Deep cleaning second hand clothes

[PenelopeHS]

I'm ordering some clothes off eBay. In the past I've only worn them a few times and haven't felt comfortable in second hand things. Is there a way of deep cleaning clothes to revive all bacteria etc? I will wash with dettol laundry but is there anything else? I read online to put them in e freezer, but not sure I fancy doing that.

Just wash them normally. If you don't feel comfortable wearing them, I wouldn't bother - it's obviously not for you.

Why don't you feel comfortable? If a normal wash won't get them clean enough for you, I don't think secondhand is for you.

60+ degree wash and Bio powder kills all germs - it's how I have to wash my uniforms as I work in a hospital. There is not really any such thing as a 'deep clean' other than that.

Thanks Elphaba, that's good to know. I had considered doing them on a hot wash but then thought I'd do the dettol instead. I'll decide between the two.

The deep freezer thing is for infestations of moths or carpet beetles - only really possible in wool, and not very likely even then. It wouldn't help with bacteria, I don't think?

If you want to make sure they smell fresh you could put some zoflora into the drawer when you wash them? Linen is nice to make things smell 'clean'

Deffo use bio powder/gel aswell

You could also hang them on the line on a dry day so they get some fresh air? They may have been stored at someone's house so will get rid of a 'musty' smell

Elphaba, did you mean non-bio at 60 degrees? Bio should be used at moderate temps because it uses enzymes to get rid of the dirt and they are destroyed at high temperatures. Don't know if 60 is high enough to kill them off but I always use non-bio for hot washes.

Definitely Bio, Okite. We've been told by our infection control nurses that the only difference between Bio and non-Bio is that there is bleach in the former, hence its germ-killing properties. No special enzymes involved.

We were told that you can get away with a cooler wash, plus Bio because of the bleach, but preferably hot plus Bio.

No enzymes in bio? Not according to the Persil website however technically your advice is right at a hot wash there will be no difference, as the enzymes wont work.

Just googled and Ariel and Persil both say that their bio powder contains enzymes - that's not to say it doesn't contain bleach as well but they are definitely enzyme based and work best at

I've switched to a very "green" detergent with a hotter wash. trying to get a balance between good for the environment and actually cleaning your clothes is a bit of a nightmare.

For the original poster, don't buy second hand, I do, but it's obviously not for you.

We've been told by our infection control nurses that the only difference between Bio and non-Bio is that there is bleach in the former, hence its germ-killing properties. No special enzymes involved

Completely untrue, there is usually more bleach in non-bio powder, as unlike bio, non-bio doesn't have enzymes.

Also, ONLY bio and non-bio powder contains bleach - NO liquids whether bio or not contain bleach as it can't be manufactured in due to chemical instability.

What do you think they may have done to the clothes to necessitate a 'deep clean'?
Seriously don't bother if it causes this much angst.

I doubt there's much more bacteria on second hand clothes than on new clothes, which will also have been handled by workers and possibly tried on too. I would wash them at your normal temperature. Turning clothes inside out before washing also helps get rid of any skin cells from the previous owner.