Need natural alternatives to chlorine! Quick! x-posted from the Country Living forum

[Sustainer]

To make a long story short, my mother and her boyfriend are insisting that chlorine is the only thing that kills bacteria, and I know that isn't true. I'm afraid they might sneak some chlorine behind my back, figuring that what I don't know won't hurt me.

I need to know how many drops of TTO per gallon of water equals the cleaning/sanitizing/disinfecting power of a gallon of chlorine. I need to know if there is a natural alternative that isn't as expensive as TTO. And I need information that I can print out that will convince them that a natural product works just as well as chlorine.

Help!

Thank you in advance!

[Spastica]

White vinegar kills about 99% of bacteria and due to the many chemical components within vinegar, it makes it tough for bacteria to become resistant to it, unlike some commercial cleaners. White vinegar is often used in dairy/farm machinery and in restaurants and food machinery because it's cheap, non-toxic, and food-grade.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinegar

http://www.care2.com/channels/solutions/home/711

http://frugalliving.about.com/library/blvinegararch.htm


Tell your family to lay off and to enjoy the new fresh scent of VINEGAR! Gotta love the smell of pickle-fresh-cleanliness...

[BonMaman]

We've been using hydrogen peroxide in lieu of bleach, as well as vinegar and TTO. When used in combination, peroxide and vinegar sprayed one right after the other (not mixed together) are more effective than commercial cleaners and are food-safe. In fact, I've read suggestions to spray produce with the two as a way of cleaning them before consumption.

Here are a couple of sites to check out:
http://my.execpc.com/~mjstouff/articles/vinegar.html
http://www.stretcher.com/stories/03/03jan06j.cfm

[Spastica]

Yup! What Bonmaman said, that works too!