Do you wash your cleaning cloths?

[winterrabbit]

Our cleaner asks us to wash the cloths she uses to clean our house (dusters, j-cloths, large clothes cloths she uses to clean the loo etc). I'm all for recycling but it feels a bit gross to be washing clothes she cleans the loo with and a bit of a waste of water and electricity to wash j-clothes and pointless to wash dusters every time, not to mention the hassle of hanging them. What does everyone else do?

My cleaning cloths (and children’s cloths for wiping faces etc.) I boil for ten minutes in a pan of water with white vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. Then a quick wash in machine. I never found they smelt nice or clean after just machine washing.

I don’t use cloths to clean my toilet (use disposable wipes/kitchen roll etc.).

I chuck them in the machine once used and they then get washed with whatever else goes in the next load.

Of course!

I don't' wash them with my clothes., but tea towels and cleaning cloths on a very hot wash.

You can't keep using them if they're grubby!

Yes house cleaning cloths and car cleaning cloths

I use once, wash, use again, repeat. What's the alternative?

What do you do with them?? Just throw them away? I wash mine with the rest of the wash.

Cleaning cloths washed on 90° as at that temperature it also cleans the washing machine. At other times also use washing machine cleaner at 90°.

I don't use cloths on the toilet because I don't want to wash them, but dusters and any other cloths of course I wash.

Of course I wash them. What else would I do?

I don't use paper towels or J cloths at all; instead I use cut-up clothes like joggers and T shirts that have become unusable due to over-wear. If I clean up something especially gross (say, bird poo from the car windscreen) then I just bin them. There are always more things to cut up.

But if they have just been used to clean the floor, or the bathroom, or the kitchen top then of course I wash them. In a hot wash with the towels.

So as pretty much all the PPs. What do you normally do @winterrabbit ? throw them away after one use?

Not toilet cleaning cloths no, I use silicone ones that can be disinfected separately or wipe with loo roll and flush. General cleaning cloths and dusters get washed in with the normal wash.

I stick my cleaner’s cloths in the machine/tumble dryer.

We have enough that we can run wait until we can run a full load of just cleaning cloths. Then they get run on the hottest setting. It’s not difficult or particularly time consuming.

I shake the dust off outside and rinse under tap and the put them in the washing machine. I use rags a lot like old t shirts, if they are really dirty for example washed the outside windows, then I bin them.

Steep in boiling water with Dettol then had wash and wring out to dry.

I used to do some cleaning for a few people for several years. A very experienced professional cleaner I knew swore by cleaning with cotton face cloths. I cleaned all the houses with them and have never used anything else in my own home since. No microfibre, no yellow dusters, nothing. Just face cloths.

No matter where the cloth is used (toilet or kitchen), they get put into a bag and once a week I put them in the washing machine on a 90'C cotton cycle, along with my tea-towels, floor mops, and anything else like it. The hot water and washing powder should be more than enough to clean the items. I tumble dry them after washing. I also used to wash the cloths when I was cleaning houses as it was too much to expect the client to do it, but this was covered in the price I charged.

As the client, it's up to you to decide what you want your cleaner to use in your home. If you are giving her disposable cloths for the bathroom and asking her to reuse dusters without washing, that's up to you, but as someone who only ever damp-dusts surfaces, I can't imagine how you could use a dirty damp cloth again without washing - goodness knows I sometimes use two or more in one room if I'm having a good clean, as they get too dirty to keep on using.

You may think that washing a toilet cloth in your washing machine is gross, but I'm of the mindset that cleaning your home with dirty cloths is much, much worse.

But as before, if your cleaner is providing clean cloths as part of the service, then it's your house and your call.

We use kitchen roll for the toilet. For the other cloths, a boil wash (90°) with some neat Zoflora. Hot water reduces the power of bleach & can release chlorine gas - I found this out last year so have stopped!

In the washing machine then the tumble dryer. Why wouldn’t you?

It (a 90'c wash) also removes the need to use a disinfectant. Genuine question, why do you feel the need to add disinfectant to a wash of that temperature? If it's because you like the smell then fair enough.

Do you wash your pants in the machine? Because after a day of farting in them and putting them back on after using the toilet they are also not too fresh! So cloths used to wash a loo will probably be about as gross as pants that have been touching your butthole all day 😅

Just for the smell! I used to add fabric softener but I didn’t like how it made the cloths feel.

I wash all cleaning cloths with the next load of washing. I don't treat them in any special way. Washing powder and a 40 degree wash. Yes, even the cloths we clean the bathroom and toilet with. I don't see a problem with washing a cloth that has touched a toilet seat. If you feel the need to bleach that cloth, wouldn't you need to bleach your backside and hands too?

Yes, fabric softener is very bad for any material where you require absorbency.

Why wouldn’t you wash them?

The OP says that "it feels a bit gross to be washing clothes she cleans the loo with and a bit of a waste of water and electricity to wash j-clothes and pointless to wash dusters every time, not to mention the hassle of hanging them." So in this case, that's why.

It's not a viewpoint I have, but then I have a bit of a thing about cleaning with something which isn't clean to start with. I don't mind most cleaning tasks, but there are absolutely none which I love. The thought of using my time to just push dirt around and to spread germs doesn't excite me. I like to think I'm making a positive difference.

I clean the loo with toilet paper then flush. Cleaning cloths go in the machine along with everything else.