Heres the latest version. Any more input welcome.
NT
Cleaners and Detergents FAQ v5
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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
Untested claims
More information
Safety data sheets
Need a section title for
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. Do not use it in
washing machines, it creates a greasy film that makes them pong.
Its speed makes it useful for hand washing carpets, where it saves much
labour.
A good lubricant for sash window runners. May be wiped onto just dried
paint to prevent sticking and allow prompt reassembly.
Liquid soaps: Almost all products sold as liquid soaps are really a
detergent called sodium lauryl ethyl sulphate, aka sodium laureth
sulphate, plus various additives. This is a nearly universal low cost
human-cleaning detergent, and a known mild irritant. Nearly all brands
contain it. 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
higher temps. Washing powders various additives such as stain removers,
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 irritant washing powder.
Dishwasher detergent, powders and tablets: most powerful detergent,
alkaline, requires hot water to work well. The most irritant detergent
to skin, skin contact best avoided. The detergent gradually attacks
some types of glass, making it go cloudy in time.
Dishwasher detergent, liquid: I know nowt about em.
Wonder / miracle / magic cleaners / stain removers: ordinary detergents
sold at steep prices. Note that stain removers designed for a limited
range of stains are a different thing to these general purpose wonder
bars. Use washing powder instead.
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 popular.
Soaps may be used for cleaning gold and silver jewellery.
Sugar soap: A soap, has nothing to do with sugar, and is definitely not
edible. Used primarily to clean paintwork, as traces of this soap don't
affect household paints. Other soaps may be used instead so long as
they're rinsed off properly.
Washing painted walls is sometimes 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 tint. It is important
not to use a brighter shade, nor to let new paint overlap the edges of
the chipped area at all. Less is more in this case. This method can
often make a tatty wall look respectable again in 60-90 minutes with no
materials cost. Whatever your painting regime, this method can make
walls look better between repaints.
Solvents
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Many solvents are volatile, flammable, explosive, toxic, melt plastics,
and/or act as drugs. Ensure good ventilation.
White spirit: Petroleum distillates. Slow to evaporate. Dissolves
un-set oil based (gloss) paints, good for paintbrush cleaning. Not the
ideal solvent for thinning oil paints, but usable. Turps sbustitute is
better for that.
Dissolves uncured epoxy resin.
Lifts many 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 not on latex rubber gloves.
Vapour explosive and toxic, ventilate thoroughly.
http://physchem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/WH/white_spirits.html
Turps substitute. Very similar to white spirit, but cheaper and not
ideal for thinning paint.
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
ethyl 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, often with a little colouring.
Diesel: Vehicle and parts degreaser similar to paraffin. One of the
least flammable petrochemical cleaners, a naked flame will usually not
light it.
Acetone, an ingredient in nail varnish remover: dissolves polyurethane
(squirt can) foam. Dissolves perspex and can be used to solvent weld
it. Nail varnish remover may contain other ingredients such as lanolin,
oil etc.
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.
Turpentine is a plant oil. Turps substitute is similar to white spirit,
but not the same.
Petrol: flammable, explosive, fumes can produce a range of serious
health problems. Not recommended for indoor use. Contains benzene, a
carcinogen, not recommended for hand cleaning. Use something less toxic
whenever possible.
http://ptcl.chem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/BE/benzene.html
Lighter fluid: petroleum distillates again. Much 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 good
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 derived
from oranges. Lemon oil is similar.
Carbon tetrachloride: general purpose solvent, narcotic, now banned
from domestic use due to toxicity.
Pipe weld solvent: intended for dissolving and welding pvc pipes. Dont
use on plastic!
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 is a well
known brand.
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 half a drop to a cotton bud and wipe the
stain with it. Olbas oil is not usually a first choice cleaner at
=A33:50 per 30ml, but for ballpoint ink it is recommended.
Clove oil: another solvent oil. strips paint, irritant, use diluted
with oil or soap and water. Available from superdrug, boots etc.
