Here’s something I admittedly don’t do often enough: Wash my reusable shopping bags. I actually do prefer using reusable bags when I shop, because I think they’re much stronger than the thin plastic ones at the store (I’m especially thinking of your bags, Meijer.)
However, after a lot of use, these bags can get kind of grungy. Worse, the bags can pick up a lot of bacteria from produce and meat packages – I’m always reminded of the story where a soccer team was infected with norovirus after storing snacks in a dirty reusable shopping bag. It’s a good idea to wash them periodically. A USA Today article says we should be washing our bags once a week, saying they get as dirty as the bottom of our shoes..!
While I don’t wash mine every week, I do try to wash them every couple of months, if not more. These bags wash up well, but they cannot go in the dryer – the nonwoven plastic-fabric most of them are made of will melt. After a recent leaky meat package made washing one of my bags a necessity, I decided to wash them all. So, I thought I’d share how I dry my bags once they’ve been washed:
After the bags come out of the machine, I hang them off the railings of our deck. I pull the handles around one of the deck spindles, then use a clothespin to clip the handles together. They dry in the sun and the breeze.
You’ll notice my bags are inside-out too! I turn them inside out when I wash them to make sure the insides get really clean. Some of my bags have a plastic coating on the outside, and I was finding that the water didn’t always get inside to the fabric lining when I put them in the machine.
(You’ll recall how much I LOVE my washing machine and what a “great” job it does of cleaning things…)
Diane says
Thanks for the reminder. How do you all clean your insulated ones? I’ve been using a Clorox wipe.
Coupon Maven says
That’s what I do too with my insulated bag – I use a disinfecting wipe for the plastic thing in the bottom too.
J.R. says
One a week seems excessive since most of mine get used less often than that.
Whenever I get something like fresh meat, I have them put that in one of the plastic bags anyway, to minimize leakage.
But I like your suggestion of periodic washing. Just regular detergent? Any germ killer like bleach or Lysol?
And what about the plastic bottom inserts? You don’t run those through the machine? Maybe the Clorox wipe on them too.
Coupon Maven says
I don’t use anything special when I wash them — just Tide or whatever detergent I’m using for my regular laundry. It seems to do a good job.
Theresa says
I have one bag in each car that is plastic inside and out that I use exclusively for meat so I do not have to have them use plastic bags–only to throw the plastic bags out at home. I think was those bags more often especially if it is a leaky meat package.