Q:  I need some help with clothes flooded in Hurricane Irene, in particular items that cannot go in hot water (delicate fabrics).  How do I handle them?  There is not a lot of mud, but water came reached them and wicked into the fabric.

A:  Watching the images on TV of the storm damage from Irene is really sobering, and I have been thinking about the people who have the daunting task of cleaning up.  Hopefully the flood waters you encountered were not contaminated, and your household water supply is safe for human consumption and skin contact.  Note that if your incoming water is not yet safe for drinking, you should not use it for any laundry unless you are hand-washing and using bleach.  Bleach needs to be added to both the wash and rinse water.  Thankfully it sounds like you have passed this hurdle.  Unfortunately, there is currently not a product for disinfecting any and all colored laundry items or fabrics made from wool, silk, mohair, spandex and leather.   Clorox2® has a different bleach active, hydrogen peroxide, which is a much weaker bleach and therefore safe for colors.  However, it doesn’t meet EPA disinfecting requirements.

To guarantee disinfection, you will need to wash as many items as possible with detergent + ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach in the hottest water recommended on the care label, so figuring out which of your items can be safely bleached is an important first step.  There actually are many colored fabrics than can be safely bleached, and it depends on which type of dye was used to color the fabric.  Also, “delicate” fabrics can often be bleached as long as they are not made from the fibers listed above.  Cotton and nylon underwear, for example, are delicate and perfectly bleachable from a fiber standpoint.  For colored items that you are unsure about, you can easily test bleachability as follows:

• Mix a test solution by diluting 2 tsp Clorox® Regular-Bleach in ¼ cup water


• Apply a drop to a hidden part of the item such as an inside hem, cuff, or seam and then blot dry


• No color change means the item can be safely bleached.  A color change shows what to expect following approximately five cycles with bleach.

I have had success safely bleaching light colored linens and towels, and 100% polyester fleece, to name a few.  Also, you only need to bleach your flood damaged items once.  Some of them could probably handle one wash cycle with bleach, but would fade after 5 cycles (blue jeans often can handle occasional bleach washing).  Because of the severity of the situation (and the possibility that your clothing could have been exposed to contaminated water), it would be worth it to try to bleach as many items as you can.  However, there are items that you simply can’t bleach, and for those you can try the following techniques to reduce the germ count as much as possible:

• Wash in hot water even if it is not what’s recommended on the care label.  This is especially important if your hot water heater is set at a lower temperature.


• Wash any items of particular concern separately from other items to avoid germ transfer, and consider washing them twice


• Use the hottest dryer setting recommended on the care label.


• Air dry items made from wool outdoors in the sun.

Follow up with a washer clean-out cycle (running one cycle with the washer empty) with ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach to be sure the clothes washer is disinfected and germs don’t transfer to other loads.  Hopefully you can restore as many of your flood damaged non-bleachable items as possible. 

I also have some additional disaster preparedness bleach tips that might be helpful:

• If water supplies are compromised and you are unable to boil water for one minute (3 minutes at high elevation) you can create potable water by using regular liquid bleach. Add 1/8 teaspoon (8 drops) of bleach to one gallon of water. Let sit for 30 minutes. Properly treated water should have a slight chlorine odor. If not, repeat dosage and let sit another 15 minutes. Use ¼ teaspoon of bleach (16 drops) for cloudy water.


• Disinfect surfaces, like counter tops, by first washing away all visible dirt. Apply a disinfecting solution of ¾ bleach per gallon of water. Let the solution stand for 5 minutes. Rinse thoroughly and let air dry.


• Make a family preparedness plan for communication in the event of an emergency. Put together an emergency preparedness kit that includes food, water (at least 1 gallon per person per day) a first aid kit, flashlight, radio, personal documents and sanitation supplies such like regular liquid bleach.