Similar actions to olbas oil. Not often used as a cleaner, but
occasionally effective and useful.
Eucalyptus oil: similar properties to clove oil. Olbas, clove and
eucalyptus all have strong but pleasant smell.
Vegetable oil: Dissolves vehicle grime, linseed oil, tar and wood
resin. Lubricates wood screws for easier driving (1 drop on the tip is
enough). Prevents bolts and nuts sticking, allowing issue-free
dismantling years later. Vegetable oil is a low cost mixture of various
edible plant oils.
Margarine: There are several types of marge, but all contain edible
fats or oils emulsified with water. Marge is not an ideal cleaner, but
when nothing else is to hand it can be used to dissolve vehicle grime,
and possibly tar and wood resin. It can also be used as a lubricant
when its limited life and water content are not a problem.
Abrasives
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Plastic scouring pads: widely used for cleaning dishes. Should be
regularly cleaned to remove insanitary muck build-up. Can be cleaned in
a dishwasher, at moderate temperatures.
Metal scourers: there are traditional wire wool scourers, and more
modern stainless steel ribbon bundles.
Wire wool pads: suited only to unfinished cast iron, damage all modern
surfaces and finishes. Effective rust spot remover for cutlery, but
will scratch and mark the metal. Cause metal splinters. Cause rust
stains wherever theyre stored. Can remove loose and flaking paint.
surprisingly, theyre flammable. Not recommended for general use.
Ajax: abrasive powder and bleach, once popular as a toilet cleaner
Bath brick: strong abrasive suited only to unfinished cast iron. Not
often used.
Sand: a harsh abrasive. Sand blasting strips paint rust and dirt, but
not many houses need that level of cleaning on a regular basis.
Melamine sponge, aka flash cleaning block:
Scrapers and razor blades: simple mechanical cleaners mostly used on
glass. Metal blades can permanently mark the glass. Do not use on
toughened glass.
Brass wire brush: aka suede brush. For cleaning suede and soiled
clothes. Cause damage with just one use, so use as little as possible,
and use when other methods have failed.
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 thicker hard skin. It is perhaps ironic that this is
what it is mainly used to treat.
Metal balls: aka ball bearings used to clean inaccessible places, eg
very narrow necked vases etc. Insert balls and cleaning liquid, whizz
them around, remove balls. More versatile than bottle brushes, but less
effective. Any non abrasive objects denser than water can be used for
this task, assorted nuts and washers are as effective.
Bleaches:
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Bleaches sterilise and remove the dirt's colour, but don't remove the
dirt itself. 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. Bleaches are also toxic and antibacterial.
Chlorine bleach: the most common household bleach. Irritant to lungs,
exacerbates asthma. Contact with acids releases high toxicity chlorine
gas (chlorine was used for chemical warfare in WW1). Toilet cleaners
are usually acidic, and must not be mixed with bleach. 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 mix detergent with thin bleach if you need it, 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 acidic 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 or stop
it, as little as a few breaths can kill.
http://ptcl.chem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/CH/chlorine.html
Milton: dilute chlorine bleach. Milton solution is 1% bleach, 16.5%
salt. Tablets are Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate. Kills bacteria, fungi,
viri and spores. Tablets can be used to disinfect drinking water, 1
tablet in 32 litres.
Oxygen bleach: aka hydrogen peroxide, avoids most of 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.
Forms high toxicity compounds when combined with many common materials,
avoid contact with wood, asbestos, soil, rust, copper, iron, steel,
alcohol, and other cleaning agents. Rinse away well after use. Can
cause serious eye injury.
http://ptcl.chem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/HY/hy...xide_30pc.html
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 some sterilising effect.
Spray and wipe cleaners:
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Quick hard surface cleaners. Produce noxious fumes. Contain ammonia,
plus perfumes to disguise the smell. Ventilation recommended.
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. Vinegar and
citric 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.
Vinegar also cleans wood and glass.
