In the pandemic era, adopting a good laundry hygiene for a clean and healthy environment onboard is more important than ever. Although, it is currently unclear how long the COVID-19 virus can survive on fabric, since many items of clothing involve plastic and metal elements, the virus might live for a few hours to several days.
In case you think that a person suffering from COVID-19 has been in contact with you, exercise caution and common sense. Good practices to consider include removing your shoes when you enter your cabin, changing into clean clothes when you return to your cabin and washing your hands with soap and water immediately afterwards.
Basic tips for laundry hygiene
Apart from coronavirus, other germs as well as soils, grease, dirt and stains can be found on clothing, underwear with faeces, bed linen, towels, and therefore a right laundry routine is vital.
For the items that may contain more germs the following should be considered:
- Keep them separate from the rest of the laundry and wash separately.
- Use longer cycles at higher temperatures (>60Cº).
- Use a specially designed laundry product with antibacterial or antiviral action
- Dry items outdoors or in the tumble dryer thoroughly and immediately after the wash.
- Wash your hands with soap or water or use an alcohol-based hand rub each time after handling with your laundry: touching dirty and/or wet clothes comes with the highest risk of transmission of germs.
- Clean bed sheets, towels and clothes regularly.
- Don’t shake dirty laundry to minimize the possibility of dispersing germs through the air.
- Wash or disinfect your laundry bag and hamper as well. Consider storing laundry in disposable bags.
Laundry in the COVID-19 era: extra caution is needed
Laundry should be treated as infectious, in accordance with procedures for handling infectious materials on board. Use gloves when handling these items and cover them when in transit to the washing machine/dishwasher/appropriate bin.
If a crew member is a suspected COVID-19 patient:
- Wash the patient’s clothes, towels and bed linen separately.
- If possible, wear heavy-duty gloves before handling them.
- Never carry soiled linen near your body; place soiled linen in a clearly labelled, leak-proof container (e.g. bag, bucket).
- Scrape off solid excrement (e.g. faeces or vomit) with a flat, firm object and place it in the patient’s toilet before putting linen in the designated container. Place the excrement in a covered bucket to dispose of in a toilet if this is not in the patient’s cabin.
- Wash and disinfect linen: machine wash at 60–90ºC with laundry detergent. Alternatively, soak linen in hot water and soap in a large drum, using a stick to stir, avoid splashing. If hot water is not available, soak linen in 0.05% chlorine for approximately 30 minutes. Rinse with clean water and let linen dry in sunlight.
- Do not forget to wash hands at the end of the process.
However, if no crew is a suspected COVID-19 patient, there is no need to use extremely hot water and do laundry as normal using detergent or soap. Once dry, clean your hands before handling and storing clothes, towels and bed linen.
