man (or is it the MN?!) and put my tea towels in with all the clothes as I always do.

I heard their turning the Nightingale Hospitals to Tea Towel Disease Wards now @FlyNow. It's rampant.

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