I have SEARCHED the site for Laundry Sanitisers. If there is a link to a report, please let me know.
I want to know about the efficacy of Laundry Sanitisers. The original one was made by ‘Canestan’, which you put a capful in the ‘softener’ part of your machine.
Other brands entered the market when (it appears) consumers were really boycotting the Softeners. Are they effective?
I also used, but can no longer find a Sanitiser spray that I used on my bedding (doona insert, pillows) when I put them in the sun throughout the usual deep cleaning process.
What do we know about them? Are they just product we are lured into buying because we feel SOMETHING has to go in that ‘softener dish’ of the machine?
It is worth reading this paper about efficacy of domestic clothes washing:
https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jam.15273
The conclusions are useful as they don’t support the use of santisers, unless there is:
Households with confirmed or suspected enteric infections (‘stomach bugs’)
Households with persons who have a weakened immune system
Households with healthcare workers and first responders; laundering work clothes at home
It also notes that for infections including COVID-19, influenza or the common cold:
sanitizers are not needed to remove respiratory viruses
This ‘boycott’ may be because many manufacturers don’t recommend the use of fabric softeners. They are known to clog up machines and thus reduce the machine’s life or increase maintenance costs. Choice also thinks some fabric softeners are a waste of money:
You may have hit the nail on the head. They are possibly used by some consumers not releasing when they should be used (very limited circumstances) and that clothes washing detergent has an effective sanitising action for common virus such as COVID-19, influenza or the common cold. Clothes detergents are also effective in microbiological control in most circumstances:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/imt2.110
It is a product which is sold, possibly to make a consumer feel guilty if they don’t use it. Guilty as it becomes a ‘if I don’t use it, I might be exposing my household to some sort of infections…better use it to be safe’.
Edit: if one is concerned about ‘nasty’ microbes surviving a wash, another practical option is to use the hottest wash setting when washing and/or the hottest drying setting on a clothes drier. Not only has this been shown to sanitise articles being washed, it has the added benefit of potentially cleaning out deposits/build ups in a washing machine if one only uses cold water wash cycles. A hot wash might cost a little bit more due to electricity used to heat the water/air, but will be significantly cheaper than buying ‘specially formulated sanitising’ products.
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That would be the best option.
Also efficient: white vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser.
Or Borax, an inexpensive but powerful addition to the laundry powder/liquid in the wash.
Link to:
Hygienic washing of Bath and kitchen towels
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If your laundry detergent contains bleach then you do not need a sanitiser. If you really want to then try bleach. As for bedding etc Glen 20 is perfect for this type of sanitiser. I don’t work for the company that makes Glen 20.
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Borax is brilliant for cleaning the washer - run empty on hottest cycle every three months or so. I use vinegar as a rinse aid for the towels. Never use softener, it clogs up the machine and coats the fibres on the items in the wash.
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Borax is an excellent stain/bacteria/odour remover. Good to clean the toilet bowl too.
Soaking powders such as Vanish Oxy Action are also good sanitisers, the main ingredient there is Sodium Percarbonate which we could make ourselves by adding hydrogen peroxide to washing soda:
Available at supermarkets, about $5 for a 1Kg packet.
Laundry sanitisers are a good idea when someone in the household is ill to stop the spreading of germs, or if there are vulnerable or immunocompromised members. Otherwise a washing detergent in the hottest water temperature that the item’s care label indicates, should be enough to sanitise the wash as @phb posted above.
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I used the Aldi sanitiser when my husband used to cycle to/from work and his clothes were extra sweaty. It seemed to work, as previously I sometimes had to put them through wash cycle again as they still had a faint smell.
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I have always dried my washing out of doors: well-spread on the clothesline, and on sunny days. I was taught to use HOT water for nappies, towels and bedding, so that’s what I did. But I have never perceived the needful sanitisers, and seldom used bleach either.
Never having had outbreaks of gastro or skin diseases to worry about, I didn’t feel I needed to do more.The only problem I ever ran into was a primary school child who got roundworm REPEATEDLY. I wouldn’t have minded a fix for them, actually. In the end we treated the kids like the sheep & drenched them at the start of the holidays…
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You would probably need stronger hydrogen peroxide that the 3% solution readily available. Stronger solutions aren’t generally available since they might be used for dangerous projects 
Equal parts of sodium carbonate (washing soda) and 3% Hydrogen Peroxide are quite effective.
