Antifungal activity of the silver ion against contaminated fabric.

An anti-fungal efficacy test of the silver laundry machine, which electrically generates silver ions, was carried out against four fungi--Trichophyton rubrum, Candida albicans, Microsporum canis and Aspergillus flavus--which cause major fungal infection in humans and animals. Compared with the conventional laundry machine, washing with the silver laundry machine regardless of detergent use was effective against most of the fungi with about 4 log(10) (CFU ml(-1)) reduction and eliminated almost all the fungi when using the detergent. Moreover, the cleaning activity of the silver laundry machine with detergent was higher than that of the conventional laundry machine with detergent both after wash and after final spin step against all four examined fungi. The silver laundry machine may be useful in preventing skin irritation caused by fungi-contaminated fabric in the hospital and in the home.