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stamp out stubborn stinkers
posted December 13, 2011 by alexis |
isn’t it a curious thing that you can wash a surface, a pet or hands after handling an onion, garlic or fish and, even though the surface was cleaned, the odors persist? there’s all kinds of chatter on the web about how to remove odor – tomato juice, peroxide and small dab of dish soap. but do any of them work?
first, a little chemistry lesson. there are three primary chemical classes of odors that are most frequently encountered around the house. I know you may be able to name others, but they generally they fall into these three classes of chemicals:
sulfur compounds, called thiols or sulfides. i.e. skunk, onions and garlic
nitrogen compounds, such as amines or ammonia. i.e. pet urine, fish
organic and fatty acid odors. i.e. sweaty athletic clothes, smelly feet
and sometimes cleaning is not enough. cleaning is the process of surfactants and solvents washing away dirt, and often other things you don’t see, like bacteria and odors. but when you have a stubborn odor like onion or garlic, you need something more. method kitchen hand wash has a special ingredient that neutralizes those odors that are difficult to wash off. it works like gangbusters.
we tried the following test on a new employee on his first week at method (well, I guess it was sort of “hazing,” but it was a good experiment). we rubbed a stinky concoction of chemicals representing rotten fish and other not-to-be-mentioned bad stuff on both hands. then we washed one hand with regular soap and the other with method kitchen hand wash. at first, there wasn’t a big difference. the wash seemed to work for both. yet after a few hours, the hand washed with regular soap had a noticeable stench, while the kitchen hand wash hand was clean as a whistle. fortunately we had the cure, and washed both hands with kitchen hand wash. and our new employee didn’t quit.
this might be a good classroom experiment, although it takes a bit of time for some odors to return. have you ever tried anything else to combat stubborn stink? tell us about it!
