Iron clothes, eliminate more viruses and bacteria than wrinkles?

Hygiene, as a health promoter, is again a vital issue.Disinfect and wash everything that has been in contact with the outside is something that we do not eager to the fullest since more than a year and a half ago we felt the danger of "the invisible", whether virus or bacteria.

Since then we have had care and we have tried to wash everything.From the fruit to the hands.There was a moment that even in some houses put on a ‘pediluvio’ of water with bleach to clean the sole of the shoes before entering.

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And either based on detergents, alcohols or bleach, the measures put in place were focused on preventing the coronavirus from entering our homes.

But the Sars-Cov-2 are not the only "invisible" enemy.And clothing also enters the category of objects where that and any other virus or bacteria must be destroyed.

All that is disinfecting is good

Surely you don't need to say it, but as it is very important to avoid the possible dispersion of viruses in the house, and it never hurts to insist:

- Those who work as a ‘uniform’ should not use it in the domestic environment.- It is a very good idea to change clothes when entering the home.- It is highly recommended to take a shower when you return home.In addition to the essential hand washing ... and face.- It is also a very good idea, and it is good to remember it although now we are already relaxed and does not do it almost anyone, leave the shoes at the door (better on the outside) as it was done at the time of our grandmothers (or great -grandmothers) or set up someSystem to clean the sole.- And one of the most important issues is the washing machine.

In our collective mind prior to the outbreak, the general idea was to wash clothes to remove unpleasant spots or odors.But in times of pandemics its hygienic utility is manifest.If the soap disinfects your hands, it is clear that its use in clothes would also disinfect it.

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When did he start ironing

There is another task, equally diffuse in the population and related to our clothing that, a priori, not many we understand: iron clothes.

What is the point of removing wrinkles?Why a shirt, a dress or a suit, without being well stretched, does not look the same?Is it possible that, in its origin, it was ironed rather to disinfect clothes?

It is very difficult to know when it started ironing.

In some ruins of Ancient Egypt, folded folds have been found and there are indications that, in China, around year 0 of our era, they ironed the clothes with an instrument similar to a pan.

And if its origin is uncertain, knowing its causes is even more complicated.

The different techniques used may indicate different purposes.

But around the fifteenth, in the limbo between the medievo and the European Modern Age, the iron appeared with the characteristic form that is still maintained today: iron and with a peak.

Designed to break through the fabric network and reach the seams, the iron was heated at high temperatures before being used.This use would be responsible for eliminating much of the microorganisms, by inactivating them by heat, so their hygienic use would be plausible, but why use it when with the washing of water and soap, easier, would they also be eliminated?

An English army captain, present in the Crimean War after the years 1853 and 1856, left a chronicle about it that could guide us to the answer:

"(...) men were seriously infested with parasites and, like water, I saw men ironing their clothes by shooting a 32 -pound cannon bullet on the garments placed in a flat stone".

The parasites referred to are the lice of the body (pediculus humanus humanus), very close relatives of the lice of the head causing annoying bites bites.Despite this, discomfort was not the reason that drove them to try to eliminate them so avid and ingenuity.

Iron his clothes with the cannon bullets intended not to end the lice, but with the mortal diseases that he brings: typhus, recurring fever and trenches fever.

The epidemic typhus, different from the Murino Typhus, is caused by the Ricketsia ProWazekii bacteria and seems to enter Europe with the crusades that returned from the Middle East.Thus, in the fifteenth century, the first documented epidemic of Tifus occurred, which precisely occurred in the territory of the current Spain: the siege of Granada in 1489.

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The war to lice

Since then it has been an adversary to fight in European wars, in many cases producing more deaths than the fight itself.

The other two infections, despite not having such an infamous name, also meant great human losses:

- Trenches fever is caused by the Bartonella Quintana bacteria and its human presence has been detected 4000 years ago, being the oldest transmitted by parasites of which is recorded.In spite of this, it was not described until World War.000 soldiers fell ill.

- Also in the Great War the recurring fever left its mark, affecting more in Eastern Europe.And in Serbia, then a country of 3 million inhabitants, 100.000 people died from the disease.This bacterium, Borrelia recurrentis, left even more terrifying figures, and it is estimated that it caused about 5 million dead throughout Europe of the east of the.

The three diseases, following the trail of misery where the louse so well proliferated, caused millions of dead in Europe, where there would be war or hunger.

They were present in the British Isles from the seventeenth to the 19th century, hitting fiercely in the great famine of Ireland.Napoleonic troops also suffered them, and the 219 figure is handled.000 dead for typhus only in the German campaign in 1813.

