Washing Leaded Clothes At Home

Yes, your clothes can be contaminated with lead particles. In your daily life of work, you go to different places. If you or your partner is in an industrial job it’s ubiquitous that they’re working clothes contain different types of chemicals.

These work dresses shouldn’t be coming home. The company should take care of laundering them as carrying lead at home can expose children and the environment. But you can clean your lead-contaminated white clothes or casual dresses at home with detergent and a washing machine.

As you know lead is not very friendly for the environment and human health, you must take good care of the clothes and washing them in the right way is the best you can do.

In this article, we will be discussing everything about cleaning lead dust from clothes, tips, and tricks for washing lead-contaminated clothes.

Let’s take the dive.

Washing Leaded Clothes

How To Clean Lead Contaminated Clothing At Home

When it comes to cleaning lead dust from cloth it is best to be washed. A dry clean may not be as effective as you want in this case. You can wash your lead-contaminated garments with your washing machine. It is best to avoid hand washing as lead can hurt your skin and you can be lead poisoned.

Here is the washing technique:

  1. If your white clothes and dark clothes are open to lead exposure you better take them off and zip them in a bag before entering your home. This will ensure the safety of your kids. Kids can be easily lead poisoned. So it’s a must-do that you make minimal handling.
  2. Now you directly go to the washing machine and damp your clothes in the washing tub with tap water. It is better to wash them at a low temperature with cold water for dark clothes. But for white clothes, you can use warm water.
  3. Before switching on the washing machine you should add some liquid soap or detergent and fabric softener if needed. Regular detergents are enough to clean all the lead from your garments. But we suggest you go for specialized detergents to clean hazardous chemicals like lead. This type of detergent contains surfactants and effectively cleans lead.
  4. It is better to run a rinse cycle first. It will wash out all the unwanted free dust from your clothes so that the detergent can directly take action with lead particles.
  5. Run a regular wash cycle. You can use hot water if dealing with a white shirt and want to kill germs. But it is money-saving to wash fabric in cold water.
  6. After finishing a proper wash cycle, now you need a proper rinse cycle for your clothes and the washing machine as well as the dryer before washing anything else.
  7. But first, get your clothes out and air dries them if possible.

How to Clean Washing Machine After Washing Lead-Contaminated Clothes

1. While washing lead-contaminated clothing you can see soap scum through the glass of the washer. This scum can be set on your washer and may never go out. But using vinegar can help you to remove them as much as possible. You can use acids also and you must be watchful while using these acids.

2. Washing machines are designed in such a way that the lead particles either float through the drain or settle on the bottom of the wash drum. You cannot remove them in a wash cycle. Use white vinegar and run 15-20 proper wash cycles to remove the stains perfectly. Adding some specialized lead cleaning detergents can ease the process and a better result.

3. If the clothing is not perfectly cleaned and you put it on your dryer it can contaminate your dryer with lead. You don’t want to take a chance. Do you? If the answer is no please check the dryer with a lead testing kit. A positive result means you have to clean the dryer also. But be very careful doing this because you don’t want to be lead poisoned as well.

Things to Remember 

  • Make sure you wash your hands with soap every time you touch your clothes or the plastic bag it is in. Otherwise, the lead can be exposed to you and your family members.
  • It is better if you don’t take the lead-contaminated garments to your house. But if you have to wash it at your home don’t forget to rinse everything after the washing is done. This will ensure the minimal spread of lead.
  • Don’t load your washing machine with both lead-contaminated and other clothes together. No need to pass the lead to your lead dust-free clothes.
  • Always be careful handling toxic chemicals and contaminated fabrics.

Lead Effects

  • Lead is blended in with various hazardous materials to assist with balancing them during the assembling system. It very well may be added to paint, glass, gem, plastic, gas, ink, chalk, pastels, and numerous other family items.
  • Lead is a poisonous material for humans, and it regularly leaches out of the products it is added to. It is especially dangerous for expectant mothers and young children who frequently put objects like batteries, colored pencils, and pens in their mouths.
  • Kidney, nerve, and cerebrum can all be harmed by lead exposure. Lead paint can affect adults and kids alike, as well as result in major medical problems. Adults exposed to lead paint through their clothing may experience kidney damage, fertility problems, and hypertension.
  • Because lead generally has a sweet flavor, children will often suck on lead-containing objects due to the pleasantness of the taste. If lead is taken in sufficient quantities, it can injure the brain and cause seizures, trance states, and even death.
  • In our current situation, draining lead objects frequently results in leaded residue getting into our clothing. Little babies are especially vulnerable to ingesting lead through nibbling on their clothing and toys. If you’re unsure of how to remove lead dust from clothing, you should know that bio cleaners designed for babies won’t be able to do it.

Final words 

Lead is such a hazardous particle that it is better to use disposable clothing while working in such environments. But if somehow lead is in your clothes you can clean it at your home using your washing machine. A regular wash is not enough to remove lead from your clothes. You should use detergents that contain surfactants to clean these types of toxic chemicals.

Now you know everything about cleaning lead particles from your clothes and not getting lead poisoned. So you don’t need to worry about this problem anymore.



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