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The CBS Early Show ran a series at the end of October on Germ Warfare. One of the segments focused on fighting germs in the laundry room. Really, I had never put too much thought into germs in my laundry area. I just figured all the detergent killed anything icky. And then I watched the CBS newspiece….
(Email subscribers, you may need to click here to watch the video.)
Bottom line: I was incredibly grossed out when I learned that many washing machines have high bacteria counts, with some machines having as much bacteria buildup as a dirty diaper. And I know dirty diapers…
I’d rather my washing machine have nothing in common with a diaper pail. I’ve got my baby and his big sister to keep healthy.
The CBS Early Show segment gave a couple of ideas on fighting this bacteria party, one suggestion being to run empty cycles with cold water and bleach such as Clorox Regular Bleach. (Make sure you watch the video for more information on doing this!)
I have a Clorox bleach bath happening in my washing machine as I write this, thanks to some free bleach the company provided me. I’m making a very conscious effort this winter to keep my young kids healthy- why not fight the germ battle in my washing machine too? A regular bleach bath is an easy step to take.
Clorox wants to help you wage warfare on your washing machine germs, and the company also wants to give five Frugal in Virginia readers some free Clorox Bleach.
The prize: Five winners will receive five coupons each for one free Clorox Liquid Bleach (96 oz. regular or 82 oz. Plus line).
You have two chances to win. You can enter in each of the two ways, or just one if you prefer. Make sure you leave a separate comment for each entry. If you are reading this post from an email, you must click over to the actual post to leave your comments.
To win, you can leave comments for each of the following entries:
1. Tell me one thing you do to fight germs in your house.
2. Subscribe to this blog, and leave me a comment letting me know you’ve done so. Click here to subscribe by email or feed reader or see the right sidebar to sign up. You must remain a subscriber for the duration of this giveaway. If you’re already a subscriber, leave a comment letting me know.
Remember, please leave a separate comment for each entry. And please enter only in the ways listed above. I reserve the right to delete comments not adhering to the above entry guidelines.
You can enter anytime now through Saturday, November 28th at 8PM EDT. Five winners will be selected at random. I will contact the winners by email shortly after the giveaway ends, and the winners will have 48 hours to respond. If a winner does not respond within that time frame, a new winner will be announced.
Thanks for entering!
Clorox provided me with coupons for several free bottles of bleach, and the giveaway prizes are provided by the company as well. The opinions shared within this post are mine and were not provided by Clorox.
{ 120 comments… read them below or add one }
I pour a capful or two of bleach into a spray bottle filled with water and use it as my disinfecting solution on almost all surfaces. I really feel like the bleach gets things totally germ-free. Plus, it makes the cheapest cleaner out there!
I wash my hands a lot!
I wage my war against germs by regularly cleaning my daughters toys with Lysol or a Clorox/water solution. I don’t even want to know how many germs are on all her toys she touches daily and puts in her mouth.
I subscribe to your blog thru my google reader!
shoes off FIRST thing. I think most people associate the “mess” with keeping shoes on in the house just about tracking in dirt and what not- but for me it’s entirely about the yuck that’s on the bottom of your shoes. Walk in a public restroom and think about if you’d want your baby crawling around on the floor! But most people wouldn’t think twice about going in a bathroom while out and then coming home and walking on your floors in your shoes. Ewwwww
I like those clorox wipes. They are handy to grab and wipe down the counters, sink, door handles, anything.
I’m a subscriber.
I use Clorox bleach to clean our toilet….have tried not and it’s disgusting! I’m back to it again!
I’m a faithful subscriber in google reader…and continue to do so.
Ughh. That’s something I haven’t thought about. Yuck.
I use a lot of vinegar on countertops and also use Clorox wipes here and there.
I’m also already a subscriber.
I use Clorox wipes, and Clorox to clean our toilets.
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I subscribe via email.
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I love to have the Clorox or Lysol wipes (or anything else I can find on sale) on hand so that I can keep the bathroom and kitchen clean without much work.
I need to do a better job of fighting off germs–especially in my washing machine now that you mention it! I use cloth diapers, so that thing is probably pretty nasty. I use vinegar every load with the diapers, but could probably stand to use some clorox too. I do use the wipes when I have them or at grocery stores when they are available.
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I subscribe to your blog.
I’m a big fan of the clorox wipes – they’re just so handy.
I also have started getting into the habit of spraying down my daughter’s toys with lysol or clorox/water mix. Now that she’s teething she puts everything in her mouth!
I’ve tried to train my kids and husband that when they come inside from being anywhere the first thing they have to do is wash their hands.
