It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Hydrogen Peroxide?!

Cleaning is a dangerous activity. This was brought home to me once again last Thursday when I attempted to vacuum the stairs and got whacked in the head by the vacuum cleaner. I parked the vacuum at the top of the stairs and used the hose attachment to vacuum all the nooks and crannies, completely forgetting that the hose was attached to the vacuum and had a limited range. You can imagine the rest. One side of my head is still swollen. More proof that I really shouldn’t be cleaning – much too dangerous.

But if you feel the need to clean, let me tell you about the other bottle you should have in your cleaning closet right next to your spray bottle of vinegar (see post from March 16, 2009 The Virtues of Vinegar). Hydrogen Peroxide is cheap (I think it’s just a buck a bottle these days), safe for the environment, and as effective as bleach in killing germs, making it a superhero in the battle against bacteria. The form of Hydrogen Peroxide we’re talking about here is 3%. There are some higher percentage formulas out there on the market, but don’t mess with those – the 35% solution sold to some commercial operations can be highly corrosive and fatal if ingested, so stick with 3%. That’s enough power for what we want to do.

A friend forwarded an e-mail with information about some great ways to use hydrogen peroxide and it had a few uses that were new to me. That piqued my curiosity, so I did a little more research and came up with this expansive list below. I checked www.snopes.com to make sure all the information on the forwarded e-mail was on the up and up. A few uses were questionable – mostly in regards to using it on your body to treat cuts or foot fungus. The danger here is that hp might kill off the good cells too and slow the healing process. Doctor’s also warn that hp can irritate skin, so use caution. I do have to add that until my dear EMT friend told me (only a year ago) it wasn’t a good idea, I used hp on my children’s cuts and scrapes to kill germs. It doesn’t sting and it has this cool bubbling action. I’ve also used it on horses to clean puncture wounds to no ill effect. Luckily, both the children and the horses seem to have survived my ignorance. But as a cleaning agent – the rumors were true – peroxide is a superhero.

So what’s in it? How well did you remember high school chemistry? Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is water with an extra oxygen molecule. So when it breaks down it breaks down in to water and oxygen – that’s what makes it much safer for your home and the environment than bleach. H2O2 is created naturally in plant and animal cells and forms in the environment by sunlight acting on the water.

Which brings me to a very important point - be sure to keep your hydrogen peroxide in the brown bottle it comes in. Light will destroy its power (I told you it was a superhero!?). I just remove the spray nozzle from a generic plastic spray bottle and swap caps with the hydrogen peroxide bottle. I use the other one to store smaller amounts of vinegar for cleaning.

Here are some great uses for Hydrogen Peroxide in the home:

1. Use as a vegetable/fruit wash – kills bacteria and leaves no taste. A 2003 study showed it is effective against E Coli.

2. Soak your toothbrushes in a cup of hp to kill germs (it’s a good idea to do this anytime you’ve been sick or had a cold). It doesn’t need to soak long, the hp won’t be very effective after it’s been exposed to the light and air anyway, but a good swish or two should do the trick.

3. Clean your counters, table tops, cutting boards, and other surfaces with hp to kill germs, including salmonella and other bacteria.

4. Spray the 50/50 on wet hair after you get out of the shower to bring out highlights and gradually lighten hair.

5. Use hp to clean bathroom sinks, toilets, showers, floors. It’s safe for septic systems (unlike bleach and many of the cleansers on the market today).

6. Use as a mouthwash. Take one capful and swirl it around your mouth and spit it out. Also heals/prevents canker sores. If you’ve got a toothache, the hp will ease your pain too. Be careful here, though, because you should not swallow hp, the FDA has warned against ingesting it. I don’t think it’s fatal, at least in the small amount in a capful, but it’s not good for you either. I wouldn’t try this with kids.

7. I hope you never need this one: Put half a bottle of peroxide in your bath to help rid boils, fungus, or other skin infections.

