disinfecting wool blankets/sweater from ringworm fungus

i have brought my pendleton wool blankets and an irish knit sweater to the dry cleaners to disinfect them from the ringworm spores. spoke to my vet about it and she posted the question on her vet website (trade only), to see if the chemicals were enough and not being washed in hot water.....the answer was unsure.

don't want to ruin the blanket or sweater by shrinking or losing color.

can anyone help?

does virkon spray work? read about it, but not sure if it will bleach my items.

thanks for the help,
frog

I am not sure but would suspect that the dry cleaning fluid would kill off the ringworm. I know that they used to use a perchlorethelene based solvent for drycleaning which is pretty strong hydrocarbon based solvents. The best thing to do is to ask the drycleaners - not just the sales person at the counter - but have them ask their suppliers. They should also have hazard safety sheets on file at the drycleaners that will tell them the name of the exact chemicals used, so you ask them the name and then do a search on line as well. Try not to get too concerned about the high risk safety risks listed about the solvents - and they are there - the solvent does not remain in the textiles so there is no residual threat.

Kathryn

Virkon only kills ringworm if sprayed and left on the material/surface for ten minutes. We mix it into the wash at the shelter where I volunteer, and I've never seen it change the colour of anything. You'd have to test blot it on an unseen area to make sure it won't affect the wool first. But even if you use it, you'd pretty much have to drench it to make sure every little bit of it was covered. (My family has always hand-washed wool things at home, using ice cold water and line drying in a basement where there was little heat. The clothes seem to hold up fine. But don't do it unless you feel okay with any possible consequences, like ruined clothes.)


I would think that heat would kill off the fungus, too I remember the ladies at the shelter saying they've steamed cat furniture in the past to kill ringworm. I don't know if a dry cleaners can heat a wool garment high enough, safely.