I subscribed through email!
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I am a Lysol freak! Spray or wipes. We also practice good hand washing.
We wash our hands well esp. after being out and as soon as we come back from school.
to keep germfree in public, i always have a disinfectant tied to my purse. we use the wipes for the carts and clean our hands constantly. at home, seems i am washing down counters and table tops with all natural cleaners that are able to disinfect and eliminate germs near foods!
I don’t put my purse on the kitchen table or counters b/c I think it probably picks up many germs while I’m at public places.
BTW, I read about a study several years ago (possibly done by Cornell Cooperative Extenstion, if I remember correctly) that found people’s laundry had more germs in it after being washed in a laundromat machine than before. The researchers recommended running a laundromat washer with just a bleach/water solution in it before using it for laundry.
I subscribed.
I try to keep as germ free as possible at home by making everyone wash their hands with soap, as soon as they come in…before they do anything else.
Yeah! I’m subscribed.
We use Clorox wipes to help fight germs in our house!
I subscribe!
I wipe down all of the counters,door knobs,tv remores,game console remotes with Clorox disinfecting wipes everyday.
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I am a subscriber.
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We wash our hands often and I sanitize doorknobs and counter spaces!
I’m subscribed via RSS/Google Reader!
No shoes in the house and I wash mine and my sons hands like crazy! (Still working on the husband..)
We use hand sanitizer and take our shoes off when we come in the house.
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And I’m subscribed by RSS reader!
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I use Wet Ones Wipes, lots of handwashings for household members, I keep remotes, doorsknobs & light switches cleaned frequently & we keep our air filter up to date.
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No shoes in the house!!
I am now a subscriber!!! Thanks for the tips…off to run a load throught the washer with clorox!
I use Clorox wipes on the countertops in my bathrooms.
I am a subscriber.
I use lots of wipes and wash hands frequently especially in this flu season.
I am a subscriber.
I’m really not all that worried about the germs around here. My place is always a little dirty, to be honest, but we’re rarely sick. Maybe that’s why.
I subscribe.
I use clorox wipes
I’m a subscriber!
We actually don’t accumulate enough dishes to wash in the dishwasher, so we wash dishes with cold water and antibacterial Dawn. We use cold water because the warm water breeds germs unless it’s close to 200 degrees, which would burn you! So cold water is more efficient and kills more germs!
Now I want to know how many germs are in my washing machine!
Here, we take shoes off as soon as we walk in the door. And then we wash our hands. Those two things help keep the germs at bay in our home.
We are big fans of hand sanitizer. Have a bottle in each vehicle and in my purse and diaper bag. It’s great for when we are out and about.
I subscribe by e-mail.
To fight germs in my house, I keep santizing wipes in my car. Whenever I return to my car from work, shopping,etc., I use a sanitizing wipe on my hands. That way, I carry fewer stray germs into our home!
I wash all our house hold rags in bleach, each time.
I subscribe!
I am an e-mail subscriber.
always wiping down the counters and table with wipes. and always washing our hands!
polly
Already a subscriber, love the blog!!
With two little ones running around very close in age, it is hard to keep their binkies and bottles separated at all times. I use my labelmaker to put names on the cups and bottles, and use color coded tethers for the binkies. For the older kids, I tell them to keep their hands below their shoulders – if they don’t put their hands near their eyes, nose, mouth, etc, that alone will cut their chances of catching or spreading something in half.
oh, and I already use clorox (or clorox 2) in every single load of wash anyway, so do I need to do a clorox-only load to kill the germies, or am I safe?
I subscribe
I use Clorox wipes on all door knobs etc. after I have guests or other kids over.
Dna,
I already subscribe to your blog.
to try to keep germs at bay we wash our hands frequently and I try to get everyone to remove their shoes when they come in the house. Totally grosses me out to think of the cross contamination occurring from the bottoms of our shoes to our homes. Yuck!
I wipe phones, appliances, and light switches down with clorox wipes regularly.
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I am a subscriber. I love your site thanks!
I have antibacterial soap throughout the house and I use alot of Lysol and bleach!
im a subscriber
we use lysol a lot and and a bleach and water spray
We go through the house twice a year, and at the announcement of major flu outbreaks on the news, and do a major wipedown. We start high and work our way down any horizontal surfaces like fan blades and door trim. Then we walk through to catch any items of common use like doorknobs and switches. To finish, we look at the house from our 2 -1/2 yr old grandson, and wipe down everything he touches, or may be interested in touching (which is alot) and all of the toys and furniture his little sister uses. H half of cup of Clorox in 1-1/2 gal. of water does the trick, and we use the end water to sanitize the toilet bowl.
