Washers, Dryers and IAQ

Washers and dryers contributions to poor IAQ
Preventing indoor air hazards from washers and dryers 

Washers and Dryers Contributions to Poor IAQ 

There is a variety of ways that washers and dryers contribute to poor indoor air quality (IAQ), including:

• Chemicals found in clothes washing detergents can lead to skin irritation and trigger allergies.

• Chlorine bleach can be very irritating to the eyes, nose, throat, and skin.

• Fabric softener sheets and liquids contain chemicals that are designed to decrease static cling when the clothes are drying, but they may also cause health effects. In a study where mice were exposed to the vapors of fabric softeners, there was irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs of the mice that breathed them. Even tee shirts that had been dried with fabric softeners released enough toxic chemicals into the air that the mice showed irritant effects and decreased airflow. Some even developed severe asthma-like attacks.¹

• Mold can be caused by moisture that has accumulated due to wet laundry being line-dried indoors or dryers being vented indoors.

• Nitrogen dioxide from unvented or malfunctioning gas appliances such as gas clothes dryers.

• Sulfur dioxide from unvented or malfunctioning gas appliances such as gas clothes dryers

• Radon from well water can be released from water and into the air is from clothes washers. After coming from a faucet, about 1/10,000^th of the radon in water is released into the air. Of note, only one percent to two percent of indoor radon in the air comes from drinking water. 

• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can be stripped from contaminated hot water during the washing cycle. This water can be contaminated from leaking underground storage tanks such as those that hold gasoline at service stations or it can contain chlorinated VOCs because of water disinfectants.

Preventing Indoor Air Hazards From Washers and Dryers

Use substitutes for chemicals used in laundering clothes. Some examples include:

• Stain removers: Avoid products with 1,1,1-trichloroethane or naphthalene. For stains in general, make a paste from a powder detergent or pour a liquid detergent directly onto a stain. Rub into stain with a toothbrush. For tougher stains, make a paste using 3 tablespoons of borax and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Scrub this into the stain with a nylon-scouring pad then rinse with water. Follow these recommendations for specific stains:

  • Blood: Immediately clean stain with club soda or sponge with cold water. You can also use ¼ cup of borax in 2 cups water. Sponge with cold water and rinse. Another alternative is to saturate the stain with hydrogen peroxide. Let it sit a couple of minutes then wash. Since hydrogen peroxide may bleach out color, you should test it first.

  • Chocolate or coffee: Soak in cold water, and rub with soap and a borax solution. If necessary, rub with a borax/water paste. Rinse then wash.

  • Fruit stains: Soak in cold water for 30 minutes then rub soap into the remaining stain. If necessary, you can also use lemon juice and sunlight or soak in vinegar.

  • Grease: There are several choices. These include:

    • Apply paste of cornstarch and water. Brush off when dry.

    • Cover spot with baking soda or cornmeal. Let it absorb the grease then brush off.

    • Scrub grease spot with toothpaste.

    • Sponge a grease spot on suede with a cloth dipped in white vinegar, dry, and brush off.

  • Ink: Ink is very hard to get out. You could try saturating the stain with milk, sponging the stain with alcohol, or applying a cream of tartar and lemon juice paste. Let it set for one hour.

  • Lipstick: Rub with cold cream or shortening to dissolve color then rinse the area with a solution of washing soda and warm water to remove the grease.

  • Oil: Rub white chalk into stain before laundering or scrub the spot with toothpaste.

  • Perspiration stains: These are very tough to get out, but try sponging the stain with a weak solution of white vinegar or lemon juice and water.

  • Rust stains: Moisten the spot with lemon juice, sprinkle with salt, and leave in the sun for a couple of days or try a "waterless" auto mechanic's hand cleaner.

  • Tea: Stretch the fabric over a basin and pour boiling water over the stain; wash as usual.

  • Red wine stains: Blot with paper towels to absorb wine. Then apply club soda, rubbing alcohol, borax, or white wine to blot out the stain.

• Pre-soak: Soak heavily soiled items in warm water with ½ cup washing soda for 30 minutes.

• Laundry detergents: Use detergents that do not contain phosphates such as liquid laundry detergent. In addition, some laundry detergents are safer than others such as simple laundry soap. This kind of soap cleans better if a water softener is used. If you don't have a water conditioner installed in your home, you can use borax, washing soda, or baking soda is added to prevent soap scum residue and let the soap work better.

• Chlorine bleach: Use products that contain "washing soda" which brightens fabrics and costs less than bleach. You can also use non-chlorine dry bleach or hydrogen peroxide-based liquid bleaches. Hydrogen peroxide breaks down to water and oxygen in wastewater. If you do use chlorine bleach, limit their use whenever possible and try using half the recommended amount and add one-quarter to one-half cup of baking soda per load.

• Fabric softeners: To freshen and soften natural-fiber clothing, add one cup vinegar or one-quarter cup of baking soda during the final rinse. To reduce "static cling" in synthetics, line dry clothes outside. If you do use a fabric softener, sheets are safer than liquid or aerosol fabric softeners.

• Spray Starch: Dissolve two teaspoons cornstarch in one pint of cold water in a spray bottle. Shake before each use.

Do not hang wet laundry indoors, this increases humidity, which can lead to excessive moisture and mold.

Always vent to the outdoors. This prohibits moisture from the drying clothes from being released into the indoor air causing extra humidity and possibly growth of mold. In addition, if the dryer is gas, it will vent possible harmful gases such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide.

1. Anderson R, Anderson J. Respiratory toxicity of fabric softener emissions. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health. 2000;60 Part A:124-136.