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I just did a phone interview with my Pilates studio, The Fit Lounge, and wanted to follow up with a blog post on the information we talked about! We are sharing three household items that disinfect plus important tips on using them properly.

If you have followed Chemistry Cachet for a while, then you are very familiar with these items!

The current climate in our world has made household cleaners harder to find. In fact, the past month, my local store has had zero store-bought cleaners available.

Store-bought cleaners that disinfect have been tested for years, and they are able to test how well they disinfect in labs. This is why they are so hard to find right now.

People want cleaners that kill virus and bacteria strands!

These three household items you might have on hand, but let’s discuss a little further on proper usage.

Three Household Items That Disinfect Plus Using Them Properly

I briefly mentioned this post we are sharing on Instagram stories, and had so many messages about it!

Cleaning Vs Disinfecting

Before we start on this post, I want to clear up a few things about cleaning and disinfecting. There is a difference between the two. When you are making homemade cleaners at home, you want to create something that cleans well. Homemade cleaners lack buffers and stabilizers, so you have to mix things up properly in order to make something safe for surfaces. On Chemistry Cachet, we mix things like rubbing alcohol and water because it cleans so good, but it is also SAFE for surfaces. You can talk with anyone who has followed us for awhile, and they love how well our cleaners clean. 

What is cleaning?

The definition of cleaning is “make (something or someone) free of dirt, marks, or mess, especially by washing, wiping, or brushing.” Homemade cleaners do EXACTLY this. Like homemade Clorox wipes or homemade all-purpose spray. The benefit of this DIY cleaning solutions is affordability, convenience, eliminating unnecessary chemicals, or limiting certain chemicals. 

You can see all the pros to homemade cleaning solutions, but there are some cons. As we mentioned, they do not contain buffers or stabilizers, so you have to make a mild solution. These types of cleaners mix water with rubbing alcohol (or other substances), so it isn’t as harsh on surfaces. You cannot test disinfecting qualities of homemade solutions because people don’t have access to laboratories in their kitchens nor do they have access to cold and flu strands to test. You can test out things like food contamination (salmonella), but not viral strands. We know things like pure rubbing alcohol are labeled as disinfectants, but using PURE rubbing alcohol (meaning not diluting it), can be too hard for everyday cleaning on surfaces. It can remove finishes, paint, etc. So, this is why for everyday homemade cleaners, it must be diluted.

With a global pandemic going on, we need to talk about disinfecting as well as you can. Let’s go right into disinfecting.

What is disinfecting?

Let’s go right to the CDC for this definition because they are the governing authority in the United States and we need to follow their guidelines. The CDC says disinfecting ” describes a process that eliminates many or all pathogenic microorganisms, except bacterial spores, on inanimate objects.”

Page 24 of this great document from the EPA says that cleaning needs to be done before disinfecting (which we talk about in our germ post here). Page 25 of this document goes into a fantastic definition “disinfecting uses chemicals to kill 99.999% of germs on hard, non-porous surfaces or objects.” I urge everyone to read page 25 because it shares very important topics on disinfecting! Here is a summary:

• Disinfecting does not necessarily clean dirty surfaces or remove germs.
• Disinfecting  kills germs on contact after the surface has been cleaned ;only works on hard, nonporous surfaces.
• Carpets and upholstery and other porous surfaces cannot be sanitized or disinfected
  with a chemical product.
• It is temporary!

As you can see, this is why we create homemade cleaners the way we do! For things to be safe, easy to use, and clean surfaces well. 

With this pandemic, we need to talk about disinfecting a little further. It is funny how society has changed in a few short months. People were coming to Chemistry Cachet for cleaning tips, now they are begging for more ways to disinfect. Store-bought cleaners are almost impossible to find at the moment, so we want to share with you alternative disinfectants to use.

These tips are undeniable, backed by science, and have decades of research behind them. If you notice, Chemistry Cachet has always referenced the CDC over the years because they set the guidelines in our country, but they also have the ability to research and test things. In addition to the CDC, many scientific research has been done on all the information below. We have talked about it for years, but you can find so much information about it online. 

We need to be using these probably, so let’s get started. 

1. Rubbing Alcohol

There are two main types of alcohol you might have at home right now. Rubbing alcohol and drinking alcohol. We are going to talk about each one in-depth.

Rubbing alcohol is your best choice for disinfecting. It is a very stable solution, but it is also very effective at killing viral and bacterial strands. Also, please note, we are only adding in drinking alcohol to this post because rubbing alcohol is currently impossible to find. It should NOT be your first choice. You can read the number 2 section for more information, but let’s discuss rubbing alcohol. 

What percentage of alcohol will kill germs best?

70% is your best choice if you are using it straight. Spraying a surface with 70% rubbing alcohol is the best way to disinfect. This percent of alcohol is optimum for killing germs because it penetrates the cell wall best. Anything higher in percentage, like 91%, is too large of a molecule to penetrate the cell walls. Yes, you can mix it with water to dilute it, but it is very hard to dilute it properly for disinfecting (this does not apply to cleaning). Another draw back to higher percentages of alcohol is the evaporation factor. It will evaporate quickly. So, keep this in mind. 70% is your best choice for disinfecting. If you have 50% rubbing alcohol, it doesn’t meet the standards required for proper disinfecting. 

