to not want DH to 'clean' with Zoflora

[PrincessBuggerPants]

My husband does his fair share of cleaning, but does it a bit crap. I have largely put up with this as I am aware he is trying, it is just about livable with and I am aware other men are MUCH, MUCH worse than my husband. DH is also aware of this and reminds me.

However, the latest bugbear is that he insists on using Zoflora to 'clean the kitchen' i.e. wiping down surfaces after preparing a meal. Despite my repeated insistence it is a disinfectant, not a cleaning product and should be used after cleaning, if at all.

AIBU to think he should use a cleaning product instead?

I do a 90 degree wash every once in a while - usually after I or DH have done a proper clean of the oven because I just can’t be arsed to do it very often so after Christmas, especially, plus all the goose/turkey/duck/pork roasts etc we have over winter, it needs a jolly good clean after which numerous cloths, rags and tea towels are absolutely filthy with grease. It gets everything out plus gives the washing machine a good clean as well.

We also do our white towels on a 90 degree wash at least once a year to keep them absolutely white and fresh looking, and again that’s treated as another cleaning cycle for the washing machine.

It's a common misconception it's a cleaner - mind you people are bloody obsessed with the stuff thanks to a certain woman! It's also really bad for pets if you have any

I’m so confused. Presumably he’s not just spraying the zoflora about and then wandering off, he’s actually wiping surfaces? In which case how the hell is that not cleaning? The mechanical scrubbing action will clean just as effectively, surely?

It's pretty nasty toxic stuff. Not for daily use or near food prep areas.

What's wrong with a little bit of soapy water?

But Mrs Hinch doesn't just squirt Zoflora around, wipe it off, and claim she has cleaned things.

She uses it as a disinfectant and occasional deodoriser, for example soaking her cloths in it, and actually seems to clean surfaces with either cream cleaner or more specific cleaning products.

So why the confusion?

I'm not a zoflora addict (I can prove this by the fact that I only have one bottle of the stuff in at one time) but I do use it to wipe the sides down. If the sides have food remnants on though I wipe this off with the dishcloth and soapy water first. If my dh had it in him to even know what zoflora was let alone use it then I'd not be grumbling!

I like Flash with Febreeze for the bathroom and Flash with Fairy for the kitchen.

I am coming over a bit faint at the thought of cleaning something once then disinfecting it. That's double the effort. Not to mention double the amount of product/expense/ damage to the environment etc etc.

My new washing machine has a self cleaning programme, but I haven't used it yet because it seems such a waste of a cycle for it to be humming away to itself with nothing inside. I do run cleaning programmes on the dishwasher , but then a dishwasher has all sorts going through it, and then we eat off the plates.

I use very little product. I don’t have any Zoflora. And I don’t believe in over cleaning (for various reasons, but mainly because I have much more interesting things to do and think about than that). So I think I’m fine.

Airbnb has sent a cleaning regime to hosts. You clean with a detergent to break down and remove grease and dirt. You then disinfect to remove potential infected surfaces. I do agree that 'cleaning' should not be done with disinfectant alone, it won't remove dirt. The exception to this I make when mopping the shower room floor on occasion, as extremely hot water alone can remove dirt.

Who knew!?

I use Koh and ecloths to clean. Assuming no-one in the house is immunocompromised if something is properly clean it doesn’t need additional disinfecting. In fact disinfecting kills healthy bacteria as well as any potentially dangerous ones so can be very unhealthy and weaken our immune system.

That being said, I love the clean fresh smell of some Zoflora so add a couple of drops to my spray bottle of Koh, but in such a small quantity I hope it isn’t killing the bacteria that exist in my very clean kitchen.

I sometimes use Zoflora to clean up a bit. I have just used some on two window ledges, my cats sit there often, and leave dirty paw marks all over the sills. I sometimes hope that the strongish smell will deter them sitting there, but it never does.

I didn't know I was supposed to clean and then disinfect.

I didn't know I was supposed to clean and then disinfect.

You're not unless you work in a hospital

Let go and leave him to it. Do what you prefer when you do housework. Some things are not worth bringing unnecessary angst into a relationship for. & Even if you are right - So? Accept another person isn't going to do things in the way that you do, or expect them to.

Cosyblanky depends on the level of dirt/grease though doesn’t it? You can definitely get rid of a lot of dirt and grease by sufficient scrubbing, a degreaser just makes it easier.

Another vote for if you want it cleaning your way, you clean it.

My cleaning is not up to the standard of my DH - if I clean, it's clean enough and if he doesn't watch me do it he wouldn't comment. If he watches me and sees how I'm doing it / what product I'm using, then it's the worst cleaning in the world and not good enough.

I regularly tell him that he if he wants to comment on HOW I do something, then he is more than welcome to it himself exactly how he wants to.

I’m going to clarify that on reading the OP it said after cooking so I assumed OP was referring to cleaning and disinfecting chopping boards after handling raw meat etc.

If I’m just wiping counters or surfaces for general maintenance, I degrease where needed, or just wipe over everything to surface clean. No disinfectant needed.

I didn’t realise cleaning was so complicated grin. I just use a multi surface cleaning spray.

As do I. I don't disinfect at all. I'm still here to tell the tale. For now

You aren't supposed to clean then disinfect. You are supposed to clean, and only disinfect if necessary, which I don't think is normally necessary in a domestic setting, international pandemics of infectious diseases not withstanding.

What you really aren't supposed to do is skip the cleaning and just disinfect a kitchen surface that does in fact need cleaning. And then claim you have cleaned it, as my husband has done.

To clarify what we both normally do:

Me: Wipes down surfaces with soapy water = cleaning

DH: Sprays Zoflora on surfaces then wipes them down = disinfecting NOT CLEANING

NB: I would disinfect the kitchen if somebody in the household was ill.

Hot soapy water clean, then rinse, then dry, and then disinfect with zoflora or flash or whatever in this house.

Thankfully my DH is way more fastidious than I am and when he has the time likes to do thorough cleaning sessions. I agree with others, where it’s not a matter of filthiness/laziness/taking the piss/disrespect/sexism but purely a difference in opinion as to how important full-on cleaning is, or how exactly things are done, the more fastidious person should generally clean to their standards and the lesser so, to their standards.

Zoflora and MN, the two go together so well. It's the liquid of Satan!!! 💀

Have never knowingly used two products in the same area.

But then I don't use fabric conditioner either.

We survive