The laundry mistake that keeps reinfecting your family

You can scrub your hands, wipe every surface and still watch the same stomach bug or skin infection sweep through your household again and again. The weak link is often the place you assume is safest: your laundry routine. When you treat every load the same way, you can end up spreading germs from one family member’s clothes to everyone else’s instead of stopping them in the wash.

The core mistake is simple but costly: you underestimate how “dirty” laundry really is, especially after Someone Who Has Been Sick, and you rely on gentle cycles and cool water that do not fully remove or kill what is hiding in the fibers. Fixing that pattern, and a few related habits, can sharply cut the risk that your washer becomes a quiet engine of reinfection in your home.

The hidden germs riding along in every load

When you toss clothes, towels and bedding into the machine, you are not just dealing with visible dirt. You are also loading in a mix of bacteria and viruses from skin, sweat, respiratory droplets and traces of fecal matter that cling to underwear, diapers and workout gear. Researchers like Kelly Reynolds have pointed out that the Germs most likely to cause diarrhea, vomiting or stomach flu tend to be more resilient than everyday bacteria, which means they can survive a casual wash and linger in fabrics or in the machine itself if you do not change how you clean.

That microbial mix matters because it turns your laundry basket into a shared environment where one person’s infection can quietly move to everyone else’s clothes. If you wash everything together on a low temperature, the water can essentially redistribute organisms from the dirtiest items onto cleaner ones, especially when you overload the drum and detergent cannot circulate properly. Over time, that pattern can leave your family stuck in a cycle of recurring gastrointestinal illness, skin rashes or respiratory infections that seem to “come back out of nowhere” but are actually being reintroduced through Your Laundry every week.

The real “laundry mistake” that keeps infections circulating

The most consequential mistake is not a fancy stain-removal hack or a detergent choice, it is treating sick-room laundry exactly like everything else. When Items Used by Someone Who Has Been Sick, such as pajamas, bath towels and pillowcases, go into a cold, quick cycle with the rest of the family’s clothes, you give hardy pathogens a comfortable ride instead of a hostile environment. Guidance on what you should never wash in cold water stresses that When illness is in the house, you need hotter settings or a dedicated laundry sanitizer to avoid spreading contamination across the whole load.

That habit of “just throw it all in” is especially risky with underwear, cloth diapers and cleaning cloths used in the bathroom, because they can carry higher levels of organisms that cause gastroenteritis and other infections. Reporting on infections linked to washers has described how contamination from these items can move to other garments in the same drum and then to your skin, particularly if you later handle damp laundry with bare hands or store it in a warm, closed hamper. If you keep repeating that pattern week after week, the laundry mistake becomes a conveyor belt that keeps reinfecting your family even after everyone feels better.

Why temperature and cycle choice matter more than you think

Once you accept that not all loads are equal, the next step is to match your settings to the risk. For routine everyday wear, cooler water can protect fabrics and save energy, but when you are dealing with illness, bodily fluids or heavily soiled items, you need to lean on heat and time. Microbiologists like Oct Reynolds have explained that washing in hot water, using bleach when appropriate and running a full drying cycle are far more effective at inactivating the hardest-to-kill Germs than a quick, cool wash that mainly lifts visible grime.

Consumer guidance on How to wash laundry to kill virus and bacteria is blunt: when you want to protect yourself against viruses, you should Wash on the hottest program your care label recommends and avoid sharing towels, which is described as a hygiene risk because it lets moisture and microbes move easily between users. That advice lines up with broader infection-control recommendations that emphasize longer cycles, thorough rinsing and complete drying, since many viruses and bacteria are less stable at higher temperatures and in low-moisture environments. If you default to “eco” or cold settings even for sick-room loads, you undercut those protections and keep more organisms alive to travel into the next basket.

When you really need that hotter 60 Celsius wash

Not every T-shirt needs a scalding soak, but some categories of laundry deserve a hotter setting every time, especially in a home where infections keep bouncing around. Guidance on Washing at 60 degrees Celsius notes that a 60 degree Celsius program is suitable for clothes and fabrics that require thorough disinfection and the removal of a high level of dirt, including items like bed linens, towels and garments that come into direct contact with bodily fluids. When you or a child has had vomiting or diarrhea, running sheets, underwear and cleaning cloths at that 60 Celsius mark can significantly reduce the microbial load compared with a standard warm cycle.

That same advice applies to shared textiles that touch multiple people’s faces and bodies, such as hand towels in the bathroom, kitchen cloths and reusable cleaning rags. If you keep washing those at low temperatures, they can become reservoirs that reintroduce pathogens to freshly washed hands or clean dishes. By reserving a hotter program for these higher risk items, and checking care labels so you do not damage delicate fabrics, you create a simple, repeatable rule that helps break the chain of reinfection without needing to rethink every single load.

The overlooked risk inside your washing machine

Even if you upgrade your cycles, you still have to reckon with the machine itself. A washer that handles repeated loads of underwear, diapers and sick-room linens can accumulate biofilms in the drum, gasket and detergent drawer, especially if you mostly use cooler programs. Reporting on infections linked to washers has warned that this buildup can harbor organisms that cause gastroenteritis and skin problems, which can then spread from contaminated clothing like underwear or diapers to other clothes in the same load if you do not periodically clean the machine with hot water and a disinfecting detergent.

