Questions tagged [cleaning]
For questions about cleaning agents and methods used to remove dirt, stains, residues, and bad smells, including proper waste disposal. For particular questions about surfactants, use the [surfactants] tag.
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Chemistry behind cleaning with vinegar vs citric acid; do they work differently? Should I prepare the same pH solutions to compare them?
I noticed a pack of "Mysterious Citric Acid" while out shopping so I picked it up to see what the big deal was. Several palates of the stuff had just arrived at a local outlet store. I ...
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I stained my lab workstation with Coomassie blue. How do I clean it?
I stained my work station with Coomassie blue solution during my SDS-PAGE protocol. I have been cleaning but the solution seems to can't be removed. What should I use to remove all these stains?
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Is cleaning silverware with tinfoil and salt dangerous?
Premise: I'm not a chemist and I've already had a look at this and this but they don't fully answer my question.
I have read that you can clean silverware using tinfoil, salt and water, though from ...
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Can stainless steel "soap" bars actually work or is it just deceptive marketing?
The Wikipedia — Stainless steel soap article sounds highly skeptical, although it does include a possible mechanism involving the chromium in the stainless steel binding with the sulfur compounds and ...
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Drano and Bleach reaction? [closed]
I’m not sure if anyone can answer this but I might’ve messed up, or I’m just overreacting.
My bathtub has been clogged for about a month now and I used a splash of Drano to see if it would do anything,...
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What will remove this screen printed logo without destroying the polycarbonate safety sunglasses lens?
I bought some safety sunglasses and didn't notice until I'd taken the tags off that there's an annoying logo painted or printed right in my field of view. (You can feel with your fingertips or ...
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Why do vessels get a better shine when tea-leaves are soaked overnight in it before washing?
The other day I dumped consumed tea leaves into a brass utensil because I needed the tea-pan urgently. The vessel with the tea leaves didn't get around for cleaning until the next day. Ergo, the tea ...
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Best way to bond polyethylene to to aluminum?
I am a quality engineer looking for some chemistry expertise that can hopefully assist in solving a problem we are having at our company. We are a water filtration company and our location produce the ...
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Brown sediment in shower, nothing works
I have an ensuite shower with white floor (or call it pad) which is from some kind of composite plastic material.
Over time, brown discoloration and sediments started to acumulate in areas where the ...
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Are acids effective in removing soap scum?
In my experience, most of the commercial products intended for removing soap scum from bathroom surfaces are ineffective. No matter how long you leave it on or how hard you scrub, the soap scum doesn'...
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Can vinegar be used to clean wood (a porous surface) after it has been cleaned with germicidal bleach?
I recently cleaned moldy air vents and hardwood floor with diluted germicidal bleach water (1/3 cup bleach to 1 gall). I would like to go back in with vinegar to make sure the mold stays gone, mostly ...
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Getting magnesium chloride gunk off a wood shelf
I have a situation. Some magnesium bath salts got left on a wood shelf in my bathroom in a bag that was not closed. Being hydroscopic, it sucked up a ton of water, and then spilled onto the wood. ...
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Rotten chicken smell
My boyfriend and I have a camper and he forgot to take a package of chicken out of the refrigerator before parking it. The chicken sat in the fridge which was off in the heat for a few months. We ...
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Does sodium percarbonate break down into 'safe' compounds in water?
I'm writing this question as a wine brewer (not a chemist), so apologies if I use inaccurate terminology.
I'm interested in using sodium percarbonate as a cleaning/sanitising solution for brewing ...
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Could mixing naphtha-based cleaner and industrial floor cleaner produce hazardous substances?
I work in a car dealership, and the guy who cleans the workshop uses an industrial floor scrubber / vac on the floor tiles. On particularly stubborn oil / soot marks, he uses naphtha-based brake ...
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How to dissolve cobalt ferrite spinel for cleaning reactor? [closed]
I put some cobalt ferrite powder and did some catalytic test and I can't clean my reactor very well. I have already used aqua regia, hydrochloric and nitric acids, sodium hydroxide at high ...
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Possible Plumbing Acid through Leaky Pipe in Floating Ceiling, How to Test/Clean?
