Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Bleach, not just for bleaching alone.

Most people have a range of cleaning chemicals in their cupboards, many of which are used for just one particular purpose.  However, I just came across an interesting article about the many other uses of Bleach. I found paragraph 1, 2, and 8 particularly interesting.

As a keen gardener I’m totally against using the chemical “Roundup” in my veggie garden.  Its main ingredient is glyphosate, a very toxic chemical that can have undesirable consequences in my veggies. So that’s why I will now use Bleach as a weed killer; a far better alternative, and easier than the back breaking task of pulling them out manually.

For recipes on Organic Garden Pest Control, click here. Also read: Roundup Found in GMO Food. It is important to read the labels on the food you buy.

In 2009, a French court found Monsanto guilty of lying; falsely advertising its Roundup herbicide as "biodegradable and environmentally friendly" and claiming it "left the soil clean."
Mounting evidence now tells us just how false such statements are. No wonder that Monsanto is considered one of the most evil companies on the planet. The company has done absolutely nothing to improve their worldwide detrimental influence on human and environmental health.

For more information on “Roundup” and the reasons why you shouldn’t use it in your veggie garden, go to the links below.

Weed killer kills human cells. Study intensifies debate over 'inert' ingredients. Click here.
 Roundup: Quick death for weeds, slow painful death for you.
Monsanto’s Roundup Triggers over 40 Plant Diseases and Endangers Human and Animal Health.Click here.

Here are 11 Uses for Bleach other than bleaching.  I hope you find them interesting and you stop using “Roundup”.  Note – as well as the warning below, take care to protect your clothes from any splashes of bleach. – Werner
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One of the most common household cleaning detergents is bleach, which is the commercial name for a number of chemicals that whiten, remove colour and disinfect. The chemical we’ll be referring to in this article is chlorine. Bleach is mainly used to whiten fabrics and disinfect toilets, amongst other things, but bleach can do much more. WARNING: When dealing with bleach, make sure you wear gloves, avoid any contact with the eyes, and use it only in well-ventilated areas.

1. Herbicides.
Bleach is harmful to plants and can thus be used as a highly effective herbicide. Use it on areas where you don’t want plants to grow or where weeds are a problem. Be careful to not overdo it – spray a 1/1 mixture of water and bleach, or use a few drops directly on the plant you wish to kill.

2. Pesticide and insect repellent.
If you’re suffering from an infestation, it can be easily treated with bleach. Most insects breathe through their exoskeleton, so spraying them with bleach is an effective eradication method. During mosquito season, leaving a cup with a 1/1 mixture of water and bleach keeps the little biters away. Bleach can also get rid of insect eggs, as well as disrupt the chemical trails some bugs (like ants) use to find their way into your home.

3. Extend the life of flowers in a vase.
If you love decorating your house with fresh flowers but are having a hard time keeping them alive, simply add a very small amount of bleach to the water. This will destroy any bacteria and fungus in the water and allow your plants to flourish, as well as prevent water and algae stains in the vase. Be careful not to add more than ¼ teaspoon to 1 cup of water.

4. Remove moss and mould.
To get rid of moss and mould from tiles, pour half a cup of bleach into ½ gallon of water, then use an old broom to scrub the tiles with the mixture. The bleach will remove any and all of the moss and mold, leaving your tiles clean and non-slippery. This is also effective on concrete surfaces, sidewalks, pavement and even roofing shingles.

5. Polishing china and glassware.
Mix a teaspoon of bleach in a cup of water, then use a white, damp kitchen towel to polish and disinfect them. It can also be used to polish silverware but be sure to wash them thoroughly afterwards.

6. Treating foot fungus and malodorous feet.
If you’re suffering from a bad case of smelly feet or any kind of foot fungus, you know the embarrassment and social stigmas that go along with them. While exposing your skin to a high concentration of bleach is very bad for it, soaking your feet in a tub filled with a gallon of hot water and ¼ cup of plain, non-concentrated bleach will do wonders for your feet. Don’t soak your feet for more than 5 minutes, and then rinse them and scrub them clean. (Do not do this if you have open wounds or sores on your feet!)

7. Powerful disinfectant.
If you like to buy things at thrift stores or garage sales, or want to use something that has been stored for a while in a musty garage, you may want to get them cleaned up before you start using them. Make sure they’re safe to use with bleach, and then leave them in a tub filled with a gallon of water and a ¼ cup of bleach. Leave them there for 10 minutes and then rinse them, and they’ll be as clean as a whistle.

8. Disinfect gardening tools.
You wouldn’t want a doctor to use tools that were used on a sick person without disinfecting them, right? The same goes for gardening tools. You use them to cut and remove sick or rotting plants, and if you don’t disinfect them afterwards, you can infect healthy plants when you use it on them next. Get a bucket and fill it with about ½ gallon of water, and then add ½ a cup of bleach. Soak your garden tools in it, and then let them air dry. This is also effective at preventing them from rusting.

9. Cleaning your garbage cans.
Even the sturdiest of garbage bags can rip and leak nasty substances into your bin, leaving it foul and smelly. When you notice that your trash can is starting to reek, mix some bleach with hot water, wear some gloves and scrub the walls of the bin, then pour the remnants into the toilet (bleaching it too) and give the bin a good rinse.

10. Polishing plastic furniture.
Plastic furniture often is susceptible to grime and bacteria build-ups in their nooks and crannies, making them very hard to clean. The solution is to wear a pair of gloves, mix ½ a cup of bleach into ½ a gallon of water and use a brush or a towel to scrub them clean.

11. Disinfecting towels.
Got white towels that are turning beige or starting to smell funky? Soak them in water with a small amount of bleach, effectively killing any bacteria or mould that may have formed in the fibres. This is also a good thing to do when a family member is sick, and you need to disinfect the towels to reduce the likeliness of infection. Make sure you only use white, 100% cotton towels, otherwise they’ll turn yellowish.
Source: BabaMail
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My thought for today.
An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. Benjamin Franklin

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4 comments:

Sonja Hardy said...

It is now so blatantly clear how harmful Roundup is to humans, animals and the environment, yet governments around the world seem unwilling to do anything about it. Is it that Monsanto have completely pulled the wool over their eyes with their corrupt 'scientific studies,' or that governments fear lawsuits by Monsanto, or is it that get kickbacks from Monsanto for approving the use of Roundup and GM crops? I suspect it's all of the above at least to some degree.

The ONLY way to defeat Monsanto and its poisonous products is through grassroots community action. Spread the word far and wide through social media and blogs like Werner's about the detrimental effects of these products. Boycott Roundup and any foods or other products that contain GMOs.

But it is becoming increasingly difficult to avoid GMOs, as the Australian government has opened 'Pandora's Box' and is approving ever more GM crops. Any processed foods that are not certified organic or labelled 'GMO free' quite likely contain GMOs - especially if ingredients include soy, corn or their derivatives, canola or cottonseed oil (often just called vegetable oil) or any number of flavourings or other additives. So it is very important for consumers to not only read labels, but to become very astute about the likely origins of various ingredients.

And we have to start asking questions of food companies and supermarkets, telling them we don't want GM ingredients in our food. We also need to lobby the government, demanding laws that GM ingredients are labelled.

Dymity said...

Many thanks for this information re bleach being used as a weed killer. I will certainly use it in preference to that terrible Roundup which is so dangerous.

Margaret said...

I certainly found the “bleach” information very interesting, but I was horrified to read about Monsanto and “Roundup”. Keep up the good work.

Phil said...

All very interesting, Werner, but reading about what Monsanto is doing to our food, I no longer wonder why we have so many sick people.