Addicted to Bleach!

[pina la nina]

So, what do you do when the "natural" solution doesn't cut it? Do you just accept things as they are, or do you break down and use the bad stuff?

When we moved into our house, I just assumed that the stains on our white porcelain sinks & tub were there to stay. After all, I'd scrubbed and scrubbed with bon ami and baking soda, various other commercial natural scrubs -

....and then we hired someone to come & clean.

Lo and behold, our sinks glistened, they were white - it was soooooo nice! So now I find myself reaching for the Cleanser with bleach, not more than once a week, but still - I love how it looks!

Dh caught me and said "are you ecofriendly or not?" and I said - "you know, I guess sometimes I'm not!"

Of course I feel totally guilty about this. What do you do when the only thing that works is the bad stuff?

[bebe luna]

Bleach is nasty!!! But it does work... and so do other more natural products. Check out this website www.kokogm.com . they carry a bunch of great natural cleaning stuff, for much cheaper than in the stores. They carry Bio-kleen and bac-out, as well.

[leafylady]

What kind of stains are you having the most problems with? For me, the only stains that I've needed to use bleach or other caustic products on, were iron/rust hardwater stains, old mildew in grout or caulking, and sometimes tea/coffee stains. Once those are under control, then I could put away the bleach for awhile.
Now I avoid bleach and other chemical cleaning products (except Bon Ami) completely because it sets off all of my nasal allergies for about 4 days, making me completely miserable.

[pina la nina]

As you can gather from my post our porcelain is worn totally down to the absorbant inner layer - the shiny coat is looong gone. So it seems like every week the kitchen sink is stained with everything from coffee/tea to rust to just funk from veggies, etc. The tub is mostly rust but also dirty footprints and grease stains from dirty bike lube/oil changes on the car, whatever dh has been getting into and trying to shower off. It sounds grosser than it is, but I have to admit I much prefer it sparkling white. If I open the windows during and after the bleaching, is it really so bad? Or can Bac-out actually get this stuff out of the porcelain?

[RasJane]

(RasJane hiding in shame)

I try really hard to be as eco-friendly with my cleaning as I can. But I do use bleach every other week. I have to admit it.
We live in a basement, cheap, apartment in the Seattle suburbs. The water collects outside and has mildewed the concrete. It grows up the corners in our bedrooms and in the window tracks. I soak up the water out of the windows with a toddler-size cloth diaper--one per window:yuck
So when I can see the black fuzzy starting to crawl up the wall, I mix up water and bleach, put on the gloves and get to it. We then open up the windows and leave for the day. I hate it, but nothing else works. Well, the bleach doesn't really work either since the mold is inside the wall, but oh well. I have a mold allergy and cannot wait to move back to Idaho, land of desert, end of March! But, this is the only time or place that I use the bleach. I pretty much stopped using it when we lived in Moscow, Idaho. The water there has a lot of iron. I used to bleach my toilet, but noticed it was rusting. Asked mom and she said bleach pulls the iron out of the water and makes it rust the surfaces it comes in contact with--including clothes if you wash with bleach.

[Elismama]

RasJane,

If your looking for an alternative- Tea tree oil does a great job at killing/cleaning up mold and mildew. I used to mix it with water in a spray bottle (maybe 10drops/cup water) and spray it directly on moldy/mildewy spots in the basement of my old house. Worked great.

-jeanie

[bigcats]

Oh, I know!

I completely sympathize with you, pina.

Because I knew it was bad stuff, I never kept bleach in my apartment. But I had to get some when I borrowed some traps to catch and neuter feral cats with, and the policy of the lender was that I had to thoroughly clean the traps with bleach before I returned it.

Well then I had the rest of the jug left, so I used it on the sink and tub... and I got hooked! Argh, I know the guilty feeling!

When the jug runs out I don't think I'll buy any more... I hope not... I will be tempted though... I'll try the suggestions of the other posters first.

I love Bac-out for carpet stains, I'll try it in my sink too...

[sarahwebb]

I too use bleach but try to be moderate about it. For mildew in the shower, I use Enviro Magic Mildew Stain Away available from Harmony or gaiam.com

Regards,
Sarah

[beanma]

have you tried hydrogen peroxide? it's what's in those eco friendly bleach alternatives you can get at whole foods and the like. don't know if it would work on porcelain or not, but it's probably worth your 99 cents at the drugstore to try. lemon juice might be worth a shot, too. good luck.

-beanma.

[jjquilter]

Love the smell

Maybe I'm a total nut, but I LOVE the smell of bleach. Not sure what it is, whether memories of cleanliness from childhood, or what...

I also have a porcelain sink and it works wonders on tumeric stains, which I haven't been able to get out with anything else. I like the peroxide idea though - thanks!

[Katrina]

Have you guys used oxygen bleach? I love that stuff, you can use it anywhere you would use regular bleach. Cleaning mildew, stains, laundry, anything. I love it!
jjquilter- LOL! I think you MUST be nuts! the smell of bleach makes me want to roll over and die!

[mamui]

definatly try hydrogen peroxide! 50 cents a bottle at the dollar store. Put the whole bottle in a spray bottle, add 2 or 3 good squirts of a liquid soap--I use grapefruit seed extract concentrate (bi-o-clean) top it with water. It bubbles where there is bacteria/germs--very satisfying! For sink stains I scrub it with bon ami first then spray the hydro. mixture and leave it for ten min or so.

Ps I clean houses for a living this is the best!! Try it on grout, toilet seat, lid etc. floor round the toilet....walls, microwaves almost everything