Bacteriological quality of fabrics washed at lower-than-standard temperatures in a hospital laundry facility

Abstract

We determined whether the bacteriological quality of fabrics cleaned in a hospital laundry could be maintained at wash temperatures lower than 75°C by the use of economically reasonable formulas and wash conditions. Three groups of bacteria were examined to determine bacteriological quality: aerobic, nonexacting chemoorganotrophs, staphylococci, and total coliforms. The distribution of bacteria on soiled fabric was patchy, with staphylococci and total coliforms ranging from <0.1 to >4 x 103 CFU/cm2 and chemoorganotrophs ranging from <0.1 to >5 x 105 CFU/cm2. The washing process routinely produced fabric containing <1 CFU/cm2. Low-temperature (47.8 to 60.0°C) wash procedures eliminated all bacterial groups at least as effectively as did high-temperature procedures. The effectiveness of bacterial density reduction at low temperatures was augmented by increased concentrations of bleach. Successful low-temperature washing such as that shown here may save both energy and money for hospitals.

Biofilms in the Spotlight: Detection, Quantification, and Removal Methods

“…The sensors are installed by attaching them to the food‐contact surfaces, allowing them to remain exposed within the facility and enabling the surfaces to be evaluated in real industry conditions from the contamination of the environmental process to on‐site cleaning. As these sensors are tools for sample surfaces, they must be further analyzed to quantify the biofilms to determine which microorganisms are present in them (Christian, Manchester, & Mellor, ; Christison, Lindsay, & von Holy, ; Fijan & Šostar‐Turk, ; Gerba & Kennedy, ; Sattar et al., ; Sivakumar et al., ; Traoré, Springthorpe, & Sattar, ). Agitation with glass beads allows the bacteria contained within a biofilm to be completely removed (Lindsay & Von Holy, ).…”

Laundry hygiene-how to get more than clean

“…Interestingly, although the TAED-mediated activation of percarbonate or perborate is temperaturedependent and should work best at temperatures of above 40°C, an additional antimicrobial effect can already be observed at lower temperatures (Honisch et al 2014). Likewise, chlorine bleach was shown to enhance the antimicrobial efficacy of laundering by 3-4 orders of magnitude, even at low temperatures (Walter and Schillinger 1975;Christian et al 1983;Blaser et al 1984;Smith et al 1987).…”

Infection Control in Jails and Prisons

“…Inmates should be educated that the only way to reliably remove organisms that can cause disease is to use the institutional laundry. Routine inspections should be performed to ensure that laundry operations are being performed in accordance with published recommendations [15][16][17].…”