Spa bath grot thing

[RecursiveMoon]

I've read a few threads with tips about how to clean spa baths (is that the right term? Anyway, ill advised baths with holes and pumps etc).

Can someone please remind me what I should use? Is it dishwasher tablets or something ?

PS My house is significantly cleaner since I discovered MN. I generally try to ignore the bath.

Have come to join you recursive, we have the same problem, I've heard dishwasher powder is supposed to be good as it doesn't foam. I also use zoflora, loads of crap comes out so I'm guessing it does something? Anyway, would like to know more so I don't give the kids legionnaires. I think we'll make 1000 posts by 11pm easy

Hi Marvellous! Thank goodness, I was beginning to feel lonely. What's Zoflora? I'm scared to turn my bath pump on! I will do it though, once I've identified the right cleaning product(s).

Fill bath as though you were having a spa bath (ie all holes/pumps covered by water), put 1/4 bottle Milton fluid into water, turn on jets as if having spa...

20 minutes later empty the bath give a rinse and voila!! You have a sparkly, clean, sanitised and sterlised bath

Blondie, that reminds me of when I proudly told my friend that I'd cleaned the bathroom so well I'd even put bleach on the black mould spots in the shower.

She looked at me disparagingly and said 'Oh, right, so now you have white dirt. The mould's still there, you know.'

I've never felt so deflated .

Here is some lovely cheap Milton Sterilising Fluid

AmI What a b*tch!! I bleach my mould spots too, happy for them to be there as long as they can't be seen personally... Haha, surely bleach kills and gets rid of the mould, no?

I'm sure milton would work, but I use dishwasher tablets -same instructions but fill with v hot water and add about 3 tabs. Rinse by refilling and running pump again so the clean water swooshes through.

ami - the chemical reaction which makes bleach whiten things does living organisms no good at all so it should be pretty dead mould, even if it is still there.

bleach kills black mildew, and once dead, it comes off easier.

if there is a film of grease, soap scum and skin, that has to be cleaned off too, as it feeds the mould.

That's what I thought, Blondie, Grimma and Piglet. Glad to see I've got the Mumsnet Massif behind me !

Piglet, no films of any kind allowed in my bathroom. In fact, I'm surprised the mould dares to make an appearance. It sneaks up on me in the night!

WRT the spa bath, I'm wondering if milton, bleach, etc would corrode the pipe work? My plumber told me never to use bleach for that reason (fat lot of notice I took, obvs!).

I do try to use more gentle stuff on a weekly daily basis. I think you might get alot of the gunk out with Bicarb and Vinegar, RecursiveMoon. You'd need alot, though. Summer Naturals sells them in bulk. You would need to fill the bath over the top of th eholes, then dump a load of bicarb and vinegar into that and switch on. It's better for your skin as well (I'm sure the pipes would retain some of whatever you use for cleaning and send it back into the bath next time you used it).

Er...surely bicarb and vinegar shouldn't be used at the same time. They'll react and neutralise each other. You will end up with a solution of sodium acetate and liberate carbon dioxide, I doubt it will clean your pipes.

I hope Milton wouldn't corrode the pipework as I use it to sterilise bottles, dummys, spoons and all manner of things that go in mouths!!

It's just sterilising fluid, nothing corrosive in it as far as I'm aware...

Its dilute bleach and salt. Supposedly not corrosive... whether its effective when further diluted in a bathful of water I don't know.

I use bicarb and vinegar to clean all the time.

I don't know much about the chemistry, but I do know that if you sprinkle bicarb on the surface (I usually use it for stuff in the kitchen-esp the greasy hob), then pour vinegar over it, the bubbling and fizzing action breaks up all the greasy burnt on grot, and makes it much easier to wipe off.

I just thought it might do the same thing in the pipes. You need something that will blast away the grot, but not harm the skin or the 'workings' of the spa bath.

OP, have you still got the manufacturer's instructions, or can you contact them? They must have advice for this sort of thing?

Hmm, I don't think I have an instruction manual from the maker... I bet they're in cahoots with Milton though.

ami - it works that way if you use solid bicarb and vinegar straight onto it, but I don't really think its going to do much when diluted in a bathful of water.

Milton isn't diluted bleach it's de-ionised so the corrosive aspect of the ingredients is gone, but the sterilising and germ-killing power of them is still present...

