Updated: Aug. 12, 2022
At Rinse, safety is and always has been our highest priority. In March 2020, Rinse took swift action to maximize safety when COVID hit, implementing several protocols across our cleaning and delivery processes to minimize the risk of transmission. Our proactive approach ensured we were able to provide a convenient, high-quality, and safe laundry experience to all of our customers.
We are taking a similar proactive approach with respect to Monkeypox. Based on what we know today, this outbreak is not as serious (or confusing) as COVID was when it hit, but we will do everything we can to stay ahead of it to ensure the safety of our customers and our team.
According to the CDC, there is a very low risk of Monkeypox spreading through contact of contaminated clothing. That said, standard laundry and dry cleaning processes are more than sufficient to kill the virus. Given that, we wanted to share notes on some of the standard processes and procedures we have in place to maximize safety and eliminate the risk of Monkeypox transmission:
HANDLING THE CLOTHES BEFORE CLEANING
- Anyone at Rinse who might need to touch customers' clothing are required to wear gloves, which are immediately disposed of before touching any other items or surfaces.
- We continue to require regular sanitization of all surfaces that come into contact with worn clothing and regular hand-washing.
THE CLEANING PROCESS
- First and foremost, all customer orders are sorted and washed separately from other customers. Your clothes always have their own dedicated space and their own dedicated machines, meaning they will never come in contact with another customer’s clothes.
- As stated above, the detergent and heat involved in our normal cleaning processes acts as a powerful disinfectant as we clean your clothes. The CDC has confirmed that laundry detergent and heat from various stages in our Dry Cleaning and Wash & Fold cycles are effective at killing the virus.
- Since the laundry detergent we use is effective against the virus, our washing machines are cleaned with each clothing cycle. Absolutely no clothing enters a dryer that hasn’t first been washed, to ensure dryers remain virus-free.
- Cleaned orders are always kept separate from unserviced orders in a polyurethane bag. This helps to protect against cross-contamination as well.
- All Cleaning Partners are required to have their team wear gloves when handling clothing. Rinse provides gloves to all Cleaning Partners for their employees to avoid any cost constraints on their end.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
- Please ensure that all of your items are secured inside your Rinse bags and that the bags are closed/zipped up, with nothing overflowing so that our Valets can minimize the need to come in contact with clothing.
- If you have items with special instructions (e.g. an item that needs a repair), please pre-separate the item for our Valets so we can minimize contact with other clothes in your order as we look for the item.
We will continue to follow the latest developments on Monkeypox very closely. We are constantly reviewing our delivery and cleaning processes to ensure the safest process possible and will remain proactive as we work to eliminate the risk of transmission.
We have provided a consistent and safe laundry and dry cleaning experience for all of our customers throughout COVID and will continue to do so with Monkeypox. We are very proud of the commitment to safety our team members have made and are confident that our processes and protocols will eliminate the risk of transmission while we work to provide you the convenient, high-quality laundry and dry cleaning experience you have come to expect from Rinse.
If you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions, please reach out to [email protected].