8. I’m planning to try this one: Add a cup of peroxide instead of bleach
to a load of whites in your laundry to whiten them.

9. Use hp to clean mirrors and windows.

10. Use hp to kill mold.

11. Remove yellowing from lace curtains or tablecloths - fill a sink with cold water and a 2 cups of 3% hydrogen peroxide. Soak for at least an hour, rinse in cold water and air dry.

12. Make whitening toothpaste by mixing baking soda and enough hp to form a paste. This will taste nasty, so you have to be seriously motivated to use it. I think you’re better off springing $3.95 for a store-bought version – but you do what works for you.

One word of caution - the thing to remember is that hydrogen peroxide works like bleach, so be careful when using it the first time on fabric or painted surfaces, it might remove the color. I came across some pretty spooky stuff about hydrogen peroxide curing cancer and other serious ailments, but none of that information is founded on anything real, so just like I tell my kids – don’t believe everything you read. Except this – hydrogen peroxide is a super hero when it comes to killing germs.

More Eco-friendly Cleaning Ideas

My husband and I are in the midst of a huge project. We’re building a deck and screened in porch. It seemed like a great idea on paper and in my mind’s eye, but it’s bigger than the both of us. It’s so big that after a week of full time work, we had to call in some reinforcements in the person of Nick’s best childhood friend. I’ve been sidelined for the time being as the two of them carefully construct a roof that is several stories off the ground. That’s fine with me, but my excuse for the mess inside the house is gone. Back to cleaning, or as it is, digging out.

Two of my favorite cleaners are vinegar and baking soda. They both have different purposes, but sometimes I get a little over the top in my cleaning efforts and I’ve combined their forces. Recently I learned that’s not such a good idea. It renders them both ineffective. Vinegar is an acid and baking soda is alkaline, so the ingredients neutralize each other. Not that I would have remembered any of those terms from my high school chemistry class. I found this information in an old issue of Body & Soul magazine.

The article suggested dissolving 1 teaspoon of baking soda in hot water in a clean spray bottle and adding a squirt of castile soap. This spray makes a potent, all-purpose cleanser for baseboards, tabletops, and other hard surfaces and it will last several months.

I like to use vinegar and water to clean windows and mirrors, but when I share this advice with others, I’ve been told it leaves streaks. Turns out the streaks are not from the vinegar, they’re from build up created by commercial window cleaners. To get rid of the residue, add a dab of liquid castile soap to ¼ cup vinegar and 1 cup water in a clean spray bottle. After you rid your windows of the buildup you can go back to vinegar and water for regular cleaning. The article also mentioned that the residue left by commercial cleaners may contain 2-Butoxyethanol, a suspected hormone disrupter that could cause developmental and reproductive problems. Just one more reason to get rid of the commercial cleaning agents.

I leafed through some of my old notes from my early days of cleaning organically and found a couple helpful things –

1. Hydrogen peroxide is good for bathroom mold. Leave it on for an hour to let it eat away at the mold and do its job and then wipe it off.
2. If the vinegar smell bothers you, you can mix it with natural oils such as lavender or lemon.
3. Tea cleans hardwood floors and woodwork. (I’d forgotten this one and have never tried it, but I plan to.)
4. Baking soda is great for cleaning electric ovens.
5. Borax works well on walls and floors and for any general purpose cleaning job.
6. Sprinkle baking soda on carpet, let sit 15 minutes and then vacuum to freshen carpet.
7. “Grubby corners – Mix hydrogen peroxide with baking soda, let sit for one hour, spray out.” (I’m guessing that this note refers to bathroom tub corners, but I suppose it would work on any corner. I’m also guessing that you “spray out” with water. It seemed important at the time.)

Tomorrow me and my impact drill are needed back on the job site, thank goodness. So I’ll be off the hook again on the cleaning. Meanwhile, I’m going to look for some grubby corners. If you’ve got any great cleaning tips, please let me know. I’m always looking for ways to do things better, cheaper, and easier.