Recently there was a television program giving tips on how to save money.
One piece of advice was to save the dispensers of liquid hand soap, and refill them with 'bubble bath'. Which did the same job at a fraction of the cost.
What I'm wondering is, what could I add to make it 'anti-bacterial' and how much of it to add to what volume of bubble bath?
How about Tea Tree oil? One source on the web says 4ml to 200ml soap, but it would be worth poking about for more info. (Usual caveats about not using it if pregnant or breastfeeding - I'm guessing from your name that you're neither, but just in case any of the users might be).
Dettol might be suitable. As a capful is enough for a bath, you wouldn't need very much.
There's an enormous list of safe cheap microbicides, take your pick. I'm not sure its a healthy practice though, the idea that these washes mean less bugs means less risk is significantly too simplistic.
NT
We simply dilute the normal anti-bacterial hand wash by at least 50% with water(*). You don't need anything like the quantity of neat hand wash that a normal press of the dispenser produces.
Last lot I did was 50% but I think it could take more dilution maybe up to 60 or 70% total and still be effective as a cleaner.
I used to use washing up liquid and paraffin to make swarfega..
Depends how you define "normal". My normal press is only about quarter way down instead of the full travel the manufacturers would like us to use. That way a bottle of Asda's cheapest handwash lasts for ages.
Angle-grind the dirt off. Takes the germs off, too.
I use dishwashing liquid, which I already have on hand.
Soap is already as antibacterial as any healthy person needs. It's more about technique. See
Cindy Hamilton
Get a small cheap spray bottle (something like 'Neutradol' IIRC) and fill it with ordinary thin bleach. Once you've washed your hands with detergent a spray of bleach and rub dry should disinfect.
The nice clean smell of bleach will also take away the odour of cheap bubble bath.
Owain
I use Ecover washing-up liquid as a general soap for skin, hair and clothes when I'm away from home, as 150ml will last for 2 - 3 weeks. I wouldn't use 'ordinary' w-u liquid as it's too harsh' Ecover's pH is about 5.5. In the late '80s the H&S sheet advised not to 'drink too much of it' under Ingestion!
For general handwashing, foam/buble bath is good, doesn't attack the skin and, used neat, is almost as good as the 'engineering' hand-cleansers - and can be used on damp hands.
Apparently, thorough 'washing' in cold, running water (i.e. rubbing hard and all over - hands, that is!) is more effective at removing bacteria than cursory 'washing' with soap and water.
The correct length/diameter of plastic tube, split and clipped round the stem of the plunger, will limit that.
:-)
Now you have mentioned it..... has anyone had trouble sourcing Swarfega Orange in 4.5kg pack size?
Not d-i-y cheap I know but the best *greasy hand* cleaner I have come across.
regards
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember The Natural Philosopher saying something like:
I just love the smell of Swarfega in the morning.
How pathetic is that? You can buy a brand name liquid hand soap for under a quid. Its not worth the thinking time for the money you could save.
"Swarfega is not a lubricant" etc.
On Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:16:37 -0700, Cindy Hamilton proclaimed:
I use fairy liquid with a liberal helping of granulated sugar (1tbsp or so) on my hands if they are really dirty. Works a treat..
Mike P
= "kerosene"
Bleach, it kills 99% of all known germs.
How pale do you want to end up?
Seriously, forget it and don't buy "antibacterial" washes/wipes etc. They are a marketing gimic and don't do anything for you that a good wash wouldn't do.
Parents bought me one of those big tubs with the plunger on top of the swarfega orange with grit stuff from costco, think that's the 4.5 kilos jobbie... about a foot tall rounded square tub with a screw cap, i used to buy the green swarfega from a farm shop at about 15 quid a tub, but the orange with the pump cost them about a fiver, which i understand is bloody cheap, but of course it's costco, so needs a trade member to get in.
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