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White Hutchinson Leisure & Learning Group, Kansas City, MO, USA

Dirty Laundry Secrets

Here’s an eye-opening fact.  Research shows that you’re more likely to carry fecal germs on your hands after you handle laundry than when you leave the bathroom, said Charles Gerba, PhD, a university microbiology professor.  That’s because infants’ and toddlers’ clothing is often soiled with fecal material. In one study, he found E coli germs in about 20% of household washing machines.  The rotavirus is also another germ frequently found in the laundry room.

Here are ways to make your laundry room more sanitary at the childcare center:

• Separate articles into soiled and unsoiled stacks
• Wash the articles as frequently as they are dirty so that they do not stay in the laundry area when unclean
• Wash your hands immediately after handling soiled clothing
• Wash soiled baby clothes in hot water with chlorine or an oxygen-based bleach alternative, which is more earth-friendly
• Dry clothing on the hottest setting for at least 45 minutes, or better yet, hang outside to dry

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