Aaaaargh!! Another unnecessary steriliser!!

Hi there,

I have just seen yet another unnecessary "steriliser" advertised on the TV!

This time it's to sterilise a washing machine!

This is a machine that is:

o Flooded with chlorinated water EVERY time it is used.

o Then the chlorinated water is heated (sometimes to almost boiling point) almost EVERY time it is used.

o Then the heated chlorinated water is dosed with detergent EVERY time it is used.

o Then it is TWICE flushed out with cold chlorinated water EVERY time it is used!

WHY THE WOULD ANYONE NEED TO STERILISE A WASHING MACHINE?

The only time I could see this being necessary is if the materials being washed were contaminated with a highly contagious disease that was resistant to water, temperature change and detergent. I personally don't know of any such disease but I presume that whoever has such a complaint will be having their clothes, towels, flannels, bedding etc being washed by a hospital.

There is a reason we have asthma and eczema at almost epidemic proportions in the youngsters of the UK and it is simply that they are not exposed to enough dirt and disease when they are young.

This is yet another company jumping on the "fear factor" and to prove my point the advert states "Kills 99.9% of all germs, including MRSA."

This is the write-up on the NHS website. (The "S" in MRSA is staphylococcus aureus.)

"Staphylococcus aureus (also known as staph) is a common type of bacteria. It is often carried on the skin, inside the nostrils and the throat and can cause mild infections of the skin, such as boils and impetigo.

If staph bacteria get into a break in the skin, they can cause life-threatening infections, such as blood poisoning or endocarditis (an infection of the inner lining of the heart)."

So, it's there all around us and it can be dangerous if it gets into a break in the skin. How will sterilising a washing machine stop this? It won't! The next time someone touches the machine there is every chance that staph will be deposited on it.

Rant over!

Best regards,


Reference: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/MRSA/Pages/Introduction.aspx

Dutto wrote:Hi there,

I have just seen yet another unnecessary "steriliser" advertised on the TV!

This time it's to sterilise a washing machine!

This is a machine that is:

o Flooded with chlorinated water EVERY time it is used.

o Then the chlorinated water is heated (sometimes to almost boiling point) almost EVERY time it is used.

o Then the heated chlorinated water is dosed with detergent EVERY time it is used.

o Then it is TWICE flushed out with cold chlorinated water EVERY time it is used!

WHY THE WOULD ANYONE NEED TO STERILISE A WASHING MACHINE?

The only time I could see this being necessary is if the materials being washed were contaminated with a highly contagious disease that was resistant to water, temperature change and detergent. I personally don't know of any such disease but I presume that whoever has such a complaint will be having their clothes, towels, flannels, bedding etc being washed by a hospital.

There is a reason we have asthma and eczema at almost epidemic proportions in the youngsters of the UK and it is simply that they are not exposed to enough dirt and disease when they are young.

This is yet another company jumping on the "fear factor" and to prove my point the advert states "Kills 99.9% of all germs, including MRSA."

This is the write-up on the NHS website. (The "S" in MRSA is staphylococcus aureus.)

"Staphylococcus aureus (also known as staph) is a common type of bacteria. It is often carried on the skin, inside the nostrils and the throat and can cause mild infections of the skin, such as boils and impetigo.

If staph bacteria get into a break in the skin, they can cause life-threatening infections, such as blood poisoning or endocarditis (an infection of the inner lining of the heart)."

So, it's there all around us and it can be dangerous if it gets into a break in the skin. How will sterilising a washing machine stop this? It won't! The next time someone touches the machine there is every chance that staph will be deposited on it.

Rant over!

Best regards,


Reference: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/MRSA/Pages/Introduction.aspx

Preaching to the choir there Dutto, been saying that for years.
I remember a time when (yes mine too) parents would send you around to play with a friend if they were suffering from an ailment so you could 'get it out of the way' while you were young.
I strongly believe in this philosophy as in 41 years the only reasons I have visited a physician is for broken bones.

Is that broken bones caused by inserting arms into unsterilised washing machines?


Quite agree with you both - I read somewhere (Daily Mail, so it must be true.....) that the huge rise in Asthma and allergies is due to the cotton wool society that we have nowadays. I was brought up on a farm and thus exposed to just about every germ going........

What makes me laugh is the new hands free soap dispenser....(as seen on TV)! so you dont contaminate your skin Before washing your hands..
Rich..

Hi all,

Quite agree!

Hands free soap dispensers!

Thanks to all the idiots who dream up this I have two grand daughters who are OCD and paranoid of anything remotely 'mucky', and Its not through any influence of us or their parents. I blame schools, television and advertising.

Rant Over!!

Mike D