The Bolshevik Russia also declared war on louse at the end of its revolution.The country was plunged into great poverty and yearned for reconstruction, so the deaths of the great outbreak of typhus and fevers that were in its territory could not afford.Lenin's policy was as clear as his message: "Or socialism defeats the louse, or louse will defeat socialism".

Chemical war ... of insecticides

The objective was unquestionable: we had to eliminate lice.But the modus operandi was more intricate than we might think.

Insecticides such as DDT began to be used during World War II.This conflict of kilometric trenches, hunger and concentration camps would have been the perfect breeding ground for the three diseases to take millions of lives.

In certain concentration camps the typhus hit harshly, ending the life of thousands of people, including Anna Frank.However, its appearance was greatly reduced thanks to insecticides.Lice, fleas and ticks succumbed to chemical war, which avoided many deaths.

But Hermann Müller's discovery occurred in 1939 and, until then, other techniques to control them should have been used.And ironing clothes could be one of the forms.

It was known that high temperatures ended the nits in the clothes.In most cases the problem was solved by putting it in boiling water.But during wars or migrations, many times without water or time to wash and lay on, ironing their only dress would be the only option to eliminate lice.

A great example of the use of this procedure is found in an article by DR.Gerardo Clavero, director of the National Institute of Health, who wrote in 1943:

«On ours and DR initiative.Nájera, at the Vallecas Hygiene Center, were constituted in the spring of 1942 teams composed of a sanitary instructor and two female assistants, which visited the parasitized homes, in which the disintection of the clothes was carried out using electric plates where it was possible(…) The procedure gave its best results once launched."

In Spain the lice - and the typhus - also made an appearance a few years after the civil war.Insecticides, although they had already been invented, could not be applied in each and every households, so the clothes were encouraged.

It would not be surprising that in farther times the iron was used for the same purpose.The soldiers would bring with them an image of horror associated with the lice after having gone through overcrowding and diseases.Upon arriving at their homes they would iron the clothes in order to prevent lice, carriers of mortal pests, to nest in their garments.

Thus, with continued use, the idea that ironed clothes was more hygienic and, therefore, better view would be recorded in the collective mind.The aesthetic purpose would overcome the hygienic, but the custom would remain intact in time.

Although it sounds like ancient times, neither lice nor any of the three diseases have been eradicated.In developing countries, louse is primed in prisons, refugee and rural areas fields.

But developed countries are not saved either.Out -of -the -real people, without sleep to sleep and with problems maintain. Tal es el nivel que se conoce a la pediculosis del cuerpo como «enfermedad del vagabundo".Since the 90s cases are registered in countries such as France or the United States.And both now and 400 years ago, his three mortal diseases are accompanied.

Lice are also resistant

It is hard to believe that today there are deaths so easily avoidable.With insecticide powders or washing clothes in hot water, the life of the louse would end.But still the problem is not solved.Insecticides begin to lose efficacy due to resistances appeared in lice populations.

And drought in many areas of the planet, or the situation of refugee fields makes no easy access to water.Situations that, unfortunately, are usually accompanied by medication shortages.

But if there is electric current or if it is possible to make a bonfire, the problem can be controlled.A simple iron plate, easy to heat where there is fire, would be an effective solution to control the dissemination of lice and reduce the bacterial load present in clothes.

From 180 degrees it is a powerful sterilizer

The iron, reaching temperatures between 180 and 220 ° C, is a powerful sterilization weapon.

And just as parasites and bacteria can be controlled, viruses can be controlled.The Sars-Cov-2 would be unable to withstand such extreme temperatures.Normally, the virus can endure a whole day in clothes.Moreover, it comes to resist several days on surfaces such as buttons or zippers.

But its 70 ° C proteins are denatured in 5 minutes.Under the 220 ° C of a current steam plate, the virus would be inactivated in a second fraction.

In the face of business reopening the iron is already having great importance.A high temperature vaporizer could be used in curtains, in furniture upholstery, hotel room bedrooms or restaurant tablecloths.They are sites that, if they have come into contact with an infected, could have viral load.Disinfecting certain fabrics is vital for the reopening of those businesses to do not involve an increase in infections.

But especially it is useful in textile stores: clothing is taken by hand and left again, tested, moves, air.After passing through testers, all the clothes must be disinfected before being exposed again, making sure that the heat reaches the entire surface (inside and out).A relatively fast and no difficulty process.

The form and application of the plate are very different from how they were centuries ago, but their purpose would be the same.Iron, a boring task and for many meaningless, could continue saving lives during this pandemic.