Cleaning Your Reusable Shopping Bags

You probably have a laundry schedule for washing your sheets and towels, and you probably clean and disinfect your counters, appliance handles, light switches and more. But how often do you clean those reusable shopping bags you take to the store? If you go shopping and use your own bags frequently, you should be cleaning them on a regular basis. If one week meat gets put into a bag and maybe leaks but you don’t notice, and the following week you have produce in that same bag, there’s a risk of salmonella and other bacteria being transferred from item to item.

If you have canvas or fabric bags, toss them into the washing machine after each use. Use hot water and let the bags air dry. Let the bags dry completely before using again. If your bags are crocheted, mesh, or hand knit, hand wash in hot water.

For any plastic reusable bags, use a spray disinfectant or an antibacterial wipe. You can also wash these kinds of bags in a washing machine with warm water, then air dry. Putting plastic bags in the dryer could melt them.

Nylon reusable bags can be washed in warm water in your machine, or hand washed. Clean all the corners and pockets if your bags have them, and then air dry.

If you have insulated bags, you’ll want to spray them down with a disinfectant including all zippers.