Laundry Hygiene and Visible Cleanliness: An Attempt to Predict the Antimicrobial Efficacy of Laundering Processes by its Cleaning Performance

Abstract

AbstractInsufficiently decontaminated textiles could lead to transmission of infections. Thus, laundry hygiene is of particular interest and investigated in numerous studies. However, laundering experiments that use microorganisms to investigate the reduction of microbial loads on textiles are particularly time-consuming and material-intensive and the handling of pathogenic microorganisms is subject to legal regulations. Therefore, alternative methods of investigation are desired. So far, there is no satisfactory solution to assess the antimicrobial efficacy of a laundering process without expensive microbiological investigations. This study introduces an approach to predict the antimicrobial performance of a laundering process by its cleaning performance. It is not possible to conclude immediately from the cleaning index of a washing process to its antimicrobial effect based on stain types used in this study. Also in washing processes with low cleaning indices a high microbial reduction can be achieved. For bleach free liquid detergent, strong, time dependent, positive correlations between microbial reduction and cleaning index for cocoa, soot, and sebum were identified.