I have an organic garden. That means a lot of weeds, bugs, and hence spiders. On a slope with irregular growing ivy and occasionally tall weeds, it's Halloween everyday. You can see spider webs covering the slope when the sun comes up, shining on the morning dew on the web.
Of course diluted dish washing liquid (for hand wash) is instant kill for spiders. I have yet to encounter bugs that cannot be killed by it.
I tried the soapy solution on the webs. Instantly the altered surface tension changed the entire structure of the web. It disappears because the fine fibres got bundled into larger strands. If you spray closer, you can dislodge the anchor points to totally destroy the web.
It's true there's easy ways to destroy the spider webs so my slope don't look like Halloween everyday. A pole or a rack will do nicely. But you may have delicate plants or surfaces that you don't want to disturb.
Once sprayed, the web will be useless and any spider in it killed. It will also kill other bugs, food for the web hunters. Hopefully they don't return. I'll let you know.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Homemade carpet cleaner so good that it remove stains
I have a so called carpet steam cleaner. It's too big too heavy and too troublesome to use. And it's not that good.
People put baking soda on their carpets to clean. People put vinegar solution on their carpets. Some people put both. The question is how good it is and how practical than carpet shampoo and steam cleaners.
After hand wash using microfiber cloth only, it's as good as oxiclean! And I tried at the heavy traffic area that looks almost black. Originally it's beige. We use to use oxiclean solution to remove stains. The problem is that it will create a light spot on the old carpet. After the baking soda and vinegar treatment, it's the same color as the oxiclean treated spot.
Now the practical process. Sprinkle baking soda all over the carpet. Work the power evenly with a brush, or use the electric brush of a steamer. Spray the carpet slightly wet with a solution of 1 part warm water and 1/4 part distilled vinegar. Then use a brush to clean like a shampoo, or use the electric brush. Work more on the stains. Wipe away wetness and lift the dirt with a microfiber cloth. I don't even have a brush so I did everything with a microfiber cloth. It doesn't look much when finished. But when it's completely dry after a while, it will look the same as treated by oxiclean.
I don't know what's the long term effect on the carpet. And you should try in a small area first. But our carpet is almost black and worn out at the high traffic area.
Baking soda is mildly alkaline and itself a good cleaner for grease and water stains on the bathroom. If you leave it on the carpet it will absorb odour. It is also an abrasive power but it's too fine and soluble to damage any surface.
Vinegar is mildly acidic, and a good cleaner to dissolve grease and water stain. You should dilute it because of the smell, and the cost if you buy it from the supermarket.
When they react, carbonic acid is first formed with heat giving out. I would think that provide extra cleaning effect. The carbonic acid should be stronger than vinegar and highly reactive. The carbonic acid will then disintegrate into water and carbon dioxide. What left is sodium acetate, a salt that is also used to replace salt and vinegar in fish and chips. A salt is like common salt, which is transparent but white when in power form. It will not turn into anything or change colour.
I use a microfiber cloth to lift the dirt because in repeated use, the microfiber cloth is less dirty than say cotton. If the cloth is not too dirty I rinse it once in water. Once a while I put it in the washing machine.
Update: It is always a mystery of using both baking soda and acid. Actually the reaction absorbs heat. When you combine both you neutralize each other. But many people swear they saw better results and so do I. Now my thinking is that the extra cleaning effect is not chemical, but physical. It's like you rub acid into hard to reach areas of the surface. And the fine baking soda powder do the rubbing.
People put baking soda on their carpets to clean. People put vinegar solution on their carpets. Some people put both. The question is how good it is and how practical than carpet shampoo and steam cleaners.
After hand wash using microfiber cloth only, it's as good as oxiclean! And I tried at the heavy traffic area that looks almost black. Originally it's beige. We use to use oxiclean solution to remove stains. The problem is that it will create a light spot on the old carpet. After the baking soda and vinegar treatment, it's the same color as the oxiclean treated spot.
Now the practical process. Sprinkle baking soda all over the carpet. Work the power evenly with a brush, or use the electric brush of a steamer. Spray the carpet slightly wet with a solution of 1 part warm water and 1/4 part distilled vinegar. Then use a brush to clean like a shampoo, or use the electric brush. Work more on the stains. Wipe away wetness and lift the dirt with a microfiber cloth. I don't even have a brush so I did everything with a microfiber cloth. It doesn't look much when finished. But when it's completely dry after a while, it will look the same as treated by oxiclean.
I don't know what's the long term effect on the carpet. And you should try in a small area first. But our carpet is almost black and worn out at the high traffic area.
Baking soda is mildly alkaline and itself a good cleaner for grease and water stains on the bathroom. If you leave it on the carpet it will absorb odour. It is also an abrasive power but it's too fine and soluble to damage any surface.
Vinegar is mildly acidic, and a good cleaner to dissolve grease and water stain. You should dilute it because of the smell, and the cost if you buy it from the supermarket.
When they react, carbonic acid is first formed with heat giving out. I would think that provide extra cleaning effect. The carbonic acid should be stronger than vinegar and highly reactive. The carbonic acid will then disintegrate into water and carbon dioxide. What left is sodium acetate, a salt that is also used to replace salt and vinegar in fish and chips. A salt is like common salt, which is transparent but white when in power form. It will not turn into anything or change colour.
I use a microfiber cloth to lift the dirt because in repeated use, the microfiber cloth is less dirty than say cotton. If the cloth is not too dirty I rinse it once in water. Once a while I put it in the washing machine.
