Washing bags is easier than you might think
There is no complicated formula for bag washing. Canvas bags do just fine in the washing machine. Plastic reusable bags can be washed with soap and water and left to air dry.
Starting today, shopper Kelly Blauvelt plans to make a change. She loves her reusable bags but admits, "How often do I wash them? Probably never."
Blauvelt is a mother of young children, and she has several bags for groceries that she also uses to carry her kids' toys and books. She says that while life can get hectic, she's going to make time to wash the bags from now on.
A 2010 study found that washing reusable bags kills 99.9 percent of the bacteria in them. Wegmans takes two extra steps to help customers: Cashiers separate meat and fish into plastic bags first, making sure there's no contact with the surface of reusable bags. And the bags come with a card reminding shoppers to wash them.
Still, many shoppers aren't doing it. It's part of the educational process involved with a new way of shopping. But until shoppers change their habits and wash their reusable bags, they'll have no one else to blame if those bags become the home for a series of germs.
