Cleaners and Detergents FAQ v3
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Contents:
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Detergents and soaps
Solvents
Oils
Abrasives
bleaches
spray and wipe cleaners
Limescale removers
specialist cleaners
alkalis
Water cleaners
Stains
Less likely candidates
More information
Detergents and soaps
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Cheapo washing up liquid: probably the fastest detergent, but the least
powerful. Removes most things, very quickly. 15p/litre. It is simply
liquid soap. Dries skin.
Will wash clothes in 2 minutes in cold water, but can not remove
everything, so not recommended for continued use.
Its speed makes it useful for washing carpets, where it saves much
labour.
Liquid soaps: Almost all products sold as liquid soaps are really a
detergent called sodium lauryl ethyl sulphate, aka sodium laureth
sulphate. This is a nearly universal low cost human cleaning detergent.
It is very mildly irritant, mildly skin drying, very cheap to make, and
although not currently receiving much publicity, there have been
concerns about its toxicity. Nearly all commercial skin washes and
shampoos contain it, regardless of price, brand, marketing, etc. Such
products are not well suited to general cleaning since they contain
oils and fats, and are a relatively high price per litre.
Quality washing up liquids: much better to skin than the cheapie ones,
remove more types of dirt. But not as fast acting as the low cost soap
type.
Ecover washing up liquid: much better on skin than other washing
liquids. Can strip some household paints. Non toxic.
Can also be used as body wash and shampoo: mix a very little vegetable
oil in for drier skin and hair. Palm oil and castor oil are favoured
for hair. (Engine oil is superb on hair, as many mechanics have found,
but not advisable due to possible toxicity. Engine oils were once
castor oil, so there is some similarity between the 2.)
Washing powder: more powerful than washing liquids, effective
degreasing with hot water. Alkaline. More drying and irritant to skin
than any washing up liquid. Biological powders also contain enzymes to
improve their cleaning action at 40C, but the enzymes stop working at
hotter temps. Most contain various additives such as optical
brighteners etc, and powdered cardboard filler. An overnight soak with
bio powder can remove a wide range of stains and organic materials, so
is a good first line of treatment for unknown stains.
Washing powder tablets: take time to dissolve, thus give less cleaning
time than powders. Also some brands fail to dissolve in time, giving
poor washes, and clothes with a residue of washing powder, which can
irritate skin.
Dishwasher detergent, powders and tablets: most powerful detergent,
alkaline, requires hot water to work, the most irritant detergent to
skin. Skin contact best avoided.
Dishwasher detergent, liquid: I know nowt about em.
Wonder / miracle / magic cleaners / stain removers: ordinary detergents
sold at steep prices. Stain removers designed for a limited range of
stains are a different thing to these general purpose wonder bars.
Soap bars: Soap intended for skin cleaning is normally superfatted,
meaning it contains free fat. This makes it poorly suited to general
household cleaning, and so outside the scope of this FAQ.
In poorer countries a wider variety of soaps are found, with bars for
household cleaning, shampooing, laundry etc, but these are not so often
seen in Britain. If you want to find them, look for them at Indian
supermarkets. They are often sold in big bars a foot or so long, and
you slice off a new soap bar when you need one. The colours indicate
which type of soap it is. They make very economical cleaners, but are
not widely available, not widely used, and better cleaning products are
now available.
Soaps may be used for cleaning gold and silver jewellery.
Sugar soap: A soap, it has nothing to do with sugar, and is definitely
not edible. Used primarily to clean paintwork, as traces of this soap
don't affect houseold paints. Other soaps may be used instead so long
as theyre rinsed off properly.
Washing painted walls is often an effective way to rejuvenate them and
avoid the need to repaint. Little paint chips can be filled in with
fresh paint of the same or very slightly duller colour. It is important
not to use a brighter shade, nor to let new paint overlap the edges of
the chipped area at all. This method can often make a tatty wall look
good again in 60-90 minutes.
Best detergents for general use: if we must pick one for all uses, it
would have to be a mixture of cheap soap washing up liquid and
biological washing powder. This mix gives both speed and thoroughness,
as well as a wide array of stain removers all in one.
Solvents
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Many solvents are volatile, flammable, explosive, toxic, melt plastics,
and/or act as drugs. Ensure good ventilation.