So I had a plumber in the other day, and I don't know if he used acid drain cleaner or not. The pipe where the possible leak is, is over some drop ceiling (vinyl or expanded polystyrene).
Before I go ...
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How does soap help in cleaning clothes and rinsing off oil and grease?
When we say that we agitate clothes so that grease particles get separate out from clothes as ionic part of hydrocarbon chains of soap is attached to water and non polar part of chain is dissolved in ...
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Converting dissolved chromates to solids for disposal
I have 4 liters of electrolysis waste that was used to process stainless steel cathodes.
About half of it was oxalic acid based and the other half was sodium bicarbonate based (currently stored ...
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Best bet for separating fused glassware
I have a sintered glass funnel stuck in a flask with a 24/40 ground glass joint.
I regularly used this glassware to process very dilute solutions of uncured photopolymer resin dissolved in ethanol. ...
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General cleaning solution for clinical chemistry applications
I want to reuse some plastic and glass items that I am using to do colorimetric concentration analysis of serum and urine. There are some enzymatic assays, mineral assays and so on. I have been trying ...
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Can Chlorhexidine Gluconate (CHG) be used for disinfection of medical device (e.g. of polyethylene material)? [closed]
Chlorhexidine is commonly used as a skin antiseptic, hand disinfectant, endodontic irrigant etc. It possess antibacterial and antifungal properties, and is considered low toxicity when used in low ...
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Cleaning with Hydrogen Peroxide is not a chemical process?
Reading here:
if the peroxide does seem to help is that the bubbles forming and foaming is helping dislodge tiny particles in the cracks of the mineral.
Is this the case in general for cleaning with ...
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What caused a colour change when I mixed two different dish soaps?
I recently purchased "organic" dish soap refill made from saponified coconut oil and potassium soap (full ingredient list). Instead of waiting for the old dish soap (Dawn) to be completely ...
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Appropriate ways to remove aluminum from the surface of glass?
I'm looking for a way to treat the surface of borosilicate glassware such that it won't contaminate solutions of puriss reagents in conditions that pure $\ce{SiO2}$ wouldn't, yet keep the bulk ...
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Does burning plastic completely disintegrate it? Accidentally melted some plastic in a BBQ, wondering if pyrolytic cleaning is an option
I accidentally barbecued some plastic today, making quite a mess. It's a cushion for a lawn chair, so I imagine probably some sort of plastic or polyurethane.
Rather than cleaning melted plastic ...
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Is my bottle of "RooR"-brand glass cleaning liquid pure isopropyl alcohol or something else?
I have this exact bottle: https://www.grasscity.eu/media/catalog/product/cache/2b55fa971a29a7844993ad77b24950ac/i/m/img_3633_1_1.jpg
I originally purchased it to clean my vaporizer (I've since stopped ...
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Can PTFE be dissolved by aqua regia? [duplicate]
At the moment I am cleaning crucibels in aqua regia. I was wondering, whether I could stir it with a standard PTFE stirring bar or not?
I am not sure if it is needed or if the normal flactuation in ...
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Solvent + Photopolymer Waste Disposal
I have a 3L jug of SLA printer-related waste that's been sitting under my desk for a while now and I'd really like to finally figure out how to get rid of it. It contains:
Ethanol (primarily) and ...
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How to completely remove Iron II Acetate from a steel surface through a chemical reaction?
Is there any suggestion to completely remove iron II acetate from a zinc-alloy steel surface? It can't be something abrasive, or if it is, it must be completely soluble.
Background:
My bike chain, ...
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Electrolysis of copper chloride in solution of Vinegar + H2O2 + NaCl after copper etching
I did copper etching (to make a PCB) using a solution of vinegar + H202 + NaCl and now I need to dispose the solution. There is no waste collection for this kind of stuff where I live, so after some ...
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Surfactant micelles from glassware
FYI to start- I'm not a chemist by training, so assume I'm missing some basic knowledge of the field.
I've been trying to do some electrodeposition with an iridium tetrachloride-based solution, and my ...
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Phosphoric acid spill cleanup
While working with some rust converter (MSDS, ~20% phosphoric acid by weight), a sequence of events that would make Rube Goldberg proud led to me spilling about 500mL of it all over the place. Yes I ...
