I found this container of wipes in the larder when the pandemic hit us in March. (Only three months ago. Seems like forever, but still not many days before my country embraces the “death” part of “Give me liberty or give me death.”)
We have one wipe left.
You don’t know how often I have reached for this wipe and talked myself out of using it.
I do know that I can make my own, and I do have the requisite strength alcohol, but the CDC now claims that it is hard to catch from surfaces.
So why am I holding on to it? It’s stupid, but I kind of feel like this little wipe is protecting our family in some supernatural way. (I SAID it was stupid.)
No doubt some time this month Gary will casually say, “Buy some more wipes. I used the last one.”
11 responses to “Wipe”
Human beings are really quite weird. (and I’d probably save it, too, just in case of Dire Need of some unimaginable kind.)
Bleach wipes are an amazing invention and I love them, but yes, diluted bleach and a rag work *fine* really (although any protein or fat messes get wiped up with something that can be thrown away and *then* bleach-rag-wiped; if you’ve ever tried to get 1/4 cup of bacon grease or two beaten eggs out of a towel, you likely understand…). But what if? I have no idea.
If you are still interested in the case of JJ and Tylee, I found an excellent video that shows the timeline and deaths along the way:
~~Silk
KC – i almost made my own fluid, but the recipe I found was vague on the proportions for alcohol, which I would use over bleach.~~Silk – Thank you. I heard they were found dead on New Dad’s farm, and I thought “Oof, called that one wrong.” Sigh. Evil.
I would bet alcohol content would need to be similar to hand sanitizer alcohol content, aka 80%? But I’d tilt towards bleach, because 1. there is tons of science on how much bleach for each type of surface (because of restaurants, daycares, etc.) and 2. we have bleach and can get bleach here, but rubbing alcohol is still out of stock.
I am a (retired) microbiologist and worked in research labs with various bacteria. We used 70% alcohol (ethanol) for killing bacteria. Supposed to be even better than 95%. Likely true for rubbing alcohol as well. We killed recombinant bacteria with 5% bleach. Bleach is really strong stuff and kills most little critters pretty fast.. 5% would be a little harsh on your skin, but fine for surfaces.
KC – I don’t know where or when Gary got three bottles of the isopropyl alcohol, but he did.
Arlene – we’ve got 70% isopropyl alcohol. It seems that would be fine. The homemade wipes recipes suggest you dilute it. It sounds like you used it straight?
We had large jugs of 95% ethanol. For disinfecting surfaces we diluted it to 70%. I would think the 70% isopropyl alcohol would be good. Does it say on the label?
I’ve read that higher alcohol isn’t always better, since it needs both time+contact, and if you get close-to-pure alcohol it evaporates before it can kill things, but I thought the magic number was 80, not 70! Shows what I (don’t) know…
Everclear 190 proof and aloe vera gel to dilute it a bit and prevent it evaporating too quickly.
Arlene – the label only suggests you apply it with a clean cloth, nothing about diluting.
KC – you are right! I thought we had 75, we have 70, and it should be higher than 70. https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/verify/verify-is-it-true-hand-sanitizers-need-a-certain-level-of-alcohol-to-be-effective/65-cb913c8b-0aa5-4fe6-a165-5dcaa90b5ecb
~~Silk – Everclear is scary stuff. I seem to remember it killing someone in high school. Bleach scares me too, but if I can’t get the ispropyl, I already have bleach.
Hand sanitizers may have different requirements than surface disinfectants (I mean, skin is very different from metal countertop or linoleum or whatever)? No clue, really. Good luck! 🙂