White spirit: aka turps substitute. Petroleum distillates. Slow to
evaporate. Dissolves un-set oil based (gloss) paints and uncured epoxy
resin.
Lifts dried on self adhesive labels: wet the label with it and wait a
few minutes, then peel off and wipe the residue away with a rag wetted
with white spirit.
Safe on most plastics, but denature latex rubber gloves.
1,1,1 trichloroethylene: aka spot dry cleaner, tippex thinner. No
longer sold, but still in many cupboards. Adequate ventilation
essential. Never place dry cleaned goods in a closed car.
Alcohol: degreaser. Aka surgical spirit, rubbing alcohol, methylated
spirits, ethanol, ethyl alcohol. Meths leaves purple dye residue behind
after it evaporates. Removes fresh ballpoint ink.
Isopropyl alcohol: aka isopropanol. Almost identical properties to
alcohol. Screen wash, head cleaner.
Paraffin: very slow to evaporate, repels insects, dissolves oils. One
of the safer solvents. Good for degreasing vehicle underneaths and
engine compartments. Apply with a brush, brush off. Where its
flammabilitiy is a problem, clean up afterwards with soap and hot
water, or a pressure washer. Lamp oil is a lower odour form of
paraffin.
Diesel: Vehicle and parts degreaser similar to paraffin. One of the
least flammable petrochemicals: a naked flame will usually not light
it.
Acetone, aka nail varnish remover: dissolves polyurethane (squirt can)
foam. Dissolves perspex and can be used to solvent weld it. Nail
varnish may contain other ingredients.
Cellulose thinners: a powerful mix of solvents, often used when other
solvents have failed. Removes tar.
Nitromethane: aka cyanoacrylate debonder, dissolves superglue
Nitromors: Methylene chloride, paint and varnish stripper. Produces
fumes
Turpentine and turps substitute: gloss/eggshell/oil paint solvents.
Turps substitute is white spirit.
Petrol: flammable, explosive, fumes can produce intense headaches. Not
recommended for indoor use.
Lighter fluid: petroleum distillates again. More volatile than
paraffin, diesel or white spirit. Removes many glues. In common with
most petrochemicals, the vapour can form an explosive mixture with air,
so it should only be used in very small quantities, with ventilation,
and cotton buds etc with it on should be disposed of outside, not
indoors.
Orange oil: aka limonene, Sticky stuff remover. A solvent oil.
Carbon tetrachloride: powerful general purpose solvent, narcotic, now
banned from domestic use due to toxicity.
Pipe weld solvent:
Oils
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Penetrating oil: oil and solvent mix, helps to free rusted parts,
dissolves oils and greases, leaves an oil film behind which attracts
dirt. Penetrating oils make second rate lubricants.
WD40: a penetrating oil mix, repels water.
Olbas oil: a solvent plant oil mixture. removes ballpoint ink, paint,
varnish, wax. Available from superdrug, boots, supemarkets etc. Strong
but pleasant smell.
To remove ballpoint ink, apply the oil to a cotton bud and wipe the
stain with it.
Clove oil: strips paint, irritant, use diluted with oil or soap and
water. Available from superdrug, boots etc. Similar actions to olbas
oil.
Abrasives
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- plastic scouring pads
- metal scourers
- Ajax: abrasive powder and bleach, once popular as toilet cleaner
- bath brick: strong abrasive suited only to unfinished cast iron. Not
often used.
- sand: ditto. Also sand blasting strips paint and rust
- melamine sponge, aka flash cleaning block:
- wire wool pads: suited only to unfinished cast iron, damages all
modern surfaces and finishes. Effective rust remover for cutlery, but
will scratch and mark the metal. Causes metal splinters.
- scrapers and razor blades: simple mechanical cleaners mostly used on
glass. Can permanently mark the glass. Do not use on toughened glass.
- brass wire brush: for cleaning suede and soiled clothes. Causes
damage with just one use, so use as little as possible.
- pumice: used for removing hard skin and cleaning obstinate marks from
skin. It does this by scraping the skin surface. This tends to promote
the formation of thick hard skin. It is perhaps ironic that this is
what it is mainly used to treat.
- metal balls: used to clean inaccessible places, eg very narrow necked
vases etc. Insert balls and cleaning liquid, whizz them around, and
remove balls. More versatile than bottle brushes, but less effective.