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Cleaning with vinegar and sodium bicarbonate
Mixing sodium bicarbonate with vinegar (and sometimes adding dishwasher detergent) is quite a common tip on the internet. But I have never understood the reason.
I saw there was a question about using ...
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Can acetic or citric acid be too highly concentrated when used for cleaning copper?
I intend to clean a copper surface with acetic or alternatively citric acid. There are many different concentrations recommended by different sources on the internet. For example vinegar with 10% acid ...
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What is best to clean mold off PVC plastic window frames?
To remove black mold on window sills right next to the glass pane (as a result of condensation), I usually use a combination of water and dish soap or diluted bleach. Is there another chemical that ...
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Chemical difference between hand sanitizer vs hand wash? [closed]
Is there any major difference between hand sanitizer and hand wash?
Is it safe to use hand wash only alone, without use of water?
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Powdered Dipropylene Glycol Monomethyl Ether [closed]
Entrepreneur here, background in electronics, so thank you in advance for your patience with me.
Question:
Is Dipropylene Glycol Monomethyl Ether available as a powder? If not, is there a powdered ...
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how to remove acetone free nail polish remover from a thinkpad laptop keyboard? [duplicate]
I had dried spraypaint on my laptop keyboard and I tried my oxx studio brand nail polish wipes
(ingredients; propylene glycol, dimethyl adipate, dimethyl glutarate, dimethyl succinate, caprylic/capric ...
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Why are acetic acid and sodium bicarbonate mixed to unblock a drain?
I have always wondered about the rationale behind combining white vinegar and sodium bicarbonate to perform household cleaning jobs, and to unblock drains. I would have expected white vinegar to act ...
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Isopropyl Alcohol Vs Acetone for Dissolving Organic Contaminants on PCB
Acetone is widely used in the labs as a solvent to clean the vials and tubes as it is good solvent for organic materials. While Isopropyl alcohol is used as a rubbing alcohol for cleaning contaminants ...
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What would be the best combination to clean polyurethane [closed]
I am struggling to find the best composition to clean old golf balls and make them white again.
The balls are made out of different types of coating, e.g. polyurethane or an isomer.
I have found ...
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How to properly clean spilled battery content?
I was cleaning my wardrobe when I found some huge white-brown blots where there was a lot of batteries that I have use. I was keeping them for properly disposal but I forget to do that.
I ...
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what is the relationship of Salt, White Vinegar and Water to create 1 liter of Hypochlorous Acid [closed]
What is the relationship of Salt, White Vinegar, and Water to create 1 liter of Hypochlorous Acid (for disinfecting and cleaning purposes), and how much time do I have to put it under a 9v battery ...
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DIY hand sanitiser solution forms spongy substance
I am trying to make my own hand sanitiser since it’s sold out everywhere. The formula I use is 1 part aloe vera gel in 2 parts 100% isopropyl alcohol. The problem is when mixing the two, the solution ...
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Cleaning with Vinegar - what surfaces does it react badly with? Metal window sills ok?
I'm cleaning up some mould around the home and I have some substance on my window sills which I'm not quite sure if it's dirt or mould.
I have read about using Vinegar to clean up mould, but an ...
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Why does saliva clean so well?
I notice that saliva seems to clean well, much better than plain water. For example, tar spots on the car can be difficult to get off. I typically use really powerful solvents to get them off, like 95%...
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Why is my washing powder not to be used for pre-wash?
Apologies but I can't find a more suitable stack exchange website to ask this question. I feel the technical answer is chemical in nature so I landed here.
For at least the past two years (and on-...
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Strange Sticky Substance on Digital Camera [closed]
I purchased a used Canon Powershot A1100 IS camera online. When I received it in the mail it had a very strange sticky substance that looked like a thin film.
It resisted attempts at cleaning. Water, ...
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Is propanol 1-2 diol 178 the same as propylene glycol?
I clean vinyl records in an ultrasonic vinyl record cleaning machine the manual states it uses propanol 1-2 diol 178 as a surfactant. I think this is the same chemical as propylene glycol. Is it?
