Comments on: An Update on How to Kill Germs Naturally

By: Katie

Katie — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 06:52:17 +0000

Chris,
Thank you, really, for the valuable insight. Sounds like creepy crawlies are all over my counter, for sure. Now I ponder rejuvenating the ol’ bleach and water sprayer… Katie

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:14:12 +0000

You’ll have to excuse me if I’m repeating information from other posts (I skipped to the bottom of the comments rather than reading them all). I agree that the “well meaning email” seemed a little overzealous and gruff, and while I am all for saving money and limiting the amounts of chemicals in the home, I do have a little info to share.
Hydrogen peroxide combats germs using free radicals (much in the same way that the sun’s UV rays can be harmful to our body) to inactivate and destroy many types of bacteria. One thing to keep in mind is there are many types of bacteria that naturally produce a defensive enzyme (catalase I believe) that reacts with H2O2 and leaves it as nothing more than water.
If you kill 95% of the Ecoli living on your counters with H2O2, and the rest receives the inactivated H2O2(water) they will divide and double in something like 20 minutes, that left overnight pretty much negates any cleaning you did after dinner.
In my college immunology lab, we used a 10% bleach solution diluted with water to kill or deactivate everything (Ecoli, Staph, etc.) Plus we washed our hands with warm water for no less than 30 seconds. It’s the basics really.
I don’t say this to convince anyone to stop using homemade cleaners or to make the case that commercial cleaners are the only way to go, but natural oils and extracts are great for some kinds of bugs. Other germs have adapted natural defenses for natural products. We never have just one type of bacteria on the counter; they don’t all work the same way, they aren’t all vulnerable to the same solutions, and different strains of the same type of germ may or may not be resistant to what you use to clean.
That being said, I myself use antibacterial soap or alcohol based hand gels in the kitchen only, and really only disinfect after preparing raw meats. Too sterile is unhealthy and lets the immune system get lazy or “forget” how to battle a lot of the stuff out there.
As a final thought, anyone with small children or toddlers (such as in our family) should definitely weigh the pros/cons of getting surfaces that may be harboring some of the more dangerous bugs “probably clean enough”, while an adult may get an upset stomach, it can wreak havoc on the little ones. Do your own research, don’t use it just b/c mom always did (look at all the cancer and health issues affecting the baby boomers….harmless habits and “it never hurt me”….or maybe it took a few decades to see the extent of the damage.) Stay healthy, stay happy, and God bless.

By: Katie

Katie — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 02:02:00 +0000

Bridget,
Yuck. Deleted that line from the post! Thanks – Katie

By: Bebe

Bebe — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 21:23:02 +0000

Grapefruit seed extract (GSE) and grapefruit essential oil are two different substances. I believe that all the citrus essential oils have quite a high disinfectant capacity, probably from the solvent content in the peels, but GSE definitely has trials and studies behind it proving its germ-killing power. It has no smell though and I like to include the wonderful fresh citrus scents in cleaning applications.

By: Bridget

Bridget — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 20:31:21 +0000

Ummm…I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but have you read about the toxic fumes from Tempurpedic mattresses? (sorry)

By: Katie

Katie — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 07:11:55 +0000

Heather,
Welcome aboard! You got me on that one, I can’t say I’ve heard of that not-so-fun sounding mouthful. It seems like grapefruit seed extract essential oil is supposed to be pretty potent, and tea tree oil is another natural solution, but I can’t say I can vouch for either against that bug. Katie

By: Heather

Heather — Sat, 29 May 2010 06:26:04 +0000

Thanks for the neat site! I am enjoying it. Do you know if these mixtures eliminate clostridium difficille? It’s a nasty tummy bug, and it seems that bleach one of only a few things known to kill it, and then the spores. Thanks for your insight!

By: Katie

Katie — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:36:55 +0000

Bebe,
THAT is an impressive list! Thank you so much for sharing – I have been told about GSE before (and had to ask, “What’s GSE”) but I’ve just never tried it myself. Sounds like something for my shopping list… Katie

By: Bebe

Bebe — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:07:33 +0000

How is it that no one has mentioned grapefruit seed extract? GSE “contains Citricidal… a natural quaternary compound… converts the grapefruit bioflavonoids into an extremely potent compound.. proven to be highly effective in numerous applications.”
Those applications are published elsewhere and include reports that it is MORE effective than chlorine on things such as e-coli, salmonella and even effective as a water purifying agent for organisms such as giardia!
You can take GSE internally!!
I use it in my toilet bowl with baking soda and a few drops of essential oil to leave it scrubbed (baking soda), disinfected (GSE) and smelling fresh and clean (essential oil).
I have used it topically on skin (never full strength, please) for impetigo and fungal infestations. You can use it for a gargle AND drink some when coming down with cold/flu symptoms… plus many, many more applications. It is VERY effective!
I would be quite interested to hear your feedback on this.

By: shelle

shelle — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:10:35 +0000

well i think your site is fabulous…and it’s obvious you have done your reasearch.

personally i think being exposed to germs is our best line of defense…
shelle ´s last blog ..A Giveaway!