The risk is even more pronounced in shared facilities, where you have no control over what other people have washed before you. Guidance on Why Should We Sanitize Washing Machines Before Use explains that it is easy to assume washers stay clean thanks to regular cycles, but in reality they can collect residues from the clothes of everyone who uses them, including traces of fecal matter and respiratory secretions. A Popular Science article cited in that guidance notes that pathogens can persist on moist surfaces inside the drum, which is why wiping down high touch areas, running an empty hot cycle and letting the door stay open to dry are recommended steps if you want to keep your clothes truly clean in public spaces.

How you handle dirty and clean laundry can spread germs

The way you move laundry around your home can either contain contamination or spread it to every surface. When you scoop up a pile of dirty clothes from the floor, press it against your chest and carry it through the house, you risk transferring organisms from the fabrics to your hands and clothing, especially if the load includes underwear or Items Used by Someone Who Has Been Sick. Infection-control guidance on How to Kill Bacteria and Viruses Lurking in Your Laundry stresses that you should be careful how you handle dirty laundry, avoid shaking it (which can send particles into the air) and wash your hands thoroughly afterward to reduce the chance of self-contamination.

The same care should extend to how you treat clean items. If you dump freshly washed clothes onto a bed or sofa that has not been cleaned, or fold them on a kitchen counter where you prepare food, you can undo some of the benefit of a hot, thorough wash. Advice on Kill Bacteria and Viruses Lurking in Your Laundry also highlights the importance of drying items completely, since damp fabrics provide a friendlier environment for surviving microbes. By designating a clean folding area, keeping hampers wiped down and separating laundry baskets for dirty and clean loads, you create a physical barrier that helps keep pathogens from hitching a ride back into circulation.

What experts learned from COVID‑19 about laundry

The COVID‑19 pandemic forced you to think differently about everyday routines, and laundry was no exception. Public health experts used that moment to spell out practical steps for reducing viral risk in the wash, including handling dirty clothes with minimal agitation, using the warmest appropriate water setting and ensuring items are dried completely. In one instructional video on How to do laundry during the COVID‑19 pandemic, recorded in Apr, the presenter walks through why you should avoid hugging a basket of soiled clothes to your body, how to clean high touch surfaces around the machine and why you should wash your hands immediately after loading and unloading.

Those lessons still apply when you are dealing with seasonal respiratory viruses or stomach bugs. Another guide on How to do your laundry to protect yourself against viruses explains that you should Wash on the hottest program your care label recommends when someone in the household is ill, and it underscores that sharing towels is a hygiene risk because it lets moisture and microbes move easily between users. Together, these COVID‑era insights reinforce a simple principle: if you treat laundry as part of your infection control strategy, not just a cosmetic chore, you can meaningfully cut the odds that one person’s virus quietly spreads through the family wardrobe.

Common laundry habits that quietly undermine hygiene

Even if you know the theory, a few everyday shortcuts can undo your best intentions. Overloading the drum so clothes cannot move freely, using too little detergent to save money and consistently choosing the shortest, coldest cycle all reduce the mechanical and chemical action that helps dislodge and flush away germs. In a discussion of Common LAUNDRY MISTAKES!!!, recorded in Mar, senior test project leader Rich Handell explains that cramming the machine prevents water and detergent from reaching every part of the fabric, which leaves soil and microorganisms behind even if the garments look superficially clean.

Another quiet problem is relying on cold water for everything because you want to protect colors or reduce energy use. While that can be fine for lightly worn items, guidance on 8 Things You Should Never Wash in Cold Water points out that Items Used by Someone Who Has Been Sick should not go into a cold cycle unless you also use a laundry sanitizer product designed to kill pathogens at lower temperatures. If you skip that extra step, you may be left with clothes that smell fresh but still carry viable organisms, especially in thicker fabrics like towels and sweatshirts that are harder for cool water to penetrate fully.

Simple changes that break the cycle of reinfection

Breaking the pattern that keeps reinfecting your family does not require a complete overhaul of your home, just a few disciplined changes to how you sort, wash and dry. Start by creating a separate hamper or bag for Items Used by Someone Who Has Been Sick, and plan to wash those on a hotter program, ideally around 60 Celsius when the care label allows, with a disinfecting detergent or bleach for whites. Make a habit of running a maintenance cycle on your washer, using hot water and an appropriate cleaner, especially after weeks when you have handled a lot of sick-room laundry, so the drum and gasket do not become long term reservoirs of contamination.

Next, tighten up your handling routine: avoid shaking dirty clothes, carry them at arm’s length if possible, and wash your hands after loading and unloading. Dry items completely, either in a hot dryer cycle or on a line until there is no residual dampness, since moisture helps surviving microbes persist. If you use shared machines in an apartment building or laundromat, take a moment to wipe down the lid, door and controls, following the advice on how to sanitize washing machines in public spaces, and consider running a brief hot rinse before your main load. These small, repeatable steps, grounded in what infection specialists and consumer experts have learned about laundry, turn your washer back into a tool for health instead of a hidden source of recurring illness.

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*This article was developed with AI-powered tools and has been carefully reviewed by our editors.