LAUNDRY
seen not as a background task but as a frontline infection control measure. What emerges from the study by Cayrou et al (2025) and Crosby et al (2025) is a call to improve laundry systems, standards, and our mindset towards laundry as an infection control risk. All UK care homes should take this evidence as a
call to action: to replace domestic laundry machines with commercial alternatives, or to outsource laundry entirely to specialist providers. Doing so not only aligns with best practice; it also safeguards the very people care homes exist to protect. Specific guidance has been developed to aid care homes in meeting all the infection control compliance needs: Guidance for the Safe Management of Linen in Residential, Nursing or Other Social Healthcare Environments. Available online at Safe Management of Linen in the Health Care Environment | IPS
Understanding the hidden complexity of laundry hygiene
To truly appreciate the risks, it is important to understand that laundry hygiene is more than just removing visible dirt. It involves breaking the chain of infection. Pathogens can survive for extended periods on textiles. Norovirus, for example, can remain infectious on fabric for days. If a resident has an undiagnosed infection or is asymptomatic, their clothing may carry enough viral or bacterial load. Care home residents often have more contact with their environment than hospital patients.
They sit in communal lounges, dine together, and may share activity spaces. In this context, even low levels of cross-contamination from improperly washed clothing or linens may have significant implications for public health. Moreover, laundry is not always a routine task. It
often involves dealing with difficult or unpleasant scenarios: incontinence, vomiting, pressure ulcers, and bodily fluid contamination. These situations introduce high microbial loads. Domestic machines, especially those lacking automated disinfection programs or validation protocols, are simply not built to manage the linen disinfection safely or effectively.
Why do domestic machines fail? Domestic washing machines prioritize energy efficiency and fabric care. To achieve high temperature settings (like 60°C or 90°C), many models run shorter cycles or do not maintain the peak temperature long enough. Sensors may misread load size, further reducing wash temperatures. Detergent residue, limescale, and poor drainage all compound the issue, creating niches where microbes thrive. Interestingly, the research also highlighted that machine age plays a significant role in hygiene performance. Domestic washing machines over four years old showed a reduction in being able to meet and hold the stated temperature. This finding reinforces the concern that long-term use
Figure 3: Call to action THE CARE HOME INDUSTRY HANDBOOK 2026 29
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