Phosphoric acid: used in some acid products. Phosphoric acid can be
used to clean stainless steel, dissolves limescale and degreases.
Sulphamic acid: the most popular acid in limescale removing toilet
cleaners.
Sulphuric acid: stronger than sulphamic but costs more. Removes drain
blockages, including grease, fat, teabags, cardboard, faeces and
vegetable matter.
Hydrochloric acid: powerful and fast. Stomach acid is 0.2-0.3%
hydrochloric acid, and can digest a range of substances. Avoid contact
with skin, eyes, metal, mortars, lime paints, and tile grout. A high
toxicity cleaner, follow instructions with care.
Effective at removing scale / watermarks from glass, but care must be
taken to keep it off the metal or wood frame. 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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Brick acid: aka patio cleaner. 10-30% Hydrochloric acid cleaner/etcher
for concrete and brick. Eats concrete and mortar, damages a brick's
fireskin, very fast toilet limescale remover. A high toxicity cleaner,
dangerous to skin and eyes. Removes set concrete.
Oxalic acid, also sold as patio cleaner: non-etching concrete and brick
cleaner. High toxicity. Less powerful than the acid type, but does not
damage the items being cleaned. Toxic residues should be washed away
with plenty of water. Avoid any contact with silver. Removes fountain
pen ink, rust, tea and coffee.
http://ptcl.chem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/OX/ox...dihydrate.html
Enzyme based odour removers:
Fuller's earth: dry powder or granules 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. Fuller's earth is a clay.
Also used to soak up oil spills. Fullers earth can be disposed of
safely on the garden, providing whatever it has soaked up is also safe
for garden disposal.
Jizer, Hyperclean etc - dissolves greasy engine deposits, can then be
washed off with water.
Vinegar: cleans and resurfaces copper by etching the oxidised surface
off, leaving fresh clean copper. Also works with some other oxidised or
corroded metals. The liquid runoff is toxic if ingested, so ensure it
doesn't get onto food. Adding salt to the vinegar makes it much more
powerful. Tomato ketchup also removes copper corrosion, it contains the
necessary mild acid and salt already.
Diluted vinegar is also an old favourite for cleaning glass, best
applied with newspaper rather than cloth.
Saliva: used for cleaning fine art oil paintings, but not available in
litre bottles. Contains cleaning enzymes.
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: abrasive silver cleaner.
Stain devils ballpoint number 1: I got no result with it at all. Olbas
oil was quick and effective. Stain devil not recommended.
Coke: coca cola and pepsi contain very dilute phosphoric acid. A weak
cleaner for copper, lead, car battery terminals, and other corroded
metals. Vinegar and salt is much more effective.
Saddle soap: an old leather cleaner, damages the leather.
Hartshorn powder: used to clean silver plate. Wipe a hartshorn and
water paste onto the silver, allow to dry, and brush off. Adding
alcohol to the paste will help to remove tarnish.
Swarfega: a grease and dirt hand cleaner developed for motor mechanics.
The gel contains paraffin, a good solvent for most motor grease.
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.
Heavy damage can occur. 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. A high risk cleaner, 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.
Proprietary products containing thickener will be less likely to run
off the workpiece, and be more effective at cleaning on non-horizontal
surfaces.
- washing soda: degreases when used with boiling water. For clothes and
drain unblocking. The majority of drain blockages are mostly solidified
fat. Discolours aluminium, and can dissolve it in some cases.
For washing, a teaspoonful in the machine is good, with a hot wash. For
drain unblocking, half a cup of soda in hot water works well, but use
eye protection as it may spit alkali when mixing, and eyes are
particularly vulnerable to alkalis.
- sodium bicarbonate, aka baking soda, bicarb - a mild safe alkali,
with many uses:
For brushing teeth
Removes tea and coffee stains
Cleaning ovens
Reduces laundry odour: add to final rinse
Removes black scuff marks from floors
Cleans plastic / 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.
cleans teeth, use as tooth powder.
