You may be able to turn your allergy symptoms down a notch by turning up the heat.
Yep, set your washer temp on "hot." And the rinse cycle on "extra." Studies show these settings remove way more symptom-provoking dust mites, dog dander and tree pollen from laundry than cold-water, single-rinse cycles.
How does hot water kill dust mites?
Get a load of these laundry results from one allergy study. When bed sheets were washed in either super-hot (140°F) water or in steam water, 100 percent of household dust mites were eliminated. That’s not all. This wash temperature killed not only dust mites, but dog dander, too, as did an extra rinse cycle. In this study, laundry temp didn't seem to matter much with pollen removal. But other studies have shown hot water is best for reducing that allergen as well.
How hot is hot?
If your washer doesn't have a temperature gauge, choose the hottest possible setting. To find out how hot your tap water gets, try measuring it with a meat thermometer.
