What’s the deal with those bathroom cleaners you’re supposed to spray around the shower – while still naked – every time you finish bathing?
– Mel Dew
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Dear Mel,
Here is the deal with those bathroom cleaners:
Take ARM & HAMMER® CLEAN SHOWER®. Please. According to the product website, daily usage of the product on still-wet tiles, tub, shower curtain, and shower doors will prevent soap scum and mildew stains. Without scrubbing.
In order to accomplish this feat ARM & HAMMER® CLEAN SHOWER® enlists only a few ingredients: water, surfactant, EDTA, and fragrances. These combined ingredients interact to form a sheeting action, described by this very simple technology:
A surfactant is an amphipathic molecule consisting of a anionic, cationic and nonionic hydrophile and an aliphatic and aromatic hydrophobe, which by force of the reversible association of the effector ligand align together while the chelating agent binds them with the surface material containing the solubilised matter , or:
ARM & HAMMER® CLEAN SHOWER® wants you to know that nowhere in this process appears Balsam of Peru so quit asking. ARM & HAMMER® CLEAN SHOWER® must loathe Balsam of Peru because they proudly list it – alongside bleach and formaldehyde – as one of the ingredients definitely not found in their product. Of course Balsam of Peru is a sweet-smelling resin extracted from Balsam tree bark which acts as a natural antiseptic that combats bacteria. Can certainly see why you wouldn’t want that within fifty feet of your cleaning product.
ARM & HAMMER® CLEAN SHOWER® addresses other concerns in their Frequently Asked Questions:
- Q. Is it safe to use around pets?
- A. Although the product does not contain any harsh ingredients we do not recommend that it be ingested. Please remove your pet from the area and close the door if you cannot keep it from licking the shower surfaces.
- Q. Is it safe to use around children?
- A. Please remove your child from the area if you cannot keep it from licking the shower surfaces.
To review: no harsh chemicals. Safe to inhale. Non-irritating. Is this stuff safe? Don’t. You. Wish. The problem occurs after it leaves your happy bathroom and washes down the drain. Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid is the fancy Russian novel name for the ingredient EDTA – and it just so happens that EDTA is quickly becoming the most abundant man-made compound found in many surface waters.
This is scary because just as EDTA binds your mildew to its soapy matter, it also binds and transports the metals found in soil – such as Zinc, Nickel, Chromium, Copper, Lead, and Iron – so EDTA actually helps to transport radioactive metals away from contained disposal sites. Without scrubbing!
And if in your bathroom EDTA actively breaks down organic matter, then it should come as no surprise that high concentrations in nature decrease plankton and algae growth. It’s the hardest working chelating agent, like,
eh-ver.
And if this isn’t a turn-off then you probably won’t care that the same ingredients found in ARM & HAMMER® CLEAN SHOWER® are the very same ingredients used in the recovery of used lead acid batteries.