Lime: A now outdated cleaner for greasy and dirty laundry. Soak it in
lime water. Lime's claims to fame are its cheapness, around =A36 for a
25kg bag from any builders merchants, and its wide range of uses. The
lime water is made with 1/2 lb. of lime to every 6 quarts of water
which has been boiled for two hours, then left to settle, and strained
off when clear. Each article should be rinsed in this liquor to wet it
thoroughly, and left to soak till the morning, just covered by it when
the things are pressed together. This is another one of Mrs Beetons
recipes, and an old laundry technique. It works, but how it compares to
modern detergents I wouldnt know. The lime reacts with grease to form
soap.
Lime paste also strips paint. It is caustic.
Water cleaners:
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Pressure washers: 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 at all.
Good for unblocking drains, though the splashback with sewers isnt much
fun.
The pressure of these can sometimes be enough to go through skin.
Pressure washer FAQ link.
Steam cleaners: Effective at removing some types of dirt, ineffective
for some. Useful for some jobs, but not for general purpose cleaning.
Heat damages some materials, and can occasionally shatter glass. Minor
risk of burn injuries. Removes nicotine from walls, removes grease,
strips wallpaper, cleans tile grout,
Occasional small marks can be steam cleaned with a kettle or pan of
water. But beware, steam burns with more severity than boiling water.
Lance: A lance on the end of a hose can remove a lot of dirt from
paths, drives, patios, cars etc. Performance does not compare to
pressure washers, which boost the water pressure greatly.
Stains:
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Prompt action increases the likelihood of removing the stain, dried
stains are usually tougher to remove.
Firstly the general purpose stain removers:
Washing powder: the most versatile stain remover is biological washing
powder. Soak the stain overnight, or saturate and rub the stain.
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, but might also dissolve what
youre trying to clean.
Blood:
- remove while wet with a cloth and cold water
- if not dried long, rub repeatedly with soap and water. Keep rinsing
the cleaning cloth to
avoid spreading the loosened stain.
- soak in biological washing powder in cold water
Blutack lumps:
- to remove blue remnants from walls, roll a bigger lump over the
remnants repeatedly
- turps, can attack some carpet backings
- white spirit, can attack some carpet backings
- citrus oil cleaners, but they can sometimes strip carpet colour
- many other solvents will also soften or dissolve it
- for carpet, fill a bag with ice cubes, with some crushed if posible,
add a tablespoon of
salt, and use the bag to freeze the blutack. It will break apart.
- for clothes, put them in the freezer to make blutack brittle. Act
very quickly when frozen
as it will thaw rapidly.
- spray on freezer spray, and crumble the frozen blutack off.
Blutack stains after the tack has been removed:
- to remove oily marks left behind, lighter fluid, dry cleaning fluid.
- a citrus oil cleaner.
Chewing gum:
- for carpet, fill a bag with ice cubes, with some crushed if
possible, add a tablespoon of
salt, and use the bag to freeze the gum. The gum will now break
apart.
- for clothes, put them in the freezer to make the gum brittle. Act
quickly when frozen as it
will thaw rapidly.
- spray on freezer spray, and crumble the frozen gum off.
- peanut butter dissolves chewing gum on hair and fabrics.
Cup ring marks:
- clean with bio washing powder
- Ring-away
- if wine, clean with clear fruit juice, preferably white grape juice,
then clean off the
fruit juice.
Egg:
- always use cold water to wash egg off, heat will set it in place.
- bio washing powder and cold water
- scrape it off with a plastic scourer. Wet to soften first if dried.
Engine grime:
- swarfega
- paraffin
- cooking oil, which can then be cleaned off with most ordinary hand
cleaning detergents.
- washing powder, apply to hands dry and add water. Effective, but
dries skin.
- margarine will also work if nothing better is to hand.
