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#11
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Cleaning litterboxes, revisited
wrote in message
... OK, forget the bleach. I can't deal with all the precautions you have to take, lest you inadvertently create deadly gases in your bathtub. I'm going to go the environmentally friendly route. So I bought some vinegar and some baking soda. And then I went hunting through my saved articles from RPCA about this topic, but sadly I didn't find any recipes for disinfecting cleaners made from these substances. I wouldn't worry about creating dangerous gases - that only happens when you pour liquid bleach into liquid amonia. The tiny bit of amonia that might be left in the boxes from the cats' urine would not be enough to make a reaction. In fact, chlorine bleach is the *safest* thing you can use to disinfect litter boxes (we *drink* chlorinated water!). Just pour a little diluted bleach into the empty box and scrub. After washing, just rinse it well and dry it. The trace amounts of bleach left will not react with cat's urine to create a dangerous fumes. Hugs, CatNipped However, I did find this: From: Sherry This works *wonderfully* if anyone ever needs it: You take 1/2 cup of salt, and 1/2 cup of baking soda and pour it down the drain. Then you pour in about a cup of vinegar. You let that fizz a while, then pour a pan of boiling water down it. Our back bathroom sink used to get hair clogs a lot. I do that in that bathroom too, and it *never* clogs up anymore. This might not be for cleaning litterboxes, but I figure that if it can unclog a drain, then maybe it can disinfect a litterbox? Any thoughts? Sorry for harping on what is probably a boring topic for most of you, but I am searching for the perfect cleaning agent which is (1) an effective disinfectant, (2) not poisonous to humans or cats, and (3) not a harsh mixture to pour into the sewers. So far, I've batted a perfect zero. Please tell me I've found the holy grail! -- Joyce To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. ^..^ |
#12
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Cleaning litterboxes, revisited
Ted Davis wrote:
I have used ammonia, but only with even better ventilation than I demand for bleach. Never, ever, mix the two - the resulting mono- and di-chloramines are a nasty way to die. Yeah, I remember hearing about that when I was young. Housewives died that way! I truly can't stand the smell of ammonia. It's worse than Lysol, which I realize I shouldn't use. Bleach is the best of the bunch, smell-wise. One idea I had was to (1) dump out all the old litter, (2) fill the box with hot water, (3) take it out to the back porch, and (4) add bleach and let it soak out there. Then (5) bring it back in to dump down the bathtub. Or could I dump it in the back alley, behind my building? Would that be safe? I'm not sure whether there's a drain back there. I thought there was, but recently I looked for it and couldn't find it, although there's a bunch of junk and leaves on the cement, so it could be underneath that. -- Joyce To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. ^..^ |
#13
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Cleaning litterboxes, revisited
wrote in message ... Ted Davis wrote: I have used ammonia, but only with even better ventilation than I demand for bleach. Never, ever, mix the two - the resulting mono- and di-chloramines are a nasty way to die. Yeah, I remember hearing about that when I was young. Housewives died that way! I truly can't stand the smell of ammonia. It's worse than Lysol, which I realize I shouldn't use. Bleach is the best of the bunch, smell-wise. One idea I had was to (1) dump out all the old litter, (2) fill the box with hot water, (3) take it out to the back porch, and (4) add bleach and let it soak out there. Then (5) bring it back in to dump down the bathtub. Or could I dump it in the back alley, behind my building? Would that be safe? I'm not sure whether there's a drain back there. I thought there was, but recently I looked for it and couldn't find it, although there's a bunch of junk and leaves on the cement, so it could be underneath that. I would probably be a big improvement on the back alley, as long as it isn't going to splash on anything the bleach could fade. I put diluted bleach on the sidewalks and patio all the time in the winter when they want to grow green stuff that gets slippery. And I put bleach in the bird bath all the time too. Just rinse well. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but if you put a cup of bleach in a gallon bucket of water and let it sit outside for a couple of days, don't you just end up with salt water? Jo |
#14
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Cleaning litterboxes, revisited