Update: It is always a mystery of using both baking soda and acid. Actually the reaction absorbs heat. When you combine both you neutralize each other. But many people swear they saw better results and so do I. Now my thinking is that the extra cleaning effect is not chemical, but physical. It's like you rub acid into hard to reach areas of the surface. And the fine baking soda powder do the rubbing.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Super homemade glass cleaner
At last I found somebody have similar interest but with more time - Crunch Betty. This is the glass cleaner formula from her blog, well experimented in different ingredients.
1 cup hot water
1/8 cup vinegar
1/8 rubbing alcohol 70% isopropyl (first aid)
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
No matter how awesome baking soda is, it can't clean glass with streaking, and a lot of it.
This formula works without streaking. It's easy to make instantly. It cost very little. The result is perfect if your glass isn't too dirty, as in exterior windows.The vinegar smell goes away very soon, and smelling not as strong as my CLR biodegradable.
The best use of it is via a dry microfiber cloth. There is no lint. I wash them after use and they last a long time. But themselves aren't a green product.
For the outside window, you need some elbow grease if you clean them once a year. I don't know if other glass cleaners fairs better. But I can use baking soda first to rub out the stains, rinse the glass thoroughly, then the super glass cleaner.
Being professional, the problem is that her blog is full of other not so good stuff to make up the numbers. Do you want to make your own shampoo?
The reason I like this one is that I can safely use it around the kitchen windows without moving away the other things that may one day in touch with food or eating utensils.
A bad one for example, commonly found all over in other places, is use vinegar mixed with water for carpet cleaning. The mixture is half and half, making it quite expensive compared with carpet shampoo. One gal of carpet shampoo can be used many many times diluted. One gal of vinegar last a few times at most. And if you put that much vinegar on the carpet all over the place, the smell ...
1 cup hot water
1/8 cup vinegar
1/8 rubbing alcohol 70% isopropyl (first aid)
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
No matter how awesome baking soda is, it can't clean glass with streaking, and a lot of it.
This formula works without streaking. It's easy to make instantly. It cost very little. The result is perfect if your glass isn't too dirty, as in exterior windows.The vinegar smell goes away very soon, and smelling not as strong as my CLR biodegradable.
The best use of it is via a dry microfiber cloth. There is no lint. I wash them after use and they last a long time. But themselves aren't a green product.
For the outside window, you need some elbow grease if you clean them once a year. I don't know if other glass cleaners fairs better. But I can use baking soda first to rub out the stains, rinse the glass thoroughly, then the super glass cleaner.
Being professional, the problem is that her blog is full of other not so good stuff to make up the numbers. Do you want to make your own shampoo?
The reason I like this one is that I can safely use it around the kitchen windows without moving away the other things that may one day in touch with food or eating utensils.
A bad one for example, commonly found all over in other places, is use vinegar mixed with water for carpet cleaning. The mixture is half and half, making it quite expensive compared with carpet shampoo. One gal of carpet shampoo can be used many many times diluted. One gal of vinegar last a few times at most. And if you put that much vinegar on the carpet all over the place, the smell ...
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Baking soda should have put many cleaners out of business
As an acid, it's just too weak. So the acid I prefer is the strongest one easily found in stores, and biodegradable too. It smells because it's an organic acid, masked a little by natural fragrant I guess. It works well - water stains, sink, toilet bowls, faucets.
Because baking soda, sodium bicarbonate, is a weak alkaline, I don't even tried it to clean anything.
I just replaced my microwave hood combo. The grease buildup is terrible, over a period of over 10 years. My wife clean it everyday with detergent. I tried everything from time to time, but can't deal with the grease using my favourite acid, hydrogen dioxide, and alcohol.
I can reduce the grease buildup, but I'm afraid to deal with it. I can remove a bit on the surface but the grease become gluey on the surface and it's terrible to clean the cloth and brush afterwards. The same thing goes for the grease filter. I never can clean the thing thoroughly with whatever not so toxic chemical or cleaner I can find.
Out of desperation I searched the web again. This time I found baking soda. It was amazing. I know caustic would work but it would burn your skin too. I was amazed how a mild alkaline would work so effective. Now my over 10 year old kitchen is shinning white, blinding my eyes.
The grease buildup on the stove and oven range simply gone by wiping with a damp cloth sprinkled with baking soda. The plastic surface becomes a mirror. All the finger marks are gone. On the coated metal surface, even long ago baked in food residue are removed by repeated wiping with a scrounging pad for non-stick surfaces. If you never damaged the surface with tough brushes, your range will look brand new again. Black hardened grease stains around the outside of the oven are now gone. I may clean the inside of the door too. See the reflections on the range and contrasts to the grep metal parts that I haven't cleaned seriously for 5 years.
It works on the grill and bake racks and pans too. They are not turning brand new, but the accumulated stains are getting out rather than getting worse.
My wash pad got contaminated with baking soda, and now my heavily stained mug are losing it's stains. I didn't even tried to remove the stains.
I think the chemistry is that sodium bicarbonate reacts with grease to form soap, which is a cleaner of course. Soap is soft so you can just wipe it away.
Baking soda would not work on some surfaces such as wood. The resultant soap (or something else) got into the wood grains and stain it.
For wood the only think sensible thing is rubbing alcohol, which simply dissolves grease. Alcohol will work well on grease, but not as dramatic or cheap as baking soda, and not much on hardened grease stains.
Baking soda is a pretty good cleaner for kitchen tiles, and works on the grout somewhat. But hydrogen peroxide is the better whitener for grout, and you can combine them.
But much more use is written on the Arms and Hammer box. It's a shame that they don't market it as a miracle cleaner and put some in the cleaner aisles. And the cardboard box is laughable. Seriously how can you clean carrying a paper box around without a cap?!
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