Epoxy resin:
- white spirit
- cellulose thinners if not yet set
- isopropyl alcohol if not set
- Loctite 7855 hand cleaner
- it will peel off with a fingernail from some surfaces
- or pare it down with a knife
Foam, polyurethane squirty type:
- acetone
Fruit:
- fruit and wine-spots: dip in a solution of sal ammonia or alcohol,
and rinse.
- salt water
- clean with a colourless fruit juice, then wash the juice off.
Grease marks:
- wipe / rub with paraffin or a dry 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
damaged by the heat or strong
detergent.
- rub with yellow soap and rinse in hot water
- 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. The powder
absorbs the grease.
Ink, Ballpoint pen:
- alcohol
- olbas oil: apply a drop toa cotton bud, wipe off the ink.
- dry cleaning solvents
- it is also possible to use perfume, hairspray or aftershave as
solvent, but articles should
then be washed right away.
Ink, fountain pen:
- milk (preferably not skimmed)
- dip the part into hot water, pour a few drops of oxalic acid or
salts of sorrel over the
ink-spot, rub and rinse in cold water till removed.
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.
- warm with a hairdryer and peel the label off
- paraffin, and other similar petroleum distillates
- WD40
- peroxide
Limescale:
- see the limescale section
Linseed oil:
- scrub with ecover washing up liquid, cooking oil or shampoo, then
wash as usual.
Nicotine
- steam clean
Paint, emulsion:
- if un-set, 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. Dont let it
dry until all is removed.
- 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
- freeze the item and the paint may crumble off more easily.
- spray on freezer spray, and crumble the frozen paint off.
- if all else fails, small paint marks can often be successfully
disguised temporarily with
a fine tipped waterproof black marker pen, or permanently with a
button, brooch, patch,
decorative motif, etc.
Paint, lime:
- on clothes: hot water and washing powder
- on walls: hot water and sugar soap. Other soaps or detergents can be
used if care is taken
to remove every bit of remaining detergent.
- acids
Paint, oil based gloss:
- white spirit, turps substitute.
- olbas or clove oil may also soften and loosen individual paint
spots.
- paint strippers
- lime and water paste (caustic)
- caustic soda (? needs confirmation)
Paint spills, emulsion:
- scoop up as much paint as possible. Use water and washing up liquid
to wash the rest away.
Do not delay, as once it begins to dry it is very much more
difficult to remove. It may take
many washings and many changes of clean water, but a carpet can look
like new again if you
persist. Allow upto an hour of washing to clean up a typical paint
can spill.
Paint spills, oil based (eg gloss or eggshell):
- Remove as much paint as poss mechanically, clean repeatedly with
white spirit or turps
substitute, and leave item outdoors for solvent to evaporate.
- Other pettroleum distillates can be used if necessary.
Plastic glue:
- acetone
Resin from conifer trees and pine:
- olive oil. After removal, clean off the oil with soap and hot water
- white spirit or turps
Rust:
- oxalic acid will remove iron stains from some materials. However
iron compounds act as a
self mordanting dye with some fabrics, and on these it is not
removable, even by bleach.
Rust spots on chrome:
- WD40
- biological washing powder
****:
- bio washing powder
Superglue:
- nitromethane, aka cyanoacrylate debonder
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.
Tar:
- swarfega
- paraffin. Other petroleum distillates should also work.
- olive oil. Remove the olive oil with hot water and soap etc.
Tea & coffee
- soak overnight in bio washing powder
- soak in bicarb solution
- soak in peroxide or oxygen bleach
- oxalic acid
Toilet scale:
- limescale removing toilet cleaner, ideally one 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
bio 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, absorbent cloth, or fuller's earth, and iron.
Repeat until cleared.
The absorbent soaks up the molten wax.
- wash in boiling water with dishwasher detergent
- alcohol
- olbas oil (? confirm)
Wine:
- washing powder
- white grape juice can loosen red wine stains, then wash with washing
powder.
Other colourless fruit juices might also work.
