The disinfectant action of low‐temperature laundering

The purpose of this research was to investigate the disinfectant action of a heavy‐duty biological detergent at low and recommended washing temperatures. The effectiveness of the process was measured in terms of the removal, transfer and destruction of bacteria from infected test pieces. The results indicate that reducing the washing temperature decreases the degree of disinfection and increases the cross‐infection of any articles washed in the same load. Evidence is also obtained that shows that the presence of detergent is more important than the washing temperature for disinfectant action.