Mildew cleaners

Mildew removers are very closely related to the spray bleach cleaners discussed above. The main distinction between general household bleach cleaners and mildew removers is the concentration of bleach. While in the household cleaners the bleach level rarely exceeds 2% available chlorine, in mildew cleaners the level may reach as high as 3%. This is testament to the tenacity of the melanin stain that molds and mildews are able to produce, particularly in porous substrates like grout. Beyond this difference, the types and amounts of surfactants tend to be similar, as are the choice of alkalinity agent and the presence of any builders. 

Another major category of specialty cleaner is mildew cleaners. Mildew is largely a problem in the bathroom, but it can occur in trash cans, refrigerators, and otha kitchen surfaces. The main focus of mildew cleaners tends to be their use in the bathroom, especially in the shower enclosure. Mildew cleaners are a subset of the general category of bleach cleaners, which were discussed in a previous chapter. 

The main purpose of the mildew cleaners is to get rid of the black mildew on bathroom surfaces. It can be argued whether or not these are cleaners if the consumer does not wipe the surface. This is because a distinction can be drawn between decolorization and cleaning. If the mildew cleaner is simply sprayed on the surface and left, the characteristic color of the mold will be bleached. However, the actual body of the mold is still left on the surface until the surface is wiped or scrubbed. The surface is therefore not cleaned until the surface is physically wiped so that the surface infestation is removed. 

Hypochlorite Tub and Tile Cleaner and Mildew Stain Remover... 

Hard Sioface Cleaners and Cleansers. Bleaching agents are used in hard surface cleaners to remove stains caused by mildew, foods, etc,... 

FIG. 13.6 Modern spray trigger packaging (a) glass and surface cleaners, (b) mold and mildew and bathroom cleaners. 

Three categories of bathroom cleaner are discussed here general bathroom cleaners, mildew removers (with some cross-over to bleach cleaners), and toilet bowl cleaners. Automatic toilet bowl cleaners are not discussed due to the dominance of solid, and not liquid, forms in this group. 

Bleach-free cleaners generally show little effectiveness against the black stains caused by mold/mildew. Bleach cleaners are effective at removing this stain, and... 

Another place where dual packaging also comes into play is the use of peroxide for mold cleaning. Peroxide has a higher oxidation potential than hypochlorite (-1.36 eV for sodium hypochlorite and —1.8 eV for hydrogen peroxide), but paradoxically does not work with the speed of hypochlorite on bathroom mildew. However, peroxide has essentially no odor, in contrast to hypochlorite that has a distinctive and unpleasant odor. Without activation, peroxide bleach would take longer to do the job that hypochlorite does more quickly. One patent, therefore, incorporates an activator into a peroxide mold cleaner, but puts the formulation into a dual-chamber package so as to ease the job of stabilizing the formula on the shelf [349],... 

An important bathroom soil is mold/mildew stain. A distinction has to be made with regard to this soil. Cleaning tests are a measure of the cleaner s ability to... 

Bathroom Cleaner with Hypochlorite Bleach (Mildew Remover)... 

Household cleaners are generally used on every hard surface in the home except for dishes. In this chapter, the discussion concentrates on specialty cleaners that are formulated for specific cleaning problems, whereas all-purpose cleaners and their variants are covered in Chapter 2. This means that most of this chapter will be spent discussing cleaners used in the bathroom—such as soap scum cleaners, mildew removers, and toilet bowl cleaners. Additionally, there are cleaners that are used for extremely narrow use, such as oven and drain cleaners. Disinfectant cleaners as variants of all-purpose cleaning were covered in the previous chapter, but will also be covered here with the emphasis on the disinfectant action rather than on the cleaning function. 

Most specialty cleaners come as water-based liqnid formnlations, althongh there are exceptions. Drain cleaners now have liqnid as well as powder forms. Antomatic toilet bowl cleaners come both as liqnids in elaborate dosing containers and as solid blocks or pncks. Oven cleaners tend to come as aerosols or liqnid sprays. Most of the bathroom cleaners, shower treatments, toilet-bowl cleaners, mildew removers, and the like are liqnids. 

Most of the specialty cleaners that are formulated for household use are intended for the bathroom. Although hard water scale can occnr in any room with running water, soap scum and mildew tend to be concentrated in the bathroom. Bathroom cleaners mostly are claimed to have action against the big three of bathroom soils soap scnm, mildew (or mildew stain), and hard water buildup. These soils are best removed with specialized chemistry, and so the specialty cleaners are very successful in this area. 

Mildew cleaning can be a little more problematic to test. Real mildew is a living system that can be hard (in a laboratory) to reproduce at need on the desired surfaces. In point of fact one is not testing cleaning (in the sense of removing soil from a surface) but decolorization. The difficulty is in establishing the stained surface so that a realistic estimate of the bleaching ability of the cleaner under real conditions can be assessed. 

As commented previously, these cleaners depend largely on the nonsurfactant ingredients. The chemistry of the cleaner is tailored more closely to the chemistry of the soil than the chemistry of all-purpose cleaners, which seek to remove the broadest variety of soils from the widest variety of surfaces. However, in practical fact, all-purpose cleaners are generally tailored to the removal of grease. This means that they can still remove soap scum or dirt or mildew from a surface, by virtue of their surfactancy, but not to the depth or with the efficiency or ease that the specialty cleaners do. This is the raison d etre of specialty cleaners—if all-purpose cleaners were really that efficient on all surfaces, then the specialty cleaners would not exist. 

As with carpet-cleaning methods, the types of cleaners used also depends on the nature of the fiber, the nap, types of traffic, and the amonnt and character of the soils. Overwetting of the carpet should be absolutely avoided to prevent shrinkage, discoloration, mildew and odor growth, and even seam splitting. 

Use the foaming cleaner on the interior, this time stopping short of saturating it so you don t get mildew. If you have a vinyl or leather interior be sure to use a cleaner specific to the material (not foaming upholstery cleaner ). 

Uses Surfactant, surf. tens, reducer, wetting agent for mildew removers, tile cleaners, bowl cleaner, tire cleaners, bleaching of paper pulp and textiles, dairy cleaners, hard surf cleaners hydrotrope, detergent, wetting agent for It. to mod. duty alkaline systems Features Hypochlorite-stable... 

Uses Biological hard surf, cleaner, odor eliminator, sanitizer for bathroom fixtures, sinks, toilets, drain lines, septic systems, waste treatment facilities Features Degrades residual organics environmentally friendly effective on mold and mildew... 

Uses Surfactant, emulsifier for acid and alkaline cleaners, disinfectants, personal care prods., household cleaners, tub and tile cleaners, mildew removers, textile scours, dairy cleaners... 

Uses Emulsifier, stabilizer for emulsion polymerization emulsifier, wetting agent, hydrotrope for use in alkaline cleaning sol ns., dishwash, hard surf, cleaners, mildew removers, dairy cleaner, oven cleaner, metal cleaning, textile processing, plastics mfg. 

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