Buta Full Life

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Monday, August 11, 2008

Making Vulcanos

I’m constantly asked about baking soda and vinegar for household cleaning.

Know anyone who uses these chemicals for cleaning? What could be more natural? Will vinegar and baking soda meet our Four Criteria for a truly green clean?
Let’s look.

In our July, 2008 entry we introduced criteria that help us objectively determine if our cleaners effectively reduce indoor air toxicity, water pollution, landfill waste, petroleum dependency, respiratory irritants, and other forms of pollution.

Here’s the four criteria:
Assuming baking soda and vinegar actually clean are they
non-toxic, biodegradable, multitasking, and concentrated?

1. Non-toxic? Sure, no problem, been eating the stuff for millennium all over the world. I even used both in cooking yesterday.

2. Biodegradable? You bet. vinegar and baking soda are already pretty simple molecules and definitely not a problem to the environment.

So far so good, eh?

3. Multitasking? Yeah, I’d say so. If you surf to the multitude of vinegar, lemon juice, and baking soda websites like 3 Homemade Natural Cleaning Products or Clean Green for a Cat-Safe Home there are LOTS of great suggestions how to use these chemicals for a whole morning of cleaning joy.

Still a winner!

4. Is it concentrated? Oh dear. I thought we had such a good thing going. But alas, vinegar is definitely not concentrated. I looked like an out-of-space alien by the time I suited up to handle concentrated acetic acid to prep the dilutions for experiments.

Store bought vinegar requires a dilution of 1:1. So, it’s a cup of vinegar to a cup of water for countertop spray. Yow! That’s 192 times more product needed then my recommendation for general cleaning. And remember, vinegar should not be used on marble, grout, highly polished, or hardwood floors. So you need another product for those uses. I use the same stuff for all my general cleaning. I like having less bottles around taking the space under my sink. What about you?

It's pretty obvious then, that we'd go through a good bit of vinegar to keep our homes clean. And, all those gallons are not so green. Are you like me – willing to add the water right in my own kitchen so we don’t burn gas trucking water around the country?

So, even if they were cleaners,* the criteria show vinegar and baking soda are not as “green” as is generally thought.

But vinegar is so cheap, right? Vinegar is pretty reasonable., But would you be surprised that it's about seven times more expensive then what I pay? Vinegar runs about $1.50 a gallon for general cleaning. My cleaner runs about 21 cents a gallon for general cleaning.

What about the cat?
Stick a bowl of vinegar on the floor for your cat and ask his or her opinion. While you wait for your pet to start talking to you again, click here to order the non-stinky stuff. Hopefully, both will only take a few minutes. ;-)




* Vinegar is a mild disinfectant and a water-based solvent. It cleans by dissolution, but it is not a surfactant that will lift grime from a surface. As it is an acid, it corrodes some mineral materials and finishes. It may also dissolve some of the oils your hands contributing to dry, chapped skin. Please wear gloves.

Baking soda is not a cleaner. It ‘cleans’ by abrasion- scraping. It’s known for odor control via neutralizing acid-base organic substances that cause odors.

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