What Water Temp for Bedding?

1

Hi all,

I’m a new host and I’m wondering if I should wash guest’s used sheets and pillow cases in hot water to kill any bacteria or little critters that may have been brought in with my last guest. What do you all do ?

Thanks,

Miguel

2

Hot water and a hot dryer would certainly kill bed bugs however they certainly would be on more than just the sheets. You would need to basically strip and get rid of everything in the room. Personally I just use cold water but that’s more of an energy conservation thing

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Yes, so do I. And never any problems at all.

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Using hot water won’t kill any more bacteria than cold, unless you have a washing machine that internally heats the water for sanitizing. If you want to kill bacteria/vira/fungi, then use chlorine bleach, but only if your sheets are white.

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Just wash them at whatever temperature you wash your own bed linen @Miguel19999

6

Yet again I agree with @jaquo
I use cold for the same reason

For stain and germ reduction, I add Oxyclean.

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Another one for Cold and Oxyclean or similar stain remover.

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Honestly…whatever works for you. Some like cold…warm or hot. If it is greasy, I pre-treat and warm/hot but for my rugs, comforters etc I use cold and then dry as normal.

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Oxyclean is a great stain remover, but @Miguel19999 specifically mentioned “bacteria or little critters” and Oxyclean is not an effective disinfectant.

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I wash it in hot water. I also do the pre-soak and extra rinse and add Borax to the detergent.

11

I generally use cold for efficiency as well. What is the trick to getting body oil “stains” out of a fitted microfiber / polyester sheet? I had a guest just leave after a month and even after a “normal” washing there is a HUGE spot the size of 1/2-2/3 of the top surface area. Is it save-able or is it relegated to a dog hair prevention sheet for those with pets, or just for me since it might even be unsightly for a guest to use with their dog?

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Soak in blue dawn dish soap & warmer water for a couple of hours and wash on warm. The dawn will break down any of the body oils embedded in the sheet.

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Hot water is a “trick” for any kind of oil.

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I agree but not knowing what type of sheets these are… I said warmer.

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I wrote that they are microfiber / polyester. They are cheap and came from the Dollar General. They were among the first sets I bought when I started 3 years ago. They are in a rotation so not used every guest but perfect until now. I will definitely try the dawn and hot self cooling to warm water soak. Thanx guys! @Cindy_Turner_Dodd & @Brian_R170

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I’d use them for dogs but around here a couple of gallons of water is more valuable than a 3 year old set of polyester sheets (which I don’t like anyway :wink: )

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17

is there a chance they’ve brought critters in, or they were just a bit ‘grubby’?

I do everything on the budget/low temp setting, unless I suspect I need something a bit more hardcore

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They had critters with them but it is definitely a body lol stain. The mattress pad below had the body oil smell to it, but luckily it came out.

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Microfiber sheet, one month stay. I’d toss the sheet they are cheap.

RR

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Why I require weekly linen changes on the rare occasion I allow stays longer than a week.