Clean Your Reusable Bags!

Do you clean your reusable bags? Probably not. And get this: they are disgusting!!! Cleaning Expert, Melissa Maker, explains and teaches! Visit http://www.cleanmyspace.com for the full post.

**JOIN OUR COMMUNITY***
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/cleanmyspace
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cleanmyspace
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/cleanmyspace
BLOG: http://cleanmyspace.com/clean-your-re... ---full post and my opinion on said bags here!

Disposable bags are amazing yes, they carry more, look better and don't snap in half leaving you standing like a fool in the parking lot with your smashed carton of eggs and spilled milk. But have you ever considered why plastic bags got popular in the first place? One word: disposable.

Think of your reusable bags are like undergarments. They need to be cleaned, they carry a lot of dirt an bacteria around and can eventually contaminate food (I guess if you were carrying food around in them).

Just take a minute to think about how freakin' dirty these things get! You bring your meat, cheese, vegetables and fruit in them, week after week.

They just sit there, you think they are invincible. Well, they are not. Gross. You should be shivering right now! If you are interested in seeing this study, here's the link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/...

Studies have been done showing a concentration of mold, yeast and bacteria found in these reusable bags. If you carry meat in your bags you could also potentially expect salmonella or e-coli.

In this study, there's a stat out saying that only 15% of Americans wash their bags. And you know what not washing your bags lead to? A hot case of food poisoning. Have you ever had food poisoning? Do you know what happens to your body?

OK, enough paranoia propaganda. Here are a few things you can do to keep them clean and bacteria-free:

1) Colour code your bags for meat, poultry, fish, dairy, prepared food and produce. This will help avoid cross-contamination. You can just use bags from different stores as opposed to colour code, or even write with permanent marker your labels on the bags for easy separation.

2) Place all raw foods in plastic bags prior to placing them in the tote bag (doesn't this sound counterintuitive to a no plastic bag agenda?).

3) Try not to leave bags in the trunk. A study was done showing a warmer trunk temperature are an excellent breeding ground for even more bacteria; to the tune of ten times the initial count in just 2 hours. Oh boy.

4) When you are not using the bags, store them in a clean, dry space. If it's a damp, warm space then bacteria is bound to re-appear.

5) And finally, clean your bags well. So here's a safe way to do this that will get rid of bacteria and preserve the bag.

For starters, there are two general kinds of bags: fabric or nylon totes and recycled plastic.

Fabric and nylon totes are easy, you throw them in the wash with towels or jeans, let your machine do the work. Bacteria, stains and smells will be dealt with during the wash cycle.

If the bag is made out of recycled plastics, fill your sink with hot water and add 2 tbsp of dish soap and 1 cup of hydrogen peroxide. Soak this for 15 minutes. The soap will remove dirt and smells and the hydrogen peroxide will disinfect the bags and assist with any stubborn stains. Drain the sink and then wring the bags dry. Hang them up and let them air dry, they dry really quick. If you put these bags in the washing machine, they'll start to pill.

It's fairly simple to take care of the bags and obviously quite important!

Thanks for watching, and see you next time!

• Category

  Howto & Style

[CmdrBittles]

I wash mine! Yay me! :D

[cleanmyspace]

You're one of the few - good stuff!

[Setofplaylists]

Hi Melissa, I recently watched your video on cleaning reusable bags and I was thinking why not spray the bag with some isopropanol-hydrogenperoxide solution in some water after each use and let them air-dry. What do you think?

[cleanmyspace]

Hi, I'm not quite sure of that exact mix, if you wanted to do a spray like you are mentioning here, you can spray a 50/50 mix of rubbing alcohol and water. In theory it should work however I've never tried nor tested it. Let me know if you do!

[Salena Smith]

Can you do a video on how to clean your eye GLASSES?

I reacently got glassses and have no clue about keeping them clean or safe!

[cleanmyspace]

Yes - I'm adding that to the list. Your glasses should have come with a little cloth, right? That's called an optical cloth. Just use that with a little bit of water and your glasses will be clean!

[Zom Osborne]

Good video.

But please don't tell people to use plastic bags in their reusables. It kind of defeats the purpose.

[cleanmyspace]

Just a damp cloth...I will make a video on that some day I am sure:) 

[cleanmyspace]

Hi there, we did a video on this - it was our second video so you have to scroll down to the bottom of our video list!!! Check it out :)

[Sundas Farooq]

Can you please do a video on how to get rid of coffee or tea stains from cups??