A good friend of mine emailed this to me the other day and I was shocked when I read it. Maybe I’m the only one that didn’t know about this, but I doubt it.
She emails:
“I was thinking about a good blogging topic for you when I was watching the Today show a few months ago. They were talking about how you have to read the label on disinfecting cleaners to see how long it actually needs to sit there to disinfect. I was just picking up some cleaning products this week and looked at the back and was amazed! For example, Lysol spray needs to stay on the surface for 10 minutes to disinfect, so does Pinesol. I picked up some Lysol toilet bowl cleaner and it was only 2 minutes to disinfect. I haven’t read the back of bleach, but on the show they said 5 minutes to disinfect. Anyway, maybe you already know all this, but I was amazed at all the times I thought I had killed all the germs but really hadn’t! I’m careful to read the backs of labels now before buying product if I truly want it to disinfect!”
Seriously? How did I not know about this before!?! I pulled a couple of my favorite products down and checked them
Toilet Bowl Cleaner
(5 minutes)
Kitchen Sink Sanitizer
(30 seconds)
Bleach
(5 minutes)
I never would have guessed it would take bleach 5 minutes to disinfect something! I was also disappointed because I went to the store to get some more kitchen sink sanitizer and discovered, while reading the back label, that my favorite product–the one I’ve been using for YEARS–takes 10 minutes to disinfect! I guess my sink hasn’t been as clean as I thought it has been, it will be now though!
I hope this Reader Tip helps you as much as it has helped me. After all we want our homes to be a safe and clean environment for our families so maybe that means reading the labels a little closer from now on.
Happy cleaning!
Oh wow I had no idea. Good to know about the bleach that's all we use!Love your blog By the way. I gave you an award here:http://jadaroo.blogspot.com/2011/01/award-to-share.html
Just found your blog and all I can say is, "Love it!" So many wonderfully handy tips.
OMG! I never ever knew this! I MUST start reading the back of these bottles now..xoxo- rachel wright @www.theinspiredhouse.org
I actually did know this for most of the cleaners. The other thing to check on the disinfecting cleaners is if they are food safe, if you are using them in the kitchen. Most of them, you have to allow them to disinfect. Then you must rinse with water before preparing food there. Just one more thing to be aware about! There are only a handful of store bought cleansers that don’t require you rinse before preparing food.
Good to know… Thank you Laura! 🙂