• In the wake of disaster, there is much to do as you assess the health and safety of your household as well as next steps to rebuild your life.  The first thing you’ll want to do is check communication channels to ensure that local officials have declared it safe to return home. When home, cleaning up after a natural disaster can be a daunting task so it’s important keep your health top of mind using these steps:
  
  
  
  • Before entering the home, look outside for loose power lines, damaged gas lines, foundation cracks or other damage
  
  
  • During cleanup, wear protective clothing, including rubber gloves and rubber boots
  
  
  • Look for flooding or large pools of standing water surrounding your home. These waters can be contaminated with high levels of bacteria that can make you sick, so disinfecting with a solution of bleach and water may help prevent the spread of infections and illness
  
  
  
  

Q:  How you do remove blood from sheets

A:  I recommend presoaking blood stains in cool water using a good detergent that contains enzymes – check the list of ingredients to know for sure.  You need to soak items for at least 30 minutes (ideally 60 minutes). This is because enzymes break down the protein in blood and they need enough time to do it—the “wash” portion of a wash cycle is usually not long enough, especially for heavily stained items.  Following the presoak, drain the presoaking solution and rinse the items, and then proceed as follows depending on whether your item is white or colored:

For stained items that are white:

1.       Rub the stain gently with Clorox® Bleach Pen® Gel immediately before laundering.
2.       Wash immediately in the hottest water recommended on the care label with detergent and ¾ cup Clorox® Regular- Bleach.
3.       Air dry and check for success. If residual stain remains, repeat the treatment.
4.       Remember to avoid bleaching wool, silk, mohair, leather, and spandex, even if they are white—treat these fabrics as if they were colored.

For stained items that are colored:

1.       Apply Liquid Clorox2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster and rub into stain
2.       Wait 3-5 minutes, then wash immediately in hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent and Clorox2®
3.       Air dry and check for success. If residual stain remains, repeat the treatment

Readers – what has been most successful for you when removing blood stains from your sheets?

Q:  How do I get rid of perspiration stains?

A:  These stains are hugely problematic, partly because they are highly variable.  On underwear style t-shirts, it might be a crusty buildup of deodorant/antiperspirant.  Or it can just be a light smear of antiperspirant/deodorant that transferred to a shirt while it was being put on.  On others, like silk tops, it’s discoloration that is impossible to restore.  Light smears usually come off with regular washing.  For the crusty build up, it’s better to not let it happen in the first place, so if you have white t-shirts are in really bad shape I would start fresh by stocking up on new ones.  Then to prevent build-up on an on-going basis, try the following:

1. Pre-treat the armpits of each white t-shirt with Clorox® Bleach Pen® Gel: use the broad scrubber tip to apply the gel and gently rub it into the stain.  Since you want to prevent build-up, do this whether or not you actually see any stain every time you wash a shirt.


2. Wash immediately in hot water with detergent and ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach.


3. Unless you have an obvious stain you were trying to remove, you can tumble dry the shirts with the rest of your white load.  Otherwise let them air dry.

Ideally, white undershirts will protect your other shirts from getting any underarm stains that can easily be bleached away.  But for a colored t-shirt that he wouldn’t wear an undershirt with, you can try pre-treating the armpits each time you wash the shirt (again, you want to prevent build up) as follows:

1. Apply liquid Clorox2® Stain Fighter and Color Booster directly to the armpit area and rub it in; wait 3-5 minutes (don't let it dry on the fabric).


2. Wash immediately in the hottest water recommended on the care label with detergent and additional Clorox2® based on your load size.


3. If there were obvious underarm stains that you pre-treated, then be sure to air dry the shirt and check for success; repeat if necessary.

For stained shirts that you have and you want to restore, you can try a recommendation often provided in clothes washer user’s guides.  Here’s a little more detail on how to do it:

1. Working into a dishpan, pour boiling water slowly through each armpit stain.  This is to “melt” any build-up, which is a combination of deodorant, sweat, body soil, bacteria, etc.  It will help if you position the shirt in the dishpan before you start so that you can get to each stain without touching the shirt since once you begin--it will be boiling hot!

2. Don’t rinse the shirt—just pour off as much of the hot water as you can.  This keeps the build-up in a more “melted” state.  And if you do need to handle the shirt either use kitchen tongs or wear gloves.

3. Apply a mixture of 1:1:1 parts baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and water directly to the stain.  Sometimes this is referred to as a paste, but it is actually quite watery, so be sure to mix up enough so you can saturate the stains.

