You’ve just come in from a trip to the grocery store. You take off your gloves, your mask, and you disinfect your food purchases. But what to do about the clothes that you wore on the trip?
We’ve asked Dr. Dharushana Muthulingam, an infectious disease physician, researcher, and instructor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, to help answer this question. Her response was comprehensive, but it could be boiled down to three words: wash your hands.
It’s a phrase that’s been so drilled into our minds as a basic hygiene ritual that we might have difficulty believing in its ability to keep us healthy amidst the Coronavirus pandemic—especially when it concerns doing our laundry. But, as Muthulingam explains, “If somebody coughs and there are little particles that get on your clothes, it’s less likely that the clothes are going to go on your face. What is likely is that your hands will touch your jeans and then your face. So the key is just to wash your hands regularly so that the virus doesn’t get into your eyes, nose, or mouth, which is the entry point.”
To remove those particles in your clothing and/or masks, a regular wash will do the trick. Per Muthulingam, the virus is not so hardy as to survive a spin in the washing machine and there’s no need to separate potentially contaminated garments and masks with, say, your pajamas. “The thrashing from a washing machine with hot water and regular detergent should be fine,” she continues, adding that the heat from a spin in the dryer will also help kill the virus. While you’re doing your laundry, remember not to touch your face. Then, after you’ve loaded up the machine—you guessed it—go wash your hands.
Masks, if made of cloth, should be laundered after each wear and Muthulingam stresses that we should mind the way we remove them. “The outside of the mask is considered contaminated, so when you take it off, make sure not to touch the front. Healthcare workers actually get trained in donning and doffing a mask, which means putting it on and taking it off.”
Okay, so you’ve properly removed your mask, and your washed hands are going absolutely nowhere near your face. You need to launder your clothes, but you have no in-unit washing machine and you’d rather not risk a trip to the laundromat. Now what? For this, we call upon The Laundress’s Gwen Whiting and Lindsey Boyd. As co-founders of a brand dedicated to all things laundry, the two share best practices for hand-washing launderable fabrics and garments, below.