What is de-ionised bleach then? How do the molecules know that they must retain their corrosive but not their disinfecting powers?

Chlorine causes rubber and plastic seals to perish and leak prenaturely.

It is a chemical compound and therefore can be chemically altered by man...

The first two questions answer this quite simply and effectively IMO...

www.milton-tm.com/frequently_asked_questions.html

Milton website says:
"Q: What is Milton Fluid?
The Milton Sterilising Fluid is a 2% aqueous solution of sodium hypochlorite that contains 16.5% salt."

I say (and so does Wikipedia):
"Sodium hypochlorite is a chemical compound with the formula NaOCl. Sodium hypochlorite solution, commonly known as bleach or clorox, is frequently used as a disinfectant or a bleaching agent." and "Sodium hypochlorite has been used for the disinfection of drinking water. A concentration equivalent to about 1 liter of household bleach per 4000 liters of water is used"

Household bleach is, in general, a solution containing 4-6% sodium hypochlorite and 0.01-0.05% sodium hydroxide; the sodium hydroxide is used to delay the breakdown of sodium hypochlorite into sodium chloride and sodium chlorate

So, Milton contains bleach, and salt (NaCl) for some reason, and presumably added water to dilute it so that it is not as strong as ordinary undiluted household bleach.

Milton says
"Q: Is Milton the same thing as bleach?

No. Bleach is an irritant and can burn the skin and corrode materials. Swallowing bleach can seriously harm human health and absolutely cannot be used to sterilise baby?s bottles or accessories.

Milton is non-corrosive and doesn?t cause irritation. It does not burn the skin, and can be used as an antiseptic in certain dilutions.

The Milton Method can also be used to treat water to make it safe to drink."

However they do not say in what way it is different, except that it also contains salt and is apparently diluted with more water.

Tell me if I'm wrong.

If it is deionised, which ions are removed? It obviously isn't just deionised water.

I use a HG whirlpool bath cleaner, brought it in homebase

Piglet You obviously missed the second question, or are just being difficult/obtuse...

^"Q: Hypochlorites are known to be unstable. Is Milton Sterilising Fluid any different?"

"Yes. The purification process during the manufacture of Milton ensures complete removal of all heavy metal ions, which would normally act as a catalyst to chemically break down many hypochlorites, causing instability. Therefore accurate levels of available chlorine can be obtained with Milton Sterilising Fluid."^

The Na (Sodium) ions are de-ionised, thus making it a stable solution suitable for sterilisation and cleaning without the dangers of bleach.

Also you say Milton contains bleach and salt - this is incorrect - bleach contains sodium hypochlorite and sodium hydroxide. Milton only contains sodium hypochlorite, which is just salt - NaCl, the chemical name for salt is literally Sodium Chlorine compound any variation of this can still be called salt, but to varying percentages. The sodium hydroxide in the bleach is what makes it dangerous as well as the 4-6% ionised sodium hypochlorite.

I'm glad to see the FAQ page is working now, it didn't when I tried your link earlier.

I don't understand "The purification process during the manufacture of Milton ensures complete removal of all heavy metal ions"

Is Sodium considered a heavy metal? What does sodium hypochlorite turn into when you remove the sodium? Or do they mean some other metal?

Apologies for the snippy intro would blame being 34 weeks pregnant, tired and fed up, however there's no excuse, so do forgive me!

Because of it's reactivity Sodium is (wrongly IMO) classed on their site as a heavy metal - it is one of the most polarised metals found on earth and has a considerably more dense number of ions, therefore causing the strong polarity (think + or -) than other more inert metals. This polarity makes it so highly reactive, BUT this polarity can be taken away from it, if necessary. When the sodium is removed if there are no other elements it will simply leave Chlorine (the hypo- beginning and -ite ending on the chlorine refer to the chemical process used to join the chlorine to it's attachee, in this case sodium). However if you remove the sodium in an environment where water is present the sodium and chlorine will dissociate (separate) due to the polarity of the water and create what we would call saline solution (salt water) and chlorination, in very small amounts which provides the sterilisation element (think swimming pool use of chlorine).

I don't know if this explains it any better than I have?

Basically unless you are passing electricity through the water (which you wouldn't) it won't react to create Sodium Hydroxide or Hydrochloric Acid :)

Therefore chemically, it's ideal to sterilise with as it breaks down in water to provide a chlorine solution dilute enough to both sterilise and be safe for human consumption!