Bacteria in washing machines

Over the last few years, many people have promoted washing clothes in cold water as being a great way to save money and energy. It’s also said to prevent clothes from fading, too.

However, by only using cold water for laundry you could be placing yourself and your family at increased risk for a number of bacterial infections.

Salmonella, E.Coli, Staphylococcus aureus and S. epidermidis (better known as “Staph Infection”) are just some of the bacteria that live and thrive in our washing machines.

The bacteria enters washers via dirty clothes and the water that we use for laundry. The large number of plastics found in modern washing machines make excellent breeding grounds for them.

Scientific studies have shown many of these harmful germs can survive temperatures up to 50 C. Yet only a small fraction use temperatures above this level.

To make matters even worse, many people aren’t following manufacturers guidelines and cleaning their washing machine every month.

Whilst Staph infection in most cases is not fatal, it still highly contagious and requires a lengthy dose of anti-biotics.

It also prevents people from doing hobbies such as Yoga, Brazilian Ju Jitsu (BJJ) or any activity where people come into contact with one another.

In the following infographic, helpwiththewashing.co.uk shows how you can limit the risk of contracting staph infection when doing the laundry.

Please include attribution to helpwiththewashing.co.uk with this graphic.