- dip in a solution of sal ammonia or alcohol, and rinse.
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:
-----------------------
Some cleaners are just best avoided...
Blood: Mrs Beeton recommends purified bullocks blood for removing
grease spots.
Fire is also used as an occasional specialist cleaner, but not
recomended for general household use. Gas burners are sometimes used to
clear paths of weeds.
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,
contains 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.
Mercury: Used in cleaning powders for silver in Victorian times.
Mercury vapour is toxic, mercury is toxic to eat, and the mercury makes
the silver weak and brittle. Not an ideal cleaner.
Saliva: While not one of the favourite household cleaners, its fairly
effective, and is used in some households. Contains enzymes. Next time
you visit your friend, see if you can work out what has been drool
cleaned.
Turd: 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.
Urine: It had to make the list somewhere. In Tudor times clothes were
boiled in urine and wood ash on wash day. Lovely. The 2 react to make a
form of soap, and both are cleaners in their own right to some extent.
It need hardly be said that one should not skimp on rinsing.
Hydrofluoric acid: removes most types of dirt. Unfortunately it also
removes whatever the dirt is on, hands, finger bones, pretty well
everything. It is also difficult to store, since it attacks and eats
even the most unreactive of storage materials, glass. Stored in glass
coated in liquid paraffin, preferably anywhere but here.
Untested claims:
----------------
Whether these will work or not is not known. If you try any of these,
let us know how it went.
Gilt Frame cleaner: Take sufficient sulphur to give a golden tinge to
about 1 1/2 pint of water, and in this boil 4 or 5 bruised onions or
garlic. Strain off the liquid and let cool. Wash the frames with a soft
brush, and when dry it will come out as bright as new. From Mrs Beeton.
When a pot or pan is burnt, stand overnight with enough Coke in to
cover the bottom of pot completely. By morning it should be removed.
Milk removes ballpoint pen ink
Hydrogen peroxide and household soap removes many stains.
Unidentified absorbent pastes have been reported as successful for
removing grease spots.
More information:
-----------------
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, lots of cooking recipes, and discussion of how to
manage servants.
The Google uk.d-i-y archive:
http://tinyurl.com/65kwq
The UK.D-I-Y FAQ:
http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/
Safety data sheets:
-------------------
Safety data sheets and information:
http://physchem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/
http://ptcl.chem.ox.ac.uk/~hmc/hsci/...cals_list.html
Data sheets need some cautious interpretation, for example one for
cinnamon (the popular spice)
http://hazard.com/msds/mf/gsc/files/md101199.html
says:
INGESTION EFFECTS : Harmful if swallowed.
INGESTION : Wash out mouth with water and give water to dilute provided
person is conscious. Contact a physician or local poison control center
immediately.
PROTECTIVE CLOTHING : Chemical resistant clothing is recommended.
EYE PROTECTION : Use goggles or face shield is recommended.
I had no idea how dangerous cake making was!
A lot of cleaners are highly toxic to birds, and must not be used in a
room with them.
Need a section title for:
-------------------------
Microwaves: boil water in the oven for a few minutes, it softens the
dirt and makes cleaning easy.
Oven: sprinkle a layer (about 1.2 inch deep or so) of baking soda, then
mist heavily from a spray bottle of water. Let sit overnight, and that
should do it. Can also use this method to remove burnt on muck from
pots and pans etc.
uPVC: cream cleaner, such as Cif
tough hand clean jobs, undissolved washing powder and water.
Baths can be cleaned in about 30 seconds with a large stiff duster.
Most dusters are too soft for the job.
Remaining Questions:
--------------------
Where does cream cleaner fit into this list?
Other stain devils and similar?
What do steam cleaners remove and do, and not remove?
screwfix bath rubber 79117... what is it?
borax, what does it do? I know its used with laundry, but thats all.
is caustic soda usful for paint removal?
Wax based paint cleaners etc eg paintklenz... ? what is it?
is olbas oil good for wax removal?