Washing underwear with tea towels?

alicef

I do put dishcloths and any other cleaning cloth into a mild bleach solution before washing. 

Tea towels just go into the normal wash along with my, and the OH's pants.  Given that the dishes have been in with washing up liquid and we replace the tea towel at least every day I can't think it can be a problem - I'd be more concerned about my OH's work trousers.

theoretica

I wouldn't be worried about the tea towels - after all your hands touch all sorts of things including underwear, then get washed at well under 60 degrees and touch crockery etc...

Van_Girl

I wash bath towels, tea towels, bedding and pants all together at 50. Then everything else at 40. I tried to do general stuff at 30 but it didn't smell clean to me.

50 is the highest most of my wash cycle options go on my washing machine... at least, I haven't discovered 60 yet, though I'm sure it's there

Rosa_Damascena

Brie said:

This all puts me in mind of the news piece I heard some time back that said that all underwear should be replaced at least once every 6 months.  I think the person being interviewed may very well have been a medico type who worked for a large nationwide retailer well known for it's knickers. 

Around the same time I heard a piece of saving water, the environment, energy and the person being interviewed said that not only do we shower/bath too frequently we also wash our clothes more often than they need and should just air things out between uses.  Mentioned this to a friend who was horrified about wearing a pair of jeans 2 days in a row.  Washing them after every time they were worn boggled me! 

This is wasteful in the extreme! Washing undies at extra hot temperatures is unnecessary unless there is a recurrent infection / someone is seriously immunocompromised. 30°C is fine for most things. The only concession my delicates get is being bundled up into a separate laundry bag, other wise they are slung in with larger items.

CarolWHerts

I usually have enough towels and tea towels for a weekly 60° wash, but if not then they occasionally go in with everything else on a 30° quick wash. But we do iron our tea towels. I remember being taught on a first aid class as a teenager that if you keep a pile of ironed tea towels in the house, you always have access to a large and reasonably sterile emergency dressing (not that I've needed one, but still, it could happen). And you also have something reliably clean that you can use to cover food, drain washed fruits etc. 

Katiehound

bedding & underwear (cotton, not bras!) plus maybe one teacloth go in at 60 because I have house dust mite allergy. Everything else at 40 or even 30..
If I don't think I am going to have enough for a big load I will soak the underwear in a bucket of boiling water & napisan or equivalent. yes, the elastic doesn't like it! but the clothes are clean, that's for sure. (water heated by solar in all cases) then I will add the bucket load to a lower temp wash later in the day/ next day.

Teapot55

You can wash M&S or John Lewis black knickers - 95%cotton, 5% lycra - at 60ºc fine. However, if you do the same with the posh John Lewis men’s cotton briefs the elastic waistbands will be ruined. 

KxMx

I live alone so this time of year, only one load of washing goes in a week (7kg capacity machine).
So everything gets done together on a 28minute, 30c cycle, with one extra spin/drain at the end.
Then line dried.

newbs68

I wash most items at 30 which includes underwear. Back in the days when I had time of the month knickers they would sometimes get washed at 40 or 60 but most pants would get ruined by higher temperatures these days. The only thing I would wash at 60 every 3 or 4 washes, are towels and white socks. I find both those can get a bit foosty otherwise and retain a smell.

purpleivy

I have scanned this thread and don't see anyone mentioning the fact that a LOT of clothes say 30C wash, some max at 40C.  So how does that leave you with the 60C suggestion.  I can't believe that there is anything harmful left in garments that are washed at 30C, with detergent for 3 hours!  

THe long and short of it is that washing and drying clothes wears them out and/or fades them.  That fluff in a tumble dryer is your clothes!  The same will be washed away from the washing machine along with the suds. 

Added to that, if you have stained items, heat sets stains.