Bleaches:
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Bleaches sterilise and remove the dirt's colour, but don't remove the
dirt. The remaining bleached dirt acts as a lodging place for more
dirt, hence items cleaned only with bleach get dirty quickly. Bleaches
are useful when all other attempts to remove the dirt have failed.
Chlorine bleach: the most common household bleach. Irritant to lungs,
exacerbates asthma. Contact with acids releases toxic chlorine gas
(chlorine was much used for chemical warfare in WW1). Discolours and
damages many fabrics, particularly natural fabrics and natural dyes. A
mild environmental toxin. Kills bacteria and moulds.
Thick bleach is not a stronger bleach mix, it is bleach plus detergent.
You can thus make it yourself for a fraction the cost, but only if you
know which detergents are safe with bleach and which are not. I use the
cheapie washing up liquid with it if I ever want thick bleach, but
there is no guarantee against an acid formula being sold in future, so
I cannot assure you of its safety in every case.
If you ever encounter unpleasant or choking fumes from bleach, leave
the building immediately. Do not wait to work out what happened, people
have died that way.
Oxygen bleach: aka hydrogen peroxide, avoids all the downsides of
chlorine bleaches, and does not discolour fabrics. Oxygen bleach can be
used in laundry. Not as powerful as chlorine bleach, and not such an
effective antibacterial.
Sun and soap: soaping clothes and hanging them in sunlight while wet
can bleach discolouration not removed by chlorine or oxygen bleaches.
It is a slower process, taking many hours. The clothes should be kept
wet or damp. The uv in sunlight also has a sterilising effect.
Spray and wipe cleaners:
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Quick and easy hard surface cleaners. Produce noxious fumes. Contain
ammonia.
Limescale removers:
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Limescale removers are all acids. Many are potentially dangerous and
should be treated with some care. Many will attack metals, skin, cloth,
and so on. They are here listed from weakest to strongest. The first 2
are safe to handle, and eat if pure, but the others are not, and skin
should be rinsed if contact occurs. Never use acids and bleach
together, as toxic chlorine gas is produced.
Citric acid: weak limescale remover. Requires hot water, preferably
boiling, and long immersion time. Only effective on thin layers of
scale. A common food additive. Available from any chemist, typically at
a fraction of the price of brand name supermarket descalers.
Multipurpose appliance descalers are normally citric acid, since its
safe on such a wide range of materials. Citric is also used for washing
machine descaling, but is not altogether effective.
Vinegar: good for minor descaling of taps. Restores shine. Heat the tap
first with boiling water. Wash any remaining vinegar off after the job
is done. Distilled vinegar is stronger than wine and cider vinegars.
Phosphoric acid: used in some acid products.
Sulphamic acid: the most popular acid in limescale removing toilet
cleaners.
Sulphuric acid: stronger than sulphamic but costs more.
Hydrochloric acid: powerful and fast. Stomach acid is 0.2-0.3%
hydrochloric acid, and can digest a wide range of substances. Avoid
contact with skin, eyes, metal, mortars, lime paints, and tile grout.
One of the higher risk cleaners, follow instructions with care.
Effective at removing scale / watermarks from glass, but care must be
taken to keep it off the metal, wood etc. This can be done by using
toilet cleaner, which is thickened, and wiping it on the glass very
thinly, as just a smear, and washing off well afterwards.
Specialist cleaners
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- wax based paint cleaners etc
- Brick acid: aka patio cleaner. Hydrochloric acid cleaner/etcher for
concrete and brick. Eats concrete and mortar, damages a brick's
fireskin, very fast toilet limescale remover, dangerous to skin and
eyes.
- oxalic acid, also sold as patio cleaner: non-etching concrete and
brick cleaner. Toxic. Less powerful than the acid type, but does not
damage the items being cleaned. Toxic residues should be washed away
with plenty of water.
- fuller's earth: dry powder sometimes used to clean very delicate
items such as baby animal skin gloves. It is a dry absorbent. Some
brands of cat litter are fuller's earth.
- Jizer - dissolves greasy engine deposits, can then be washed off with
water.
- vinegar: cleans and resurfaces copper by etching the surface off,
leaving fresh clean copper.
