Can I sanitize diapers by running a cycle with bleach?

M

miminonoko

New member
I need to sanitize some secondhand diapers, and I’d like to not deal with soaking them in my bathtub if I can avoid it. I have an hE front loading washer (GFW450SSMWW). Can I just add 1/3 cup of bleach to the bleach dispenser and run a long cycle with hot water? I read the FLU instructions but I didn’t really understand if a soak was necessary. Anything else I need to do or know? Do I need to run a second cycle with just water to rinse?
 
@miminonoko Is there something that can be used besides bleach? My husband banned me from bleach after quite a few mishaps including carpet in a rental we were moving out of. I even double bagged the bleach but somehow it still leaked all over the carpet in the living room 😒
 
@miminonoko We do a bleach load about every 5th or load because I find that eventually there are stains. So I really do support the use of bleach. Also with us using cloth wipes it just seems really strange to never bleach them. I'm sure our diapers will start to wear out quicker than others but it's worth it to me to know that they are sanitized every so often.
 
@melissa2016 LOL. On one hand, it’s a good resource because it’s thorough and a product of a huge community collaborating and passing on information. On the other hand, it’s impossible to check sources and hard to really prove or disprove a lot of these “rules” that get passed on and taken for gospel.
 
@miminonoko FLU is not supported by most brands and stores. Just keep that in mind.

When in doubt ask the brand or stores customer service. They have been doing this for years, decades now and know what's best for the diapers they make.
 
@miminonoko You can use a bucket or your sink instead of your tub of they'll fit.

Honestly I don't see why washing with bleach wouldn't work, though. I know FLU says to soak, but conventional wisdom tells me that adding the appropriate amount of bleach to your wash will do the job.

I've heard that "bleach doesn't work in hot water", but from what I've read, washing machines do not get the water hot enough to actually degrade bleach. This is according to Clorox.com, who claims this information is accurate because of testing they had to do to receive approval from the EPA to qualify their product as a disinfectant. Link to this info here:
https://www.clorox.com/how-to/laundry-basics/bleach-101/bleach-hot-water-usage/
They refer to a specific product of theirs but the active ingredient is the same in any regular household bleach.

If anyone has a link to a peer reviewed study on the effectiveness of chlorine bleach across different temperatures, I'd love to see it! In any case, cold water is the safe bet, yes.
 
@davidanderson Interesting. If that’s true (and I think I remember reading something here linked from a chemistry subreddit that affirmed what you’re saying) is it even possible to deactivate the bleach with a hot water rinse after soaking in the tub?
 
@miminonoko Once bleach has done its job, you want to rinse it out anyway. If you soak too long or too frequently it can damage your cloth. For the rinse, the temperature doesn't matter, it's just to dilute and remove the bleach from the fabric.
 
@miminonoko From FLU:

How to Prep PRE-LOVED diapers: Some people like to do an RLR soak first, it’s optional. As long as you do the bleach soak, you can choose to do an RLR soak later if you run into problems. See How to Strip Your Cloth Diapers. You definitely want to make sure you bleach immediately to remove any bacteria and germs from the fabric. Even if you got them from a trusted friend. Different baby, different germs. See How to Bleach Your Cloth Diapers.

Then wash once. Dry. Use.
 
@sirender I don’t, I just use Lysol’s laundry sanitizer on secondhand clothes but all my secondhand clothes came from my best friend. I’m not sure what others do though.
 
@miminonoko You really need to do a soak, a wash won’t sanitize. And you need to use cold water, because hot water will deactivate the bleach. 1/2 cup of bleach in half a bath tub full of cold water for 30 minutes. Rinse them by hand in hot water then do a hot wash cycle to deactivate the bleach.
 
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