In the UK, the NHS encourages nurses to care for their healthcare workwear at home, although outsourcing to a commercial laundry is available. Consequently, over 700,000 nurses follow this advice and the figure is even higher when other healthcare workers are included.
However, new research conducted by Leicester’s De Montfort University (DMU) – supported by the Textile Services Association (TSA) – suggests that this practice is dangerous, because some domestic machines are inadequate decontaminators of clothes.
The aim of the research was to determine the ability of home washing machines to meet the minimum disinfection standards set by the NHS. Additionally, DMU and TSA developed an accurate procedure for a washing process to disinfect textile products used in healthcare, food manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and other sectors where there is a need for high-care textile maintenance.
The results confirmed the inadequacy of domestic washing machines to consistently provide the essential requirements of heat, chemistry and mechanical action required for decontamination. It shows that healthcare workers taking their uniforms home to wash cannot be assured that their uniform has been fully disinfected. This leaves their households under risk of cross contamination from pathogens that they may bring home from work.
