Do I Need to Wash All My Clothes Because I Found a Few Hairs on a Load of Laundry?

Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

Question

I recently washed my clothes and found after washing that one of my shirts had about four or five cat hairs on it. This shirt has been washed multiple times before, and I haven’t gone near my cats in a while (after finding out that cat hair is najasa), so the hair must have been there from previous washes. Do I need to rewash all of my clothes again?

The cat hairs are small, and I spend too much time picking them out. I also find it hard to follow the Hanafi madhab, especially with prayer, because my family is Shafi`i.

Answer

Thank you for your question. May Allah reward you for being scrupulous about the purity of your clothing.

Excused Filth

In the link below, you will see that three hairs are the maximum number of hairs that are excused. More than this in the washing machine means that the clothes were not purified and must be washed again. Consider following the Hanafi school on this issue, even if temporarily.
Household Cats & Rulings Related to Purity and Filth

Please see the amount of excused hair here: Cat hair in the washing machine

May Allah give you the best of this world and the next.
[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria, for two years, where she studied aqidah, fiqh, tajweed, tafsir, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin and completed her Masters in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan, where she studied fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She later moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.