Laundering Instructions
Best practices for decontaminating COVID-19 coronavirus:
When to Launder
- When you have received a free fabric face mask from a volunteer mask
maker, launder the mask.
- After going out into public, strip your clothes and place them in a
covered bin, take a shower and begin the laundering process afterward. If
you enter your home through a mudroom or laundry room, you can strip there,
place your garments in the washing machine, clean the washer handles and
knobs and go directly to the shower.
- Immediately after spending time in the room with an ill person.
- Immediately after assisting with an ill person's bowel care -- for
both the ill person's clothes, your clothes and any linens you have used in
the process.
How to Launder
- Wash your hands
before beginning laundry tasks.
- If there is an ill person in the household, also use a mask and gloves.
- Do not shake the laundry basket as this can cause the virus to become
airborne.
- Put your clothes and linens in washing machine on HOT cycle or
STERILIZATION cycle.
- Wash your hands
after starting the washing machine and clean
the handles and knobs of the washing machine (anyplace you touched.)
- Wash your hands
before transferring the laundry from washer to dryer.
- Dry your clothes and linens in a dryer on HIGH HEAT for an entire cycle.
- Wash your hands
before taking laundry out of the dryer.
NOTE: According to the World Health Organization (WHO) the COVID-19
virus is destroyed at 56°C/133°F in 15 minutes. While washing/drying
clothes normally will help reduce the amount of virus you may be exposed to,
best practice is to do so in the HIGHEST TEMPERATURE POSSIBLE.
