Tinea & socks - severe problem - laundry advice?

[Gas Bag]

If you have socks that are severely infected with tinea/athlete=92s foot, what is the best laundry product to soak/wash them in? How much do I need to use? I can guarantee you that normal washing powder does NOT get rid of the problem. Whatever product or ingredient you recommend would need to have a "sledge hammer" effect on the tinea, as I=92m really facing the mother-of-all-battles here. Also, hot water and/ or bleach are not an option here.

It=92s not me that has the severe tinea problem, rather it=92s my housemate, and the problem is beyond belief. I=92ve said to a few people I know that his socks are undisputable proof there=92s extraterrestrial life already on earth. He=92s started using antifungal foot powder designed to kill tinea, and it=92s made a huge difference already. Despite that, I need a laundry product as well, and I want to make this is as cost effective as possible.

Please help!

[E Z Peaces]

Water at 140F/60C is supposed to kill tinea. At that temperature, sodium percarbonate (such as OxyClean) works well.

At cooler temperatures, water containing equal parts of baking soda and household bleach (such as a tablespoon each per quart) disinfects.

Baking soda sprinkled in footwear discourages tinea.

[pure kona]

Chlorine Bleach should kill any fungus and then thorough drying. Fungi love moisture.

aloha Pennsy

[carole]

I had a problem with tinea. Put on a pair of shoes I hadn't work for a year and got it back again. However, discovered that I can get rid of it by taking right combination of cellsalts (orally), that it only affects me when my system gets out of balance. Calcium is the major cellsalt (I use calcium carbonate tablets from chemist), followed by sodium (bicarb - 1/2 tsp) and potassium (cream of tartar 1/2 tsp) in a little water, as often as needed. Whenever it starts to come back I take the cellsalts and it goes away.

carole

[Gas Bag]

E Z Peaces

Thankyou so much for your reply above.

Hot water when laundering is not an option here. If it was an option, I'd use hot water for sure. But I can't. It's got to be cold.

Also, bleach is not an option, as most of the socks aren't white. In fact, most are black. And there's underwear of various colours too that's "not too pleasant" either. (To say the least)

What I need to know is what product(s) can be used in cold water to soak the filthy varmints (socks and underwater), prior to/during washing? You mentioned Sodium Percarbonate? Please elaborate.

[Mrs Bonk]

There is an antifungal/antibacterial laundry rinse on the market that one can buy. Another option would be to soak the clothes in a bucket with a product like Napisan. I bought a similar product but giant size in the pound store recently, what a bargain! It is 25% sodium percarbonate and as EZ Peaces said, that works well . I use it IN the machine along with my usual wash liquid for all my washing, coloureds and whites.

[E Z Peaces]

Oxiclean is a powder that's probably sold where you buy detergent. It's color-safe bleach. The chemical is sodium percarbonate. Other brands are cheaper than Oxiclean.

It works best in hot water. I use it in a big pot on the stove. I've cleaned old yellowed dress shirts and old stained dish towels.

The colder the water, the slower it works. If you can't use hot water, it may disinfect if you soak the stuff overnight.

Sodium perborate can work better in cooler water than sodium percarbonate. Powdered detergents with color-safe bleach usually have sodium perborate with a catalyst to help it work better in cooler water. At the store, you may find a detergent with color-safe bleach that's advertised to work in cold water.