The liquid runoff is toxic if eaten. Diluted vinegar is also an old
favourite for cleaning
glass, best applied with newspaper rather than cloth.
- saliva: still the best cleaner for fine art oil paintings, but not
available in litre bottles
- ammonia: used for cleaning jewellery
- Autoglym glass cleaner: one of the best commercial glass cleaner
preparations, but pricey.
From car accessory shops.
- jewellery dips
- Brasso
- Silvo: converts tarnished silver back to silver.
- stain devils for ballpoint ink: I had no result with it at all. Olbas
oil was quick and effective. Stain devil not recommended.
- Coke: coca cola and pepsi contain dilute phosphoric acid, which will
clean.... what?
Milk: cleans leather
Hartshorn powder: used to clean silver plate. Wipe a hartshorn and
water paste onto the silver, allow to dry, and brush off. Alcohol in
the paste will help to remove tarnish.
Alkalis
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The stronger alkalis can cause serious eye injury. The damage takes
time to occur, so may not prompt a person to seek medical assistance.
In the worst cases blindness can result. Use eye protection. Do not mix
alkalis with acids, rapid reactions may occur, spitting acid or alkali.
- caustic soda: strong alkali, cleans ovens, unblocks drains. Toxic,
irritant, can cause serious eye injury. One of the high risk cleaners,
follow instructions with care.
It is important to add crystals to water gradually, and never the other
way round. Use rubber gloves, plastic apron, goggles. Again proprietary
stuff with added 'cling' is probably more effective.
- washing soda: degreases when used with boiling water. For clothes and
drain unblocking. The majority of drain blockages are mostly solidified
fat. Discolours aluminium.
- sodium bicarbonate, aka baking soda - a mild safe alkali, with many
uses:
For brushing teeth
Removes tea and coffee stains
Reduces laundry odour: add to final rinse
Removes black scuff marks from floors
Cleans fibreglass baths
Freshens sour dishcloths: soak in water and bicarb
Deodorises laundry awaiting washing: sprinkle in the basket.
Removes crayon marks: use a brush and soda paste.
Water cleaners:
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Pressure washers: The pressure of these can sometimes be enough to go
through skin.
Effective on very hardy materials eg concrete or brick paths. Can
damage brickwork when used repeatedly. Can remove paint in some cases.
Good for cleaning undersides of cars etc, as long as excessive pressure
is avoided. The one caveat is that water on brake pads makes them not
work. (I once got water on all 4 at once: thankfully I never got out of
the car park!)
Pressure washer FAQ link.
Steam cleaners: Effective at removing some types of dirt, ineffective
for many as well. Useful for some jobs, but not for general purpose
cleaning. Heat damages some materials, minor risk of burn injuries.
Removes nicotine, wallpaper, grease,
Small marks can be steam cleaned with a kettle or pan of water. Beware,
steam burns badly.
Lance: A lance on the end of a hose can remove a lot of dirt from
paths, drives, patios, cars etc. However performance does not compare
to pressure washers, which boost the water pressure considerably.
Stains:
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Firstly the general purpose stain removers:
Washing powder: the most versatile stain remover is biological washing
powder. Soak the stain overnight.
Bleach: will remove many stains, but discolours and rots natural
fabrics and dyes.
Dry cleaning solvents: will remove many stains from most fabrics and
hard surfaces
Cellulose thinners: dissolve many things - might dissolve what youre
trying to clean though
Ballpoint pen ink:
- alcohol
- olbas oil
Blood:
- soak in biological washing powder in cold water (I think! not sure)
Chewing gum on carpet:
- fill a bag with ice cubes, add a tablespoon of salt, and use the bag
to freeze the gum.
The gum will now break apart.
Cup ring marks:
- clean with bio washing powder
Egg:
- always use cold water to wash egg off, heat will set it in place.
Epoxy resin
- white spirit
- it will peel off with a fingernail from some surfaces
- or pare it down with a knife
Foam, polyurethane squirty type:
- acetone
Fruit:
- salt water, according to Mrs Beeton.
Grease marks:
- wipe/rub with paraffin or dry a cleaning solvent.
- wash with hot water and washing powder
- wash with boiling water and washing soda
- dishwashers are powerful degreasing machines for any items not
admaged by the heat or detergent.
