Steps to Cleaner Work Clothes (News Release)

The best management practice for clothing during pesticide application is daily laundering. It's a simple way to make sure pesticide exposure is kept to a minimum.

If you don't do your own laundry, make sure the person who does this task has rubber gloves to handle pesticide-soiled clothes. Then follow these tips for laundering pesticide-soiled clothes:

• Don't try to wash items saturated with full-strength pesticide concentrate-discard them.
• Keep pesticide-soiled clothes separate from family clothes, before and during laundering.
• Wash as soon as possible after soiling.
• Pre-rinse or pre-soak in a tub, on a line with a garden hose, or in your washer before the regular wash cycle.
• Refill the washer with hot water for washing.
• Use a heavy-duty detergent.
• Don't overload the washer-leave room for clothes to circulate.
• Use the highest water level setting.
• Use the regular wash cycle, not a shorter knit one.
• Never use your sudsaver feature for pesticide-soiled clothes.
• Hang clothes outside in the sun to dry.
• Flush out your washer by running it through a complete cycle with hot water and detergent, but no clothes, before washing another load of family clothes.

For further information, contact the County Extension office for a copy of the new publication, Learn About Pesticides and Clothes, Pm-1265f.