Bottom lineIf detergent alone isn't tackling stubborn odours (and the bacteria that cause them) in your laundry, Lysol Laundry Additive might just do the trick. It eliminates bacteria that can get left on clothes after washing, and both our editors and parent testers were impressed with how well it worked.

The Lysol Laundry Sanitizer isn't a detergent. It's an additive that's specially formulated to kill germs on your clothes and in your laundry machine.

Introducing Lysol Laundry Sanitizer, an additive specially designed to kill 99.9% of bacteria left behind. Simply add Lysol Laundry Sanitizer to your rinse cycle. It does not contain any bleach and even works in cold water so is safe to use on most fabrics including whites, colors and darks.

If you are looking for a way to kill bacteria and viruses on your clothing or household linens, laundry sanitizer may be a good option for you. However, it is generally not necessary to use this product on a regular basis.

Lysol Laundry Sanitizer Additive It doesn't use bleach, so it's safe for use on clothing of all colors, but it still manages to kill up to 99.9 percent of germs - even when used with cold water. And while it's tough enough to use on your dirtiest workout clothes, it's also safe enough for baby clothes.

In fact, Lysol Laundry Sanitizer kills 99.9% of odor-causing bacteria when added to your laundry routine, so you get fresh-smelling laundry the first time, every time. Talk about knocking it out of the park!

Phenolic Disinfectants: Phenolic disinfectants, like Lysol Laundry Sanitizer, can be used on white and colored fabrics in both hot and cold water. You can add phenolic disinfectants to the wash and rinse cycles, but if it's added to the rinse cycle, make sure that it's warm water.

To kill bacteria, use Lysol Laundry Sanitizer in the fabric softener compartment or pour directly into the rinse cycle. Use two caps filled to the correct line for your machine. To disinfect, pre-soak with laundry sanitizer. Use 2 capfuls in 1 gallon of cold water.

The experts agree that you should regularly sanitize your dirtiest laundry. Yes, we're looking at you, workout clothes and that blanket your sick, sniffling child has been carrying around the house. But you don't need to sanitize every single load of laundry.

Ingredient Information

• Alkyl (50% C14, 40% C12, 10% C16) dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride. Antimicrobial Active: The active in surface disinfectants and sanitizers to kill germs on surfaces.
• Octyl Decyl Dimethyl Ammonium Chloride.
• Didecyl Dimethyl Ammonium Chloride.
• Dioctyl Dimethyl Ammonium Chloride.

Sheets, clothes and towels can pick up bacteria and can spread to other items in your Laundry, even in the machine. Detergent alone does not always kill bacteria. To kill bacteria, use Lysol Laundry Sanitizer in the fabric softener compartment or pour directly into the rinse cycle.

"While using bleach to wash bleach-safe laundry has been the go-to for laundry sanitization for decades, now laundry sanitizer products can help take care of the items you can't add to your bleach load.