Schools investigating clothing stains from disinfectant

The first couple of weeks of school seem to have gone well in Saskatchewan, except these days, some kids in Regina are coming home with stains on their clothes.

It’s believed to be from the Vital Oxide schools are using to disinfect surfaces in response to COVID-19.

Natasha Boughen has three sons who go to St. Nicholas School in Regina. She said last week she got an email from the school talking about having some complaints about staining so she went to check her sons’ clothing.

“I found their 22Fresh hoodies that we had just bought and given them the day before, and they had bleaching stains all over them,” said Boughen.

She and her husband contacted the school about it and they will be getting reimbursed to the tune of about $160, but she wishes there would be more communication from the school on this type of thing.

She said she hasn’t heard many details about how the school is cleaning things, and it makes her wonder.

“Are they cleaning it properly, to the manufacturer’s standards? Stuff like that. Are they following how you’re supposed to use this product? … Are they following all the rules?” asked Boughen.

She said when her kids get home off the bus they and their clothes smell like bleach and she doesn’t know why.

“Everybody tells me that Vital Oxide doesn’t have a smell like that and the hand sanitizer that they’re using on the bus doesn’t smell like that either. So I don’t get why they smell like bleach when they come off the bus,” said Boughen.

Boughen said she has looked up the product online and it seems safe so she’s not worried about that, but she would like the situation to be figured out so the kids’ clothes don’t keep getting wrecked.

From the schools

Regina Public Schools said it has only had a couple of complaints, exclusively from those who take the bus.

Both the public and Catholic divisions are still using the disinfectant but are working with the manufacturer to figure out why this is happening – whether it’s a reaction with something that was used on the clothes at home – and how to stop it from happening.

Twylla West, a spokesperson with the Regina Catholic School Division, said officials know Vital Oxide is still a safe product, but in the meantime they’re stepping up washing with soap and water before they disinfect.

“What we’re hoping is that if there is any residue buildup of that, (washing) will remove that and get rid of that,” explained West.

The Catholic division is gathering up clothing that has been stained and will replace it.

West said this issue wasn’t brought up as a possibility when the division was deciding which disinfectant to use, and she pointed out many schools are using the same product.