Sanitizer/Disinfectant

[JoseyJo]

As a spin off from the carpet thread I hijacked (sorry again Mister Sir Husband!!)...

What sanitizer/ disinfectant does everyone use? We have always used bleach water because I thought that is what was required by my state regs but I just found out yesterday that we can use any EPA approved product happyface

I would LOVE to find something that is "green", safe for little ones w/o washing w/ water after, and disinfects pretty quickly.

We use (and love) Odoban for smells and for household cleaning, but it has to be rinsed w/ water to be food-safe (ie for toys that are mouthed, or food prep surfaces) and it takes 10 minutes to disinfect (it does sanitize in 1 min).

Any ideas???

Thanks!!

[BumbleBee]

Bleach water for the changing pad, bathroom, places where feces/urine may be present (actually I'm more concerned with the feces than the urine). I also use bleach water in the kitchen.

Vinegar water for everything else. (toys, tables, shelving, etc.)


* I also run as many toys as I can through the dishwasher or throw the soft stuff in the washing machine. I use vinegar in both the dishwasher (as a rinse agent) and the washing machine (as a fabric softener). Nothing comes out smelling like vinegar. Though I do sometimes put a few drops of essential oil in the vinegar for the washing machine if I want my clothes to smell "feminine."

[Brooksie]

I use Melaleuca's disinfecting solution. Actually I use all their products. Chemical free and all natural. 100% safe for everyone. It was approved by licensing.
http://www.melaleuca.com/ I have 0 chemicals in my house. None. It was one of the best decisions I made. Although you have a monthly amount you need to spend since its members only type thing. But if you go in on it with someone its really easy to meet that requirement.

[JoseyJo]

Thanks so much guys! I will look into all of them

[Cradle2crayons]

I'm not so sure I see the problem with rinsing after Odoban?? You should rinse after bleach too right?? I can't use bleach here because of asthma but I thought you had to rinse after that too?

[MarinaVanessa]

Bleach water for the changing pad, bathroom, places where feces/urine may be present (actually I'm more concerned with the feces than the urine). I also use bleach water in the kitchen.

Vinegar water for everything else. (toys, tables, shelving, etc.)


* I also run as many toys as I can through the dishwasher or throw the soft stuff in the washing machine. I use vinegar in both the dishwasher (as a rinse agent) and the washing machine (as a fabric softener). Nothing comes out smelling like vinegar. Though I do sometimes put a few drops of essential oil in the vinegar for the washing machine if I want my clothes to smell "feminine."

This is me to a T. Exactly what I do.

[BumbleBee]

This is me to a T. Exactly what I do.

Probably where I learned about it. I'm a copy cat!

It works really well MarinaVanessa! Love using vinegar! Where do you get your essential oils from? I have trouble finding them sometimes.

[MarinaVanessa]

I'm not so sure I see the problem with rinsing after Odoban?? You should rinse after bleach too right?? I can't use bleach here because of asthma but I thought you had to rinse after that too?

Not necessarily. I use a bleach/eater solution of 1/4 cup of bleach to every gallon of water to dunk some toys in. Dunk them, leave them for 2 minutes, pull them out and spread them out on towels to air dry. Once they are dry they get put back.

I also will put 1/2 oz of bleach into a spray bottle with 32 oz of water to spray surfaces (tables, chairs, highchairs, shelves, counter tops except for granite, changing table and pad etc). You can either leave it on for 2 minutes and then wipe on or you can let it air dry.

In both circumstances the bleach/water ratio is sufficient to not have to rinse either way. There is enough bleach to sanitize and disinfect but not enough to require you to have to rinse everything off or to be a danger to kids, or to bleach clothing.

This is what is recommended by licensing in CA (I just prefer to run stuff through the dishwasher on the sani-cycle with the heat dry option, it's faster sometimes than submerging and air-drying sometimes depending on what it is).

[MarinaVanessa]

Probably where I learned about it. I'm a copy cat!

It works really well MarinaVanessa! Love using vinegar! Where do you get your essential oils from? I have trouble finding them sometimes.

They are hard to find sometimes but I look around a lot on eBay and Amazon mostly and that's usually where I find them. Sometimes I go to herb women and they have them there but many times it's less expensive to get them online. When I see a great deal I will buy several bottles and just keep them around. I use the essential oils as fragrance as well so after I clean the bathroom for example I will dab a few drops of my favorite scent (usually lavender or vanilla) onto the light bulbs in the bathroom.

I also use them when we make playdough .

[ABCDEFG]

Probably where I learned about it. I'm a copy cat!

It works really well MarinaVanessa! Love using vinegar! Where do you get your essential oils from? I have trouble finding them sometimes.

Whole foods has essential oils, if you have one nearby.

[MarinaVanessa]

Whole foods has essential oils, if you have one nearby.

This is great to know! We have a Whole Foods in the next town over, I will have to check out their prices.

[JoseyJo]

Does anyone use hydrogen peroxide to disinfect? I keep seeing it mentioned while researching but I cant come up with the guidelines for how much to use (like if you mix with water), contact times, epa #, etc...

[AmyKidsCo]

I use Melaleuca's disinfecting solution. Actually I use all their products. Chemical free and all natural. 100% safe for everyone. It was approved by licensing.
http://www.melaleuca.com/ I have 0 chemicals in my house. None. It was one of the best decisions I made. Although you have a monthly amount you need to spend since its members only type thing. But if you go in on it with someone its really easy to meet that requirement.

Our licensing won't accept that.

I use Shaklee Basic-G. It's quaternary ammonia based so licensing will accept it.

[craftymissbeth]

Does anyone use Benefect?

[Scout]

Not necessarily. I use a bleach/eater solution of 1/4 cup of bleach to every gallon of water to dunk some toys in. Dunk them, leave them for 2 minutes, pull them out and spread them out on towels to air dry. Once they are dry they get put back.

I also will put 1/2 oz of bleach into a spray bottle with 32 oz of water to spray surfaces (tables, chairs, highchairs, shelves, counter tops except for granite, changing table and pad etc). You can either leave it on for 2 minutes and then wipe on or you can let it air dry.

In both circumstances the bleach/water ratio is sufficient to not have to rinse either way. There is enough bleach to sanitize and disinfect but not enough to require you to have to rinse everything off or to be a danger to kids, or to bleach clothing.

This is what is recommended by licensing in CA (I just prefer to run stuff through the dishwasher on the sani-cycle with the heat dry option, it's faster sometimes than submerging and air-drying sometimes depending on what it is).

Why does it seem everyone has different bleach/water ratios?? I use 1 tablespoon to gallon for toys and it seems to work?? I read it somewhere online but, can't remember where. 1/4 c is a whole lot more! Does anyone use the small amount I use? :confused: If I can up it to that I would if what I am doing isn't working. I usually only bleach for nasty viruses like norovirus or rotovirus. Hand, foot, and mouth I would as well. Not for colds!