I use sanitizing wipes on door handles, sink handles, and toilet handles often. I also use the “clean washer” cycle (with bleach!) for my washing machine at least once a month.
I subscribe!
I put a lemon wedge in the garbage disposal every week to get a fresh smell. I subscribe to your newsletter.
I frequently wash the toys that my children play with by using diluted bleach.
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I am a follower via bloglines as well as via e-mail.
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I subscribe through Bloglines
We are hand sanitizer fanatics right now. Make sure you check the alcohol content is high enough to kill germs, and that you actually rub it wll over your hands, fingers and nails for at least 30 seconds!
My girls LOVE Dora the Explorer!
I am a rss subscriber thru google reader.
Please disregard my Dora post, wrong forum
.
For germs, I frequently use sanitizing wipes to clean germy areas like the changing table and the bathroom sink. I need quick and easy!
We clean all the doorknobs and light switches with flu killing 409 each week to help rid our house of germs.
I subscribe via Google Reader!
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I’m subscribed by e-mail and RSS feed. Thanks for all the great deals!
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We are hand sanitizer fanatics and keep it with us (and use it) frequently.
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I use Clorox wipes and hand sanitizer.
I wipe down door knobs, faucet handles and the phones on a regular basis.
I never use a dish cloth to wipe my counters. I always keep Windex nearby for that. No spreading gross grems all over my counters!
I signed up for email.
I often run the children’s bath items and smaller toys in the dishwasher wash basket….it gets them clean and in places I can’t possibly reach washing them by hand! We also use a ton of Clorox wipes which I use in the car, on seats, door handles, etc…another place you’d be surprised breeds germs.
Wash hands a lot!
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Besides frequent hand washing, I spray lysol on the things we touch the most-door knobs, light switches & phones.
I use bleach to disinfect my sponges and dishcloths. I also love the Clorox Anywhere spray to use on my kitchen surfaces to kill germs and bacteria.
I am a subscriber!
After cleaning my kitchen, I go through once more and wipe all counters with Clorox disinfecting wipes.
I subscribe to your blog..it’s great!
I use the Clorox wipes everywhere.. kitchen, kids play/coloring table, bathrooms, handrails and door handles.. they come in so handy when you are on the “cleanup” roll!
I use clorox wipes on everything in our house.
Thanks!
Email subscriber.
Thanks!
I use TONS of Clorox Disinfecting Wipes and Lysol Spray!
We use clorox wipes too! They are so easy to use… just grab, wipe, and toss.
I am an e-mail subscriber… and I try to recommend your blog as often as possible! Thanks!
I am use lysol wipes instead of a sponge or rag.
Clean the toilets with it! It makes the toilet look amazing!
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I read a similar article several months ago & now I wash ALL our underwear seperately with bleach. My husband gets mad about his pink & purple underwear that used to be darker colors but I don’t care. We’ve always taken our shoes off(grew up in Japan) but I need to get better about handwashing as soon as we walk in the door!
Faithful subscriber!
I keep hand sanitizer in the laundry room to clean my hands every time I’ve touched the laundry.
I make sure to disnfect doorknobs and telephone receivers.
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I am an email subscriber
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I wipe down surfaces, including phones and remotes with clorox wipes and spray toilets and door handles with lysol.
I’m a subscriber.
I’m a subscriber:-)
We do A LOT of hand washing!
we love to go through the house and lysol door handles, and i keep hand sanitizer by the changing table so that i’m not touching a whole bunch of stuff with germy hands on the way to go wash my hands after a change
We wash our hands, a lot.
I subscribe.
I don’t try to fight germs too much. We wash our hands after pottying and when otherwise needed. I try to keep a clean house, but don’t go overboard with cleansing. I sort of wonder if too much cleaning isn’t bad, kind of like too many antibiotics. But I use bleach in the laundry and to clean our front load washer. I leave the door open on our washer to let the moisture escape! I think it helps keep the washer from getting smelly (and germy apparently).
We teach our young girls the right way to wash their hands and to keep things germ free!
Subscriber!
I have a daycare that lives on Bleach! We go through gallons in a week, especially since it’s flu season! I can’t live without it and if I had a chance to win that would help us out soooo much!!!!! We are always cleaning up after all the children and to make it a germ-free atmosphere, we have to depend on clorox bleach!
I am a huge fan of Clorox! When I am washing dishes I add a bit to the water,in this cold season ,killing germs is a must! Dishes are clean!
Thanks
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