Bleach or wash first

I'd shake as much of the 'bits' off as possible in the garden, then soak (I use Napisan rather than strong bleach) then high temperature wash.

I wouldn't take any animal "bits" anywhere close to my other laundry (they hang around in the washing machine, no matter how careful you are, so you will end up with some on your other fabrics). I wouldn't use towelling for cleaning anyway, as the texture encourages the fabric to pick up bits and hold onto them. I use cheap kitchen paper for the jobs you mention - they're biodegradable, so this is one of the rare times I use disposables.

I have a bucket in which to soak any dirty cloths .
I soak them in bleach if they are white or disinfectant if coloured .
I really wouldn't want a cloth which has touched a cat tray to touch my clothes nor tea towels .

Kitchen paper for me too.

Thank you everyone. I’m going to go with napisan and bucket.

I agree, I wash my cat's litter tray then dry with kitchen roll. Anything that has been near my cat would most definitely not go in my washing machine!! Having said that as cats go she is very clean !! 😂

Shake or pull off bits, rinse under cold tap, then soak in diluted bleach & cold water ( hot water will turn your whites yellow), I leave my cleaning clothes overnight & put in the machine on a 15 min wash.

I soak such cloths in oxyclean or similar first, then wash, then bleach!

Get rid of the bits, soak overnight then wash it seems like common sense to me.

You clean cat trays with towels??? That's just primitive. Our cat, who died over a year ago, used to be sent outside to do its business.

Poor cat. What if he ‘needed to go’ in the night? Mine have always been shut in at night for their own safety, with litter trays.

Please, please, please don't use chlorine bleach - it eventually finds its way into the oceans and seas and damages marine life.

Better to use Sodium Percarbonate - bought in powder for and dissolved in very hot water which can then be cooled as necessary. Soak in this first and your cloths will be brilliant white after a normal - 30deg - wash.

If you wash at nearly boiling you shouldn’t need bleach.

I use Pooh bags to pick up the solid waste, then dispose of the litter (wood chips) in the compost bin. Bleach spray and hot soapy water to sterilise the tray with dedicated cloth ( washed after use) and kitchen paper to dry.

Soak in water and washing soda or laundry soap overnight, then either machine wash, or simply sterelise by scalding with boiling water.

I have two litter trays and fill the clean one, empty rhe used one fill it with soapy water, clean it with an old washing up brush, kept beside the litter tray, and air dry the cleaned tray.

I hoover all bits off first, back & front with my handheld Dyson (a godsend, imo) then throw them all in a bucket of very hot Ariel solution with a big swish of bleach to soak. Then I fish them out to spin & rinse in my washing machine. They come up lovely!

Goodness, no way would the cloths being going in washing machine. Remove all the bits, soak in laundry solution and wash by hand. Bleach if you feel the need or if you hope bleach will sterilise them but really do they need to be if only used specifically for pets.