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:  Why is it best to add the bleach after the wash cycle begins?  Wouldn’t it be better to add before the wash cycle to let the clothes soak?

A: For a typical load of whites, such as lightly soiled undershirts, socks, dress shirts, tablecloths, sheets,  and any colored items that are bleach safe, delaying the addition of bleach helps a good detergent work better.  Waiting to add bleach allows time for enzymes in the detergent to break up enzyme-sensitive stains and for the fluorescent whitening agents in the detergent to deposit onto the fabric.  These whitening agents are colorless dyes that absorb non-visible light and reflect it in the visible spectrum.  Therefore, delaying the addition of Clorox® Regular-Bleach to the wash cycle gives you the best results.

However, not every load you might wash will contain only lightly soiled items.  There is a wide range of laundry, and people who give it some thought will get the best results no matter the situation!  I have listed some scenarios where a good bleach soak is the best way to go:

• Heavily soiled work clothes


• Ground in dirt on kid’s pants


• White items that picked up dye from a colored article accidentally thrown into a white load


• A dress shirt that had a ball point pen burst in the pocket

To pre-soak, we recommend a solution of ¼ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach per gallon of water.  Fully submerge the item for five minutes, then drain.  Wash immediately with detergent and ¾ cup bleach in the hottest water recommended on the item’s care label.

Q: My son has just recovered from the flu, and I was wondering if it is important to disinfect his bedding to prevent spreading the germs around the house or if a generic wash with detergent alone will do the trick.

A: After the flu, it is important to take the time to disinfect sheets, pillowcases, towels and clothes, to help prevent the spread of the viruses in your home. Washing with Clorox® Regular-Bleach is a great way to fight germs, bacteria and viruses that can cause the common cold and flu in your clothes and linens. In a high efficiency washer, add ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach to the dispenser (or fill dispenser to the max-fill line). Then, add your favorite detergent to its dispenser, select a disinfecting/sanitizing cycle if available and start the washer. In a standard washer, add ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach along with detergent as the washer is filling with water, before adding the laundry. Or, use the bleach dispenser if your machine has one. To disinfect hand washables, soak items for 5 minutes in a solution of ¼ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach diluted in 1 gallon of cool water.

Don’t forget about the germs left behind when you catch a sneeze on your sleeve of your favorite fleece. Your jacket might be safely bleachable if the fiber content is 100% polyester, even if it’s colored. Simply apply 1 drop of a solution made of 2 teaspoons Clorox® Regular-Bleach and ¼ cup water to a hidden part of the jacket, like an inside seam, cuff, or collar. Be sure to test all the different components. Wait 1 minute, then blot dry. No color change means the jacket can be safely bleached along with your bleachable white items.

Q: I experienced a nightmare last night! I washed a load of laundry, light colors and whites, and a black glove accidentally got thrown into the wash. Well, now I have light gray to almost black dye on just about every piece of clothing. Will Clorox® remove these stains and not harm the fabrics or the colors of the fabrics?

A: Dye transfers can be a nightmare, but you should be able to restore the bleachable items with a bleach soaking solution. Start by figuring out which items are safely bleachable. First, check the care labels and be sure to avoid bleaching wool, silk mohair, spandex and leather. For the colored items, check for colorfastness to bleach with this simple bleachability test: dilute two teaspoons of Clorox® Regular-Bleach in ¾ cup water. Apply a drop of this solution to a hidden part of each item like a hem, cuff, collar or inside seam. Wait one minute and then blot dry. If there is no color change, that means the item can be safely bleached. For the items that passed the bleach test, try soaking them in a solution of ¼ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach diluted in one gallon cool water for up to five minutes. Rinse the garments thoroughly, air dry and check for success! It is important to keep items out of the dryer so the heat does not set the dye. If a small amount of the color persists, then repeat the bleach soak again. If the bleach soak leaves the gray and black color unchanged, then you may need to try RIT® color remover.

Q. I have been told that using Clorox® bleach with detergent lessons the disinfecting of Clorox and that you should presoak laundry before washing it to disinfect anything and that Clorox only disinfects when used with plain water. Is this true?

A. No, adding detergent along with bleach doesn’t reduce its disinfecting capabilities. Technically the sodium hypochlorite active does decrease a very small amount with detergent, but as long as you use the correct amount of bleach, you will have enough bleach present to react with soils and bacteria and disinfect the load.

Just so you know, for any product to claim that it disinfectants, it must pass a series of tests and register with the EPA. Part of the registration includes listing the label instructions for how the product can be used to disinfect. So when you hear or read instructions from others for using Clorox® Regular-Bleach to disinfect, you need to be sure those instructions are consistent with what’s on the label to be confident that germs are being eliminated. Also, Clorox® Regular-Bleach is a multi-purpose disinfectant that is used to disinfect more than laundry, and bleaching solutions for disinfecting vary depending on the application. Sometimes it’s a bleach + water solution, and sometimes bleach + water + detergent. Here are instructions for some common disinfecting applications:

• 
  Laundry in a standard washer— Add ¾ cup bleach to dispenser, if available. If not, add bleach and detergent to the washer as it is filling with water, before the laundry is put in. For best laundry results, dilute 3/4 cup of this product in 1 quart of water and add to wash cycle 5 minutes after the wash cycle has begun. For heavily soiled loads add slightly more bleach (up to 1 1/4 cup).


• Laundry in a High Efficiency washer— In HE machines with a ¾ cup or larger bleach dispenser, add clothes, detergent, ¾ cup bleach and start washer. In a machine with no or small bleach dispenser (less than 3/4 cup), follow pre-soaking instructions.


• Laundry Pre-Soak— Rinse to remove loose soil and fully soak bleachable items for 5 minutes in a solution of ¼ cup bleach to 1 gallon of cool water.


• Hard Non-Porous Surfaces (i.e. kitchen counters, floors, appliances, baby furniture, children’s plastic toys)—Prepare a bleach solution of ¾ cup bleach to 1 gallon water. Wash, wipe, or rinse items with water, then apply the bleach solution. Let stand 5 minutes. Rinse thoroughly and air dry.

Finally, I want to clarify that whether or not you would need to pre-soak your laundry to disinfect it depends on several things, such as what you are washing, what type of washer you use, and what type of dispenser (if any) your clothes washer has.

Q. We recently had to pet-sit a cat for a family member. A few weeks later, we discovered the cat had used our guest bedroom’s goose down comforter as a litter box! What would you recommend for cleaning? Treat the individual spots (there are four or five, over a foot wide), or just wash the entire load with bleach?

A. Don't you love it when a good deed goes bad…To effectively remove the multiple cat "spots,” I would recommend a thorough whole-item wash.

Since you weren't specific about the comforter, I would like to find out if these items can safely be bleached. I recommend consumers do the quick Bleachability Test: 2 tspn Clorox® Regular-Bleach in 1/4 cup water; apply a drop on a hidden area like inside seam, hemline or cuff; wait 1 minute and then blot with towel. No color change means it is safe to use bleach on the item. Any color change could also show you the amount of change in color that likely will occur if you proceed with the liquid bleach usage. You can see a demo on my blog (http://www.drlaundryblog.com) in the video Laundry 101.

Want to proceed? Do a quick liquid bleach soak (1/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach in gallon of cool water for 5 minutes), then wash immediately in the hottest water recommended on the item’s care label using detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach. Check before drying to insure complete removal. It might require multiple treatments to get the desired result.

If you can't bleach the comforter, then try several washes in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent and an oxygen bleach like our Clorox2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster or even a short 1/2 hour presoak in the oxygen bleach before the wash. Again, check for success before drying. Especially here, it might require multiple treatments to get the desired result.