Bleach alternatives June 19, 2007

A full 50% of the searches that lead people here have to do with bleach. I have a feeling there are people out there who are bothered by bleach (for health or ecological reasons) but don’t know how to clean without it. So, here are some suggestions. The main purposes for bleach are to whiten and disinfect. So here it is:

• To whiten stained spots on clothing: put some lemon juice on the spot, rub in a bit of salt, and leave it in the sun for an hour or two. It lifts the stain.
• To clean spills from health contaminants (raw meat or eggs in the kitchen, urine in the bathroom): Straight vinegar is a great disinfectant. I advise keeping a sponge with vinegar near your cutting boards for frequent use.
• To whiten laminate counter tops: Bon Ami – it’s a powder found at the grocery store in a canister – usually right next to Bar Keeper’s friend (which also works relatively well. But we prefer Bon Ami – it uses less elbow grease, and less elbow grease means more cleaning stamina!). We’ve removed coffee stains, raspberry, blueberry, and strawberry stains, and marks from the bottom of pots and pans.
• To disinfect:
  • Borax: buy it in the supermarket where they sell detergents – in my grocery store it’s next to the powdered dishwasher detergents. Borax is a powder and is safe to mix with virtually anything. Combine it with some vinegar, lemon juice, or just plain water to clean virtually anything. It’s completely harmless and safe to use. Gloves and ventilation not required (as opposed to bleach).
  • Vinegar: it disinfects, kills mold, bacteria, and germs. (As an aside: bleach does not kill mold – it just whitens it so you don’t see it. But bleach will leave living mold spores that will continue to grow.) Vinegar’s potency is released when combined with salt, so for a nice strong disinfectant add some salt to your vinegar, dilute with water if you’d like, and spray away. I just used it to clean the toilet seat in the bathroom where my little girl is potty-training. It works remarkably well.

Any more alternative uses you need for bleach? Let me know and I’ll fill you in!

Wart removal? June 19, 2007

I love checking my blog stats for how people got to this blog. Sometimes it makes me laugh, other times I come across truly worrisome search terms. Like one I found today – “kill warts with bleach.” Please be aware that bleach is meant to be used with gloves. It is an acute skin irritant, and while it may kill warts (I don’t know if this is true), it could also kill or burn any other skin it comes into contact with. In fact, my staunch advice is to get rid of your bleach. It’s too hazardous and doesn’t pack enough punch to make the dangers worthwhile. If you’re a die-hard bleach addict, do your family a favor and at least switch to non-chlorinated version. But my suggestion… rid your house of the all bleach and thank me later.

Instead, try duct tape. (No, really, I’m serious)  I saw an article about it posted in my pediatrician’s office this morning when we were there to discuss Little Man’s seizures (it’s been a weird week), and I googled it when I got home. Here’s the procedure (from CBS news):

In the study, patients wore duct tape over their warts for six days. Then they removed the tape, soaked the area in water and used an emery board or pumice stone to scrape the spot. The tape was reapplied the next morning. The treatment continued for a maximum of two months or until the wart went away.