I know this question will come up, so I want to include it now. All of our homemade cleaners are fantastic to use. Many of them use rubbing alcohol, and we have tested them to clean great. Since these are homemade cleaners, there is no way to test them in a lab to see what kills germs. So, use the two step method for disinfecting. Don’t miss the first paragraph of this article on important details on disinfecting. I have utilized a two step method for disinfecting for many years on commonly touched surfaces (door knobs, handles, faucets).

You can read this post for more details on how we do this, but basically you spray the surface with 70% rubbing alcohol. Allow it to sit for a 5-10 minutes (make sure surface is wet). Wipe off with a paper towel or microfiber cloth, but be careful of cross contamination. So one wipe per surface. The CDC also recommends this very method for cleaning.

Does rubbing alcohol harm surfaces?

This question has been asked dozens of times this month from readers. One of the reasons ALL of our homemade cleaners are diluted with water is so they are safe for all surfaces. Rubbing alcohol used straight is strong, and it probably isn’t best for painted or sealed surfaces. With that being said, I have never had an issue using straight rubbing alcohol to disinfect surfaces after using a homemade cleaner. With everyone concerned about the pandemic, I think it is best to do everything you can to disinfect. To be safe, always test a small area first. 

What if I can’t find rubbing alcohol?

Okay, this is another highly asked question these days. Rubbing alcohol has been very hard to find. It is slowly coming back in stock in our stores, but still hard to find.

This brings us to number 2 of this article.

2. Drinking Alcohol.

Yes, you can use drinking alcohol if that is all you can find. Here are some important things to keep in mind about ethanol like vodka or Everclear.

It must be 120 proof at least. This makes it 60% alcohol. Ethanol is also a water loving molecule, while still having hydrophobic properties. So, if you leave the bottle open too long, it can soak up water making it not the right amount of alcohol percent. This doesn’t always happen, but it is more likely to happen with this type of solution. Here is some more chemistry on this if you would like to read it.

I don’t like cleaning with drinking alcohol as we discussed in this post, but right now, you can use it if it is all you can find! Just follow the same method and information under the rubbing alcohol disinfecting steps. Only use this if you can’t find rubbing alcohol! There are many distilleries creating things like hand sanitizer right now, you can double check any products they are creating to make sure the label says 60% alcohol or more. 

Next items on the list is hydrogen peroxide.

3. Hydrogen Peroxide

You might have this in your house now! I use it around the house all the time in a few ways.

There are also three types of hydrogen peroxide available for home use. I am not including special hydrogen peroxide solutions made for commercial use.

The first type is regular 3% hydrogen peroxide you find in the first aide section. Spraying a surface with this and wiping works similar to what we talked about earlier with rubbing alcohol. Follow the same guidelines we discuss in the alcohol section.

Another option is something called food grade hydrogen peroxide. It is food grade because it doesn’t contain the stabilizers the other type does, so you can clean your food with it! I highly recommend having a bottle of this on hand for a safe disinfecting option. You can wipe off kids toys with it too. Be sure to check out this post on hydrogen peroxide with all the details. I buy the 3% from Amazon, but they are out of stock! You can use this type which is 12%,  You will need to dilute a 12% solution like this: 1 part 12% food grade hydrogen peroxide to 3 parts water.

The last type of hydrogen peroxide to use at home is a powdered peroxide called sodium percarbonate. I love this stuff! I use it in laundry for things like this, but you can also whip up a cleaner with it. Just dilute it with water. Head over to this great PDF from Chemistry Store to learn about diluting it for cleaning and safety.  I purchased this product from Amazon here, but as I write this post, it is out of stock… You can also find it here. If this is out of stock as you read the post, let me know! I will find more in stock.

The downside to hydrogen peroxide I don’t see many websites mention is it does breakdown quickly. It is stored in dark bottles because light and air will break it down. So, you wouldn’t want to mix something up to have for a long period of time. It doesn’t do well in things like hand sanitizers. Mix up small batches to use at one time. Don’t open a bottle of peroxide until you want to use it, and you can test if it still works by its fizziness. Pour some peroxide into a sink, if it fizzes, then it is still good to use.

One Last Thing, Disinfecting Might Not be 100% Effective 

I want to add in something to make sure you are aware of this. Disinfecting your home is not always 100% effective. There are many factors that come into play including environment, surface type, or even user error. We always recommend regular cleaning, making sure your home is functioning properly with air intake (like air filters), and also good hygiene. This means using soap and water to wash hands, washing hair, washing clothes. Also, taking care of your health. Everything works together to create the best environment possible for your family. Do the best you can with what you are able to find right now!

Remember to follow CDC guidelines. They change all the time because they are continuing to learn and test things. All of these items we mention today we have talked about for years on chemistry cachet, they are proven scientific facts to help you stay safe.

Be sure to check out this post for more ways to keep germs out of your home.