Quick Tips

  • Leave The Kids At Home! Refrain from bringing a large family group to the laundromat to minimize exposure to pathogens.
  • Multitask! While dirty laundry is in the washing machine, disinfect your basket or laundry hamper to prevent cross-contamination.
  • Don't Fold And Fluff! To minimize contact with multiple surfaces in the laundromat, repack your clean laundry into your freshly cleaned laundry hamper and fold and fluff at home!
  • More Detergent Is Not Better! Extra detergent will not completely rinse, leaving excess suds that enable dirt and grime to remain trapped inside the fabric. The right amount of soap will properly clean, then be rinsed from the clothing.
  • Protect Yourself! If laundering clothes from an ill person, wear gloves to minimize your exposure to illness.

Ensuring Cleanliness of Household Linens and Towels When Using Public Laundry Facilities

We are exposed to the same bed linens over a long period each week and usually do not change them each day as we do with clothing.

It is recommended that bed linens be changed and washed once a week. If there is sickness in the home, bed linens should be changed and laundered more frequently.

To make sure bed linens are cleaned properly, don't overload the washer! Ample room is needed for the dislodged dirt and grime to disperse in the water during the wash cycle. A full load for a regular washing machine might be simply one queen set: fitted sheet, flat sheet and pillowcases.

Household towels, including kitchen and bath towels, should be washed in hot water. Kitchen and bath towels come in contact with food particles and skin cells, respectively, that are a haven for harmful microbes.

High-capacity washing machines wash more items per load, at a higher price. However, if you have to launder towels and bed linens for multiple family members, using high-capacity washing machines will reduce your time in the laundromat.

Sources

CDC Cleaning and Disinfecting Your Home https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/disinfecting-your-home.pdf Downloaded April 7, 2020.

Coin Laundry Association Update On Coronavirus (Downloaded April 6, 2020. Covid-19) https://www.coinlaundry.org/coin-laundry-association-update-on-coronavirus-covid-19/

Angela Eykelbosh (March 31, 2020). (COVID-19 Precautions for Multi-unit Residential Buildings . National Collaborating Center Foe Environmental Health.

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