"Jofirey" wrote in message ... wrote in message ... Ted Davis wrote: I have used ammonia, but only with even better ventilation than I demand for bleach. Never, ever, mix the two - the resulting mono- and di-chloramines are a nasty way to die. Yeah, I remember hearing about that when I was young. Housewives died that way! I truly can't stand the smell of ammonia. It's worse than Lysol, which I realize I shouldn't use. Bleach is the best of the bunch, smell-wise. One idea I had was to (1) dump out all the old litter, (2) fill the box with hot water, (3) take it out to the back porch, and (4) add bleach and let it soak out there. Then (5) bring it back in to dump down the bathtub. Or could I dump it in the back alley, behind my building? Would that be safe? I'm not sure whether there's a drain back there. I thought there was, but recently I looked for it and couldn't find it, although there's a bunch of junk and leaves on the cement, so it could be underneath that. I would probably be a big improvement on the back alley, as long as it isn't going to splash on anything the bleach could fade. I put diluted bleach on the sidewalks and patio all the time in the winter when they want to grow green stuff that gets slippery. And I put bleach in the bird bath all the time too. Just rinse well. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but if you put a cup of bleach in a gallon bucket of water and let it sit outside for a couple of days, don't you just end up with salt water? Jo chlorine evaporates/dissipates quickly, which is why folks with swimming pools spend so much on replacing the chlorine in their pools I also recently read/was told that peroxide is actually better at disinfecting, cheaper, and safer to use than bleach... anyone with any information about that? Sara |
#15
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Cleaning litterboxes, revisited
On Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:51:16 +0000, bastXXXette wrote:
Ted Davis wrote: I have used ammonia, but only with even better ventilation than I demand for bleach. Never, ever, mix the two - the resulting mono- and di-chloramines are a nasty way to die. Yeah, I remember hearing about that when I was young. Housewives died that way! I truly can't stand the smell of ammonia. It's worse than Lysol, which I realize I shouldn't use. Bleach is the best of the bunch, smell-wise. One idea I had was to (1) dump out all the old litter, (2) fill the box with hot water, (3) take it out to the back porch, and (4) add bleach and let it soak out there. Then (5) bring it back in to dump down the bathtub. 1) dump the litter 2) scrape out the sticky residue 3) rinse, preferably with a hose (a hose with hot water is even better) 4) wash with something like dish detergent and warm water - use a brush 5) rinse with cold water 6) soak in bleach water, using a dish mop or something similar to keep the sides as wet as possible - discard the bleach water maost anywhere. 7) rinse 8) rinse 9) rinse Or could I dump it in the back alley, behind my building? Would that be safe? I'm not sure whether there's a drain back there. I thought there was, but recently I looked for it and couldn't find it, although there's a bunch of junk and leaves on the cement, so it could be underneath that. There is no need to use a large amount: keep swishing a relatively small amount of bleach water around for several minutes. It really should go down the sewer, but if diluted by filling the pan with water, it can safely be dumped most anywhere. -- T.E.D. ) MST (Missouri University of Science and Technology) used to be UMR (University of Missouri - Rolla). |
#16
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Cleaning litterboxes, revisited
Ted Davis wrote:
Unscrew the heat lamp and use that fan. Assuming the heater is a screw in type lamp. This makes me realize just how many small problems are caused by the fact that the world is not a friendly place for people of my body type. That being short'n'fat [TM]. The short part means I can't reach things, such as heat lamps that are in the ceiling. And the fat part means that 99% of ladders that you can buy in a discount store, which are reasonably priced, are not rated for my "weight class". The more sturdy ladders that are rated for my weight are very expensive. (Wait - did I say more lightweight ladders are "reasonably" priced? *No* ladder is reasonably priced. But sturdy ones are astronomical.) I guess if you're a guy, you tend to take stuff like being able to reach high bulbs, etc, for granted. Sorry, I don't mean to be discarding your advice - it's actually excellent advice, and if it were easy for me to do it, I would! I would really like to have a usable fan without that stupid heater. Hmmm... where's my 6-foot friend when I need him? -- Joyce To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. ^..^ |
#17
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Cleaning litterboxes, revisited
wrote in message ... Ted Davis wrote: Unscrew the heat lamp and use that fan. Assuming the heater is a screw in type lamp. This makes me realize just how many small problems are caused by the fact that the world is not a friendly place for people of my body type. That being short'n'fat [TM]. The short part means I can't reach things, such as heat lamps that are in the ceiling. And the fat part means that 99% of ladders that you can buy in a discount store, which are reasonably priced, are not rated for my "weight class". The more sturdy ladders that are rated for my weight are very expensive. (Wait - did I say more lightweight ladders are "reasonably" priced? *No* ladder is reasonably priced. But sturdy ones are astronomical.) I guess if you're a guy, you tend to take stuff like being able to reach high bulbs, etc, for granted. Sorry, I don't mean to be