To ask how you wash your knickers?

[LazyJayne]

Not the poo troll 😄💩

I have always washed mine on 40 with a general load (trousers, t-shirts etc).

I want to start washing my clothes at 30 to see if it keeps them looking newer for longer, but I’m not comfortable washing knickers and socks at that temperature.

I’ve had an initial investigate, but the jury seems to be out. Some say 30 is fine, some say 60 and others say you need to add a disinfectant.

I’m now not sure if I should have even been washing them with my other clothes at all!

What to do!?

I put half a cap of Zoflora in a wash when I washed dh's bedding after he had covid at the very start of the pandemic. Long before vaccines or tests. I was alarmed at how much it stunk of disinfectant even after a very long hot wash with 3 rinses. I'm never going to do that again. No one should be breathing in disinfectant fumes as a matter of course.

I wash them with other clothes, and in this part of the world people many people do cold water washes. We are all healthy and thriving!

I have OCD about bodily fluids and germs, yet mine just go in with everything else. I'll even use an intense cold wash which isnt heated at all.

30 degrees, non bio , in with a light colour/ white wash. Mainly because the detergent I use for dark colours is a bio . They come out pristine.

Mind you, unlike some posters on this extraordinary thread I am not wearing my knickers while mining for rat droppings in filthy dirty pathogenic and radioactive mud so that could be what is making the difference.

I am impressed that you know how old your knickers are. And of course extra impressed that they have lasted so well, they don’t make them like that any more do they?

Without going into the details, your backside is not a sterile environment. So if there is something undesirable in your gut, you are at risk of reinfecting yourself by washing your knickers on a cold wash.

Same with towels, if you wash them cool, infections lurking in them are less likely to be killed and more likely to spread.

For that reason it is also good to dry them outside because UV also helps to kill bugs.

I used to have a soak bucket for those pesky white school socks. Handhot water with some bio powder swished around on a Monday night. Friday night they all went in washer at 40 with some vanish and more bio wash powder (and usually with teetowels etc). Was so happy when they went to seniors and wore black socks

So if there is something undesirable in your gut, you are at risk of reinfecting yourself by washing your knickers on a cold wash.

Have we any actual evidence that's happened to anyone, ever? Being reinfected via washed underwear (using powder) that is?

Same with towels, if you wash them cool, infections lurking in them are less likely to be killed and more likely to spread.

Again, any evidence that washed towels have spread disease?

With the main wash at 30 or 40 unless I've shat myself or done a particularly sweaty gym session.

Normal laundry doesn't need disinfectant and there's some evidence that the rise in allergies/asthma in kids is linked to environments being too clean. We need some bacteria in our environment to keep our immune system healthy!

So it sounds like I haven’t been going disastrously wrong all my life by bundling everything in together then 😁

I’m going to start washing my tops/trousers on 30 with non-bio but despite the assurance I still can’t bring myself to wash my undies on 30 so they’re going in with my pjs on 40 👍

I wash underwear and socks with other clothes. Have my whole life (I'm in my fifties) My Mum did ...

I wash everything in cold water. My machine has a cold setting, then 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 75 and 90 degrees settings.

My girls and I have never had any problems (thrush etc) or DH.

What I wash separately is towels, sheets, whites, new clothing, DH work gear (mining) and thing with poo/vomit on.

OMG this made me howl 🤣😂🤣 Mumsnet at its best

I burn mine after each wear

I wash my knickers in the sink with hot water and soap when I take them off. Then into the washing machine with everything else at 40 degrees.

Why do so many Mumsnetters not believe in detergent? Why do you feel obliged to wash stuff at high temperatures to "kill the pathogens"? Do you really think bacteria & fungi can survive exposure to chemicals that dissolve membranes, especially when combined with enzymes that break down proteins?

I wash underwear & socks at 30°C (sometimes 20°C) in biological detergent. Everything looks & smells fine.

This is why I love mumsnet, and I especially love threads like this.

I was one of those people who used a towel once, and then threw it into the wash basket. I'm now using a towel twice and a hand towel to dry my privates and feet. It's saving time, money and environmental impact. I'm going to try and get this to 3 uses.

I wash all my clothes on a 40, including underwear, and I don't segregate. Having read the comments, that's going down to a 30, so thanks for this post.

Love it @LauraNicolaides and so true of Mumsnet.

Mine are mainly silk briefs from M&S. i wash them in a wool wash with wool socks and silk bras with wool and silk washing liquid. I use the oxy spray on the inside gusset which is cotton if needed before washing. Works fine. Non silk pants just go with one her stuff on sports wash or 25 min wash. All at 30

40 with everything else.

Other stuff not one her. Hate autotype

I wear a new pair every day and sell the worn ones on ebay 🤣

I don't really but 6 pages in and no one has said that yet!

Everything goes on at 20c with a detergent meant for cold water, a dash of sanitiser and another of vinegar. I haven't died yet, nothing smells bad etc.

Any dirty stuff gets soaked beforehand, just to be sure and if it's a sunny day, it all goes outside to dry.

You make it sound like you're at risk from ebola or something

Mine go in with everything else. Even period knickers, although I rinse them through in the sink first. Probably on a 30 wash most of the time.