After a flu bug hits our house, I go to work killing off any trail of germs it could have possibly left behind to infect the rest of my family. I scrub down the bathrooms and wash all of the bedding and towels. I thought all of this white-glove treatment would kill off any vile bacteria or germs, but I recently discovered that your washing machine can have more bacteria than your bathroom toilet.
Scared yet? Here’s how it works. When we wash our clothes we’re really only dilluting the germs so they’ll be less potent. Most residential washing machines aren’t supplied by water hot enough to actually kill the germs. Besides, most families use cold or warm settings anyways.
 
So after we stir the germs up and dilute them in the washer, we believe that the germs will die in the heat from the dryer. But usually not true, either. Why not? Again, most residential dryers don’t get as hot as they used to because consumers complained about their clothes shrinking.
 
With all of this new information flooding my mind, I had to wonder, “What’s a mom to do?” The answer was simple. After you’ve done a few loads of laundry, or after a particularly germy load, fill up your washer with the hottest water you can and bleach. Let the washer run through a full cycle. You can also scrub your washer down if it looks like it needs a cleaning. You may also want to use your vacuum and clean up all of the lint and grime. Follow-up your cleaning session by wiping everything down with anti-bacterial cleaner, including the knobs, the baskets, and the floors.

Question: What is the dirtiest or most disgusting thing you’ve ever put into your washer?