discarding your advice - it's actually excellent advice, and if it were easy for me to do it, I would! I would really like to have a usable fan without that stupid heater. Hmmm... where's my 6-foot friend when I need him? Sometimes this body type keeps us on the ground where we belong. Charlie crushed his heel two years ago when a ladder collapsed on him in our garage. Of course I was out of town at the time. He was being careful. Our ladders are fairly decent. He checked the weight rating. And he wasn't carrying anything UP the ladder. He failed to take into account the weight of what he intended to carry down the ladder. My biggest gripe is seatbelts. I believe in them. I also believe if I'm ever in a bad accident mine will probably kill me because it creeps up across my throat. Cars are not designed for my height (not much) or weight (fairly high) Jo |
#18
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Cleaning litterboxes, revisited
Jofirey wrote:
Sometimes this body type keeps us on the ground where we belong. LOL. I like to think that the earth is fond of me and wants to keep me close to it. Charlie crushed his heel two years ago when a ladder collapsed on him in our garage. Ouch!! This is what I'm afraid of. The lights outside my front door are forever going out, and then I need to bug the landlord to change them. That's pretty lame. But the balcony is on the second floor, and I really would not like to not only *fall off* the ladder (or have it collapse under me), but then also to fall off the balcony 1.5 stories down. (I live on a steep hill, and the second floor is one and one-half stories up in front.) So, so far I haven't attempted to change them myself. My biggest gripe is seatbelts. I believe in them. I also believe if I'm ever in a bad accident mine will probably kill me because it creeps up across my throat. You'd be surprised. My seatbelt always goes across my neck, too, and I've always assumed the same. But several years ago I was in an accident and the seatbelt did exactly what it was supposed to do. I wasn't hurt, except for several mysterious bruises in an unusual pattern across my chest. The bruises started near my left shoulder, and were spaced out about 3 inches apart, down and across my body in a diagonal line. The last one was on my right breast. Finally I figured it out: they were the places where the seatbelt made the most contact with my body. Nowhere near my throat! -- Joyce To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. ^..^ |
#19
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Cleaning litterboxes, revisited
Ted Davis wrote:
1) dump the litter 2) scrape out the sticky residue Instruction #2 is a major one. One of my cats' pee does not clump. Instead, it creates a sludgy, grainy paste at the bottom of the box, like wet cement. When I scoop that stuff out, the barely formed clumps fall apart, and dark, wet litter falls back into the box and gets mixed in with the relatively clean stuff. That's why I have to clean the boxes so often - they start to smell within a week, even with frequent scooping. And that's why I'm so obsessed with disinfectants. It's the only way to keep the odor under control. I've tried many different kinds of litter and the result is about the same. In fact, this is the best kind I've used. -- Joyce To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. ^..^ |
#20
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Cleaning litterboxes, revisited
wrote in message ... Jofirey wrote: Sometimes this body type keeps us on the ground where we belong. LOL. I like to think that the earth is fond of me and wants to keep me close to it. Charlie crushed his heel two years ago when a ladder collapsed on him in our garage. Ouch!! This is what I'm afraid of. The lights outside my front door are forever going out, and then I need to bug the landlord to change them. That's pretty lame. But the balcony is on the second floor, and I really would not like to not only *fall off* the ladder (or have it collapse under me), but then also to fall off the balcony 1.5 stories down. (I live on a steep hill, and the second floor is one and one-half stories up in front.) So, so far I haven't attempted to change them myself. My biggest gripe is seatbelts. I believe in them. I also believe if I'm ever in a bad accident mine will probably kill me because it creeps up across my throat. You'd be surprised. My seatbelt always goes across my neck, too, and I've always assumed the same. But several years ago I was in an accident and the seatbelt did exactly what it was supposed to do. I wasn't hurt, except for several mysterious bruises in an unusual pattern across my chest. The bruises started near my left shoulder, and were spaced out about 3 inches apart, down and across my body in a diagonal line. The last one was on my right breast. Finally I figured it out: they were the places where the seatbelt made the most contact with my body. Nowhere near my throat! That is reassuring to hear. I have visions of it strangling me or breaking my neck. In spots where light bulbs are a problem to change, I make a point of buying the super long life bulbs. Or the new mini fluorescents if they fit. Haven't changed the porch light in more than five years. Jo |
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