- Mrs Beeton recommends: purified bullocks blood, absorbent pastes,
and even common soap,
are applied to the spot when dry. When the colours are not fast, use
fuller's-earth or
pulverized potter's-clay, laid in a layer over the spot, and press
it with a very hot iron
Label adhesive, from self adhesive labels:
- wet with water, let soak a few minutes, peel or rub off.
- wet the label with white spirit and wait a few minutes. Peel off any
remaining label.
Wipe the residue away with a rag wetted with white spirit.
Limescale:
- see the limescale section
Nicotine
- steam cleaning
Paint, emulsion:
- if unset, water and washing powder or washing up liquid, and rub
with a cloth.
Several water changes may be needed.
- if set but soft: soak in dilute ecover overnight, then rub and wash
repeatedly.
- if set and hard: first, break the paint up, this will often remove a
lot of it.
A kitchen knife can do this. Then use a suede brush to remove the
remains.
Suede brushes do damage fabric, so take care to only brush exactly
where the paint is.
- oil type paint removers may soften the paint and allow it to be
washed out by machine
- if all else fails, small paint marks can often be successfully
disguised temporarily with
a fine tipped black marker pen, or permanently with a button,
brooch, patch, decorative
motif, etc.
Paint, lime:
- hot water and washing powder
- acids
Paint, oil based gloss:
- white spirit
Plastic glue:
- acetone
****:
- biological washing powder
Superglue:
- cyanoacrylate debonder, nitromethane
Stubborn stains:
- an overnight soak in bio washing powder solution frequently works.
- cellulose thinners will remove a lot of stains, but also damage some
things.
Tea & coffee
- soak overnight in bio washing powder
- soak in bicarb solution
Toilet scale:
- limescale removing toilet cleaner, ideally containing hydrochloric
acid. HCl is by far the
most effective. It will need applying several times if the amount of
scaling is significant.
Unknown stains:
- Use the general purpose stain treatments above, starting with an
overnight soak in
biological washing powder.
Varnish:
- paint strippers
- olbas oil
- while still wet, water and detergent for water based, or white
spirit for spirit based
Vehicle grease and dirt: see grease
wax:
- apply blotting paper, iron. Repeat. The paper soaks up the molten
wax.
- wash in boiling water with dishwasher detergent
- alcohol
- olbas oil
Wine:
- washing powder
- white grape juice can loosen red wine stains, then wash with washing
powder.
Yellowed cotton:
- bleach sometimes works. If not:
- dip in soapy water, hang in the sun while wet. Allow a day or 2, and
keep it moist.
Very effective, though slow.
Less likely candidates:
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Some cleaners are just best avoided...
Blood: Mrs Beeton recommends purified bullocks blood for removing
grease spots.
Saliva: While not one of the favourite household cleaners, its fairly
effective, and is used in quite a few households. Next time you visit
your friend, see if you can work out what has been drool cleaned.
Fire is also used as an occasional specialist cleaner, but not
recomended for general household use.
Glo-fuel for model aircraft: various different formulae exist,
containing methanol, oils, solvents such as ether, etc. Glo-fuel is
highly volatile, highly flammable, explosive, very toxic, narcotic,
containes ether which is an early and rather risky general anaesthetic
from the Victorian era, and the fumes can be fatal. A powerful solvent,
but the negative outcomes may somewhat outweigh the benefits.
****: yes, dirt itself is recommended for cleaning by.... Mrs Beeton
again. To clean the char off scorched linen, she recommends: 1/2 pint
of vinegar, 2 oz. of fuller's-earth, 1 oz. of dried fowls' dung,
1/2 oz. of soap, and the juice of 2 large onions. Thank god for the
onions.
Mercury: Used in cleaning powders for silver in Victorian times.
Mercury vapour is quite toxic, and the mercury makes the silver weak
and brittle.
More information:
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Mrs Beeton: possibly the most famous writer on this subject, she
produced a series of household guidance books a century ago, which
include a thorough section on cleaning materials and methods. Available
in any second hand book store, and reproduced online. Many materials
discussed in the book are outdated, but there is lots of useful stain
removal information, and lots of cooking recipes.
Remaining Questions:
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Where does cream cleaner fit into this list?
Other stain devils and similar?
What does coke clean or do?
What else do steam cleaners remove or do?