[dragonwriter]

No, what “happened” is that detergent mostly isn't made for germ killing and heat even of typical (even older) hot cleaning cycled is insufficient to kill bacteria.

None of this is news.

Of course, people used to use actual (chlorine) bleach with laundry more often, rather than colorsafe “bleach”, and chlorine bleach does kill germs, so that's part of what happened.

[pmoriarty]

Bleach will fade color clothes, though, won't it? I have a lot of black clothes and don't want them fading or having white spots from the bleach.

I've been trying to just use vinegar. Hope it helps.

[icebraining]

As far as I know, it not only fades (some) fabrics, but it can also weaken some fabric, even if it's white.

[mtgx]

That's true.

[mrob]

It will fade natural fibers, but with 100% synthetic fabrics the dye or pigment is usually mixed into the plastic before it's turned into fibers. In this case the bleach can only affect a very thin surface layer, which causes no visible color change.