general purpose cleaning product

so years back, i started looking into some less harsh cleaning options.  we both really liked the cleaning products that seventh generation made, especially the thyme disinfecting spray for the bathroom.  i loved that it did not make me dizzy with fumes while cleaning, especially when i was pregnant.  i started using baking soda for some cleaning; it did a wonderful job at cleaning the oven, stovetop and cleaning our tea kettle.  i then started using white vinegar to clean.  it worked really well for our mirrors and glass and i didn't feel uneasy using it around the bebes.  and i thought that these things were doing a good job cleaning and disinfecting.

and then we all came down with norovirus.  and it was the worst.  and then i became slightly obsessed with learning what it is, how it spreads, how virulent it is, what to do if you get exposed, and how to do your best to prevent getting infected with this nasty virus.  partly because i was so traumatized by the experience, and partly because i was a little fascinated with how this hardy little virus has managed to evolve and develop such effective strategies to infect and replicate.  so in my quest, i came across this fabulous website called Stop the Stomach Flu that this PhD scientist and mother put together.  this is like my dream, since my degree is in biology.  i so want to be this lady's friend, haha, and do experiments with her.  anyway, i was interested in the content of the website, and all the information she has about norovirus but the best is the tests she puts together to find out what cleaning supplies actually disinfect most effectively and kill bacteria.  granted, she is just able to test these products based on their ability to kill general bacteria around the house and outside in the dirt, and has no way of knowing what kinds of bacteria they are and what kinds of viruses are included if any.  but to me, if a cleaning product can kill billions of bacteria, then it can probably kill viruses, too.  and she has also done her own research to find out which cleaners are advertised to kill norovirus.  if this is interesting to anyone besides me, i would recommend checking out her website.

anyway, her results show that a bleach solution, a hydrogen peroxide solution and undiluted essential oil called thieves are the most effective cleaning products, in that they prove to inhibit any growth of bacteria on the agar plates.  everything else either doesn't really kill the bacteria, or does an ok job.  you can check it out for yourself if you want, but my conclusion was that if i actually want to disinfect something then i need to use one of these three products. oh, and while the H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) killed the bacteria, the only one that is proven to kill norovirus is this one )

after our bout with norovirus, hubby bleached the hell out of the bathrooms and basically all hard surfaces in the kitchen and common areas.  he did that before i read the stomach flu website.  i did go through a brief breakup with bleach, but then we got back together after we moved into our house and i realized that nothing else gets the grimy stuff off of the bathrooms.  so we use it, but i seriously hate breathing in the fumes.  and i don't want the kids anywhere near it.  and it's annoying that it ruins fabrics.  there have been a few times that we have thrown a bleach solution soaked cleaning rag in the laundry basket full of-----OTHER LAUNDRY!  duh!  and then the clothes in the basket get bleach stains.

ok, so to end this super long post about cleaning products, i concluded that we will use a bleach solution on the bathrooms, because-poo, and i generally wipe things down in the kitchen with a vinegar/water solution but when i want to disinfect something in the kitchen, or something that i don't want to put bleach on, i use hydrogen peroxide.  and i have been using it to clean out my kitchen sink and counter tops every night at the end of the night.  oh, and i added a few drops of lemongrass essential oil to the spray bottle so it smells amazing, too.  love it----smells great, disinfects, and doesn't kill my lungs.  although, because it is an oxidizing agent, i always use gloves when cleaning with it.

oh and i did want to share a quick cleaning miracle using H2O2.  we had an incident with my beloved le creuset cast enamel dutch oven.  basically, dinner got burned and the bottom of my le creuset was one big sheet of thick black carbon-rice.  sad.  we soaked it for days.  we scrubbed it.  i used my usual go-to, a paste of baking soda and water and scrubbed to no avail.  i applied this soda/water paste and boiled it.  i mixed it with vinegar.  nothing worked.  so i went onto pinterest and there was the miracle solution.  so i poured about an inch of H2O2 into the le creuset and added 2 T of baking soda and boiled it for about 30 minutes and then let it soak for another 15 minutes.  and then like magic, i was able to scrape all of the burned rice off the bottom of my beloved and although there are a few more dark spots on the le creuset, it's back to normal.

so, if you'd like to use a cleaning agent that kills bacteria, and viruses and doesn't leave horrible fumes and is relatively cheap, then i would suggest hydrogen peroxide!!!

oh and FYI: because H2O2 is unstable, you have to keep it in the dark bottle that it comes in.  if you mix it in a light bottle, or leave the bottle top open, it reacts and then turns into oxygen gas and water and doesn't serve its original purpose.  also, don't swallow it.