If your dryer is electric, rub the drum with a soft cloth dipped in warm water and dish soap. For a gas dryer, wipe down the inside with a liquid, nonflammable household cleaner. Then, for gas or electric, wipe out the drum with a wet sponge or towel and tumble a load of clean clothes or towels to dry the drum.
Wipe down the inside of your dryer drum with an all-purpose cleaner or vinegar solution about once every month. Unfortunately, your dryer drum is not exempt from cleaning, even if the only things you're putting in there are freshly laundered clothes.
Soap/detergent doesn't kill bacteria, it lifts the bacteria and dirt and traps it, enabling it to be rinsed away. You can buy a non-chlorine, non-bleach laundry sanitizer and use as directed. Sunlight also kills bacteria. Heat from the dryer definitely kills it.
Spray or dip a cloth into a non-abrasive cleaning product or a solution of white vinegar and water. Wipe over the whole of the drum and the inside of the door. Leave the door open to let it dry. Use the same solution to wipe down the front, sides and back of the machine to keep everything looking tip-top.
The inside of a clothes dryer, the drum, should almost never need to be cleaned because the temperatures inside of a dryer when it's running to dry clothes is hot enough to evaporate water out of textiles therefore it's plenty hot enough to kill germs, parasites, viruses, and those kinds of things too.
Sanitize Cycle In Washer & Dryers
This feature is designed to eliminate bacteria and allergens from clothing, bed linens, and other washable items. The washing machine increases the water temperature during the wash and rinse cycles, effectively killing bacteria and ensuring a thorough cleaning process.
Vinegar has been proven to have some disinfectant properties, however it's not nearly as effective at killing harmful viruses and bacteria as commercial cleaners. And because it does not kill 99.999 percent of bacteria and viruses, it doesn't meet the criteria required to be considered a disinfectant.
Once a month, use a spray of 1/2 white vinegar and 1/2 water to mist the inside of the drum. Wipe it down with a microfiber cloth, and leave the dryer door open so it can air dry.
Apply hydrogen peroxide for disinfection
To sanitize your dryer with hydrogen peroxide, start by mixing equal parts of hydrogen peroxide and water in a spray bottle. Then, lightly mist the interior of the dryer drum and any other surfaces that may come into contact with your clothes.
NSF International (formerly the National Sanitation Foundation), certifies that the Anti Bacterial cycle reduces 99.9% of bacteria on laundry, and none of the bacteria will carry over onto the next laundry load.dryer which means it has been third-party tested to assure this level of germ killing.
Soak a few sturdy towels with white vinegar until they're damp but not dripping. Place these in the dryer and run a full cycle. White vinegar's acidity acts as an organic dryer odor remover, neutralizing and banishing those foul smells.
Pour the bleach into the tub of the washing machine and let it sit for an hour before starting the rinse cycle. If you don't want to use bleach you can opt for distilled vinegar instead. Run an entire rinse cycle. Crank your machine up to its hottest water setting and complete a rinse cycle with the bleach or vinegar.
To kill the germs in your laundry, wash your clothes on the hot cycle, then put everything in the dryer for 45 minutes. Wash whites with bleach, and use peroxide or color-safe bleach for colors. Do your laundry in water that's at least 140 F to kill any viruses or bacteria.
How Do You Disinfect a Dryer? You can disinfect a dryer by cleaning it with a bleach solution. Add half a cup of bleach to a gallon of water, and use this to wipe out the inside of the dryer.
If your dryer is electric, rub the drum with a soft cloth dipped in warm water and dish soap. For a gas dryer, wipe down the inside with a liquid, nonflammable household cleaner. Then, for gas or electric, wipe out the drum with a wet sponge or towel and tumble a load of clean clothes or towels to dry the drum.
Some Benefits of a Steam Dryer
As the steam cycle's steam penetrates clothing to remove wrinkles, it can also eliminate odor-causing bacteria. This enables you to simply freshen without having to wash. Regular dryers don't remove odors, so you always have to wash the item. Steam drying can make fabric feel softer, too.
Sanitize cycles on washing machines, dryers and dishwashers add another layer of germ protection by reducing 99% of bacteria commonly found on dishes and home laundry.
Vinegar works just as well as a dryer sheet, but with no harm to your clothes.
Is vinegar flammable in a dryer? Yes, vinegar can be flammable. To be safe, avoid using it when cleaning a gas dryer. Instead, opt for dish soap or any mild all-purpose cleaner .
Hydrogen peroxide is an effective disinfectant and its foaming action aids in cleaning. Hydrogen peroxide can be used as an effective natural disinfectant in every room in the house, and its uses extend to personal care, gardening, food preparation, stain removal and more.
Like hand soap, dish soap does not kill bacteria, but it lifts them off surfaces to be washed away by water. Dishes should be washed and scrubbed in soapy water, rinsed with water and finally soaked in water containing germ-killing sanitizers before drying them off.