4. Rinse the shirt, and then follow up with a hot water wash with a good enzyme-containing detergent.  (For white t-shirts, be sure to add ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach!)

For ongoing prevention of underarm stains, personally I think this last method is way too much work, and I would start fresh with new t-shirts and stick with the other methods.  If you do try to restore your shirts, please let me know how it goes!

Readers – have you had trouble with perspiration stains?  What is your solution to this problem?

Q: Bleach sometimes affects my asthma when I clean with it; how much liquid bleach do you recommend when mopping floors?

A: You probably know this, but it’s always good to clarify:  Clorox® Regular-Bleach should always be diluted when used—we never recommend using it full strength for cleaning any hard surface or fabric! 

For mopping floors (ceramic tile, vinyl, linoleum—not marble or other porous surfaces that aren’t safe for bleach), mix up a solution of ¾ cup bleach added to 1 gallon of water.  For disinfecting, wipe or wash the floor, then apply the bleach solution and let stand for 5 minutes.  Rinse well and air dry.  Also, be sure the area is well ventilated while you are working.

How many readers like using bleach when mopping floors?

Q:  Which is better to use for urine soiled white sheets, Clorox2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster or Clorox® Regular Bleach?

A:  I am assuming you would like to disinfect the sheets, and that they are a cotton or poly-cotton blend.  Therefore, you need to use Clorox® Regular-Bleach, our EPA-registered disinfectant.  Select a hot water cycle, and wash them with detergent and ¾ cup bleach.  If you have an HE washer, fill the dispenser to the “max fill” line.  Clorox2® includes oxygen bleach that is safe for colored items, but consequently does not disinfect.

Readers – I’d love to hear about some other disinfecting needs!  Leave a comment below and I will gladly respond to any questions out there.

Q:  My children occasionally come home from daycare with discoloration on their clothing.  To disinfect the toys, changing table, etc the daycare uses a gallon jug to 1/4 cup of Clorox® Regular Bleach.  I have questioned the daycare on how they are mixing the solution as it clearly causes a problem.  They tell me the ratio to use is 1/4 cup of Clorox® Regular Bleach to 1 gallon of water, however, they are mixing it in a gallon jug, so technically it is 1/4 cup of Clorox® Regular Bleach to 1 gallon minus 1/4 of water. 

Could this be causing the discoloration problem or do you think something else must be going on to cause this problem?

A:  It is good your daycare is using bleach for disinfecting, and now you can pass along some information to help them use it correctly!  The ¼ cup per gallon dilution they use is more standard as a bleach pre-soak for bleachable fabrics that are heavily soiled or for fabrics that need to be disinfected.  It is actually not strong enough to disinfect hard surfaces.  Instead, to disinfect furniture and hard, non-porous toys, the correct dilution is ¾ Clorox® Regular-Bleach per gallon of water.  You are also correct to note that they should be measuring a full gallon of water that the ¾ cup is then added to, a 1:21 dilution.  Items need to have contact with this disinfecting solution for 5 minutes, and then should be rinsed thoroughly and allowed to air dry.

Done correctly, there should not be any fabric damage on your children’s clothing, which makes me wonder why this is happening.  Perhaps they are not rinsing thoroughly after applying the disinfecting solution; and what is left behind is damaging non-bleachfast fabrics.  Ideally they would use a 1 gallon pail or bucket to mix the solution in.  These work well because they have a nice wide opening for the sponge and you can put the bucket right next to the items you’re disinfecting (changing table, etc) to reduce the chance of stray drips.  Also, in an ideal world, they would apply the disinfecting solution after the kids have gone home for the day.  This allows everything to air dry more conveniently.  However, in our less-than-perfect world, kids throw up while at daycare and the staff cannot wait until the end of the day when it is convenient.  Hopefully, if they need to disinfect an area during the day, they keep the kids out while they disinfect.  The look of the bleach spots may also give clues to how they are happening.  Small dots would be from a drop or two splashing on to the clothes.  A large color-loss area on the rear could be if your child sat in a chair that was not rinsed. 

Readers, have you asked how your daycare disinfects, or experienced similar spots?