The Adventures of Pine-Sol
Once upon a time I had a pet iguana living in my laundry room. It hid most of the time so I rarely saw it. I would just leave food and water for it, and the food and water would disappear. One day when I went into the laundry room to feed it, I knew it was dead. How did I know?
There were 5000 FLIES! They covered the windows and walls like small pox, and hundreds of them were buzzing around like kamikazes! I did not have any bug spray, and I was too lazy and too cheap to go to the store and buy any. Then it hit me: Pine-Sol kills bacteria. Bacteria are just little bugs, aren’t they? Maybe Pine-Sol will kill bigger bugs like flies.
So I put some Pine-Sol and water in a spray bottle. The spray bottle had different settings just like the fasers on the TV show Star Trek. I set the spray bottle to “kill.” I went out to the laundry room, and pretended I was Captain Kirk.
“Fire Fasers, Mr. Sulu!” “Aye, Sir.” (Squirt, squirt, squirt, splat, splat, splat!)
Guess what? Pine-Sol kills flies REAL GOOD! They dropped like…well…flies…and they were as dead as the flies that land on my horse’s tailpipe.
“Klingon ships at ten o’clock! Fire photon torpedoes!” (Squirt, squirt, squirt, splat, splat, splat!)
I refilled the spray bottle about five times, and sprayed the flies until they covered every inch of the concrete floor. Now what did I use to clean the floor and the dead iguana I found in a cabinet? Well, I used Pine-Sol since I still had plenty of it left. I had only used a quarter of the bottle’s 28 fluid ounces to kill all those flies.
The whole bottle only cost me around $3.00, so I saved a fortune on bug spray. I am sure glad that I never listened to my mother when I was a kid. She told me I was cheap and lazy and would never amount to anything. Boy, did I prove her wrong!
How To Save Money Cleaning Your Carpet
Since the credit card company repossessed my furniture, anyway, I thought this would be a good time to shampoo the carpet. I rented one of those carpet-cleaning machines. The rental only cost me $29; so I was really pleased. However, I found they really screw you when you buy the actual cleaner that goes into the machine. One bottle costs about $10 and only does about two square feet of your carpet!
Hey, why not use Pine-Sol? I did and it cleaned and disinfected the carpet, beautifully! The regular carpet cleaner only made the carpet soapy and wet-and did not seem to disinfect. The Pine-Sol not only did the job better, it also saved me $$$.
Destroy the Evidence
The neighborhood where I live is so tough our area code is 911. My next door neighbor was having a fight with his wife. They were both really drunk and loud! They got into a tussle and she pushed his head through the glass window on their front door.
He was cut and bleeding. He screamed, “Somebody call 911!” I did, and his wife’s ride showed up in a black and white taxi. After the cops took her away, I let my friend borrow my Pine-Sol to disinfect his cuts and to clean the blood stains on his front porch. Pine-Sol is such a versatile product.
Great For Cleaning Most Surfaces
I use Pine-Sol to clean the bathtub, tiles, and shower curtain. I use it to clean the bathroom sink and my porcelain throne. I mop all my tile floors with it, too. I clean the kitchen sink, counters and stove top with it. Pine-Sol also works well for wood surfaces that have a glossy finish. I am very happy with the cleanliness and fresh pine scent it leaves behind after I am done cleaning. 🙂
For the Laundry
Pine-Sol does a good job removing stains on whites and some colors. (Caveat: it can potentially ruin the color of some clothes. Always test it on a non-conspicuous area of the clothing first.) Just apply some Pine-Sol at full strength to the stained area, and throw the garment into the washing machine-then dial 911 because your friend next door is in trouble!
Sometimes when I am out of detergent, I substitute Pine-Sol. Hey, it works. The clothes come out clean and disinfected, but your friends might ask, “Your house is a pigsty; you have dead flies everywhere; why do you smell like Pine-Sol?”
Product Information
Pine-sol is sold in plastic bottles of different sizes. Look for the pine-tree logo and the big yellow letters that say “Pine-Sol” on the bottle. I normally buy the 28 ounce bottle at a cost of around 3 bucks.
Recommended concentration: 1/2 cup of Pine-Sol per 1 gallon of water.
Pine-Sol is made up of 15% pine oil, and contains cleaning agents called surfactants. What the heck is a surfactant, you ask? Here is a formal description:
Surfactants reduce the surface tension of water by adsorbing at the liquid-gas interface. They also reduce the interfacial tension between oil and water by adsorbing at the liquid-liquid interface. Many surfactants can also assemble in the bulk solution into aggregates that are known as micelles. The concentration at which surfactants begin to form micelles is known as the critical micelle concentration or CMC. When micelles form in water, their tails form a core that is like an oil droplet, and their (ionic) heads form an outer shell that maintains favorable contact with water. When surfactants assemble in oil, the aggregate is referred to as a reverse micelle. In a reverse micelle, the heads are in the core and the tails maintain favorable contact with oil.
Does that help? All you really need to know is that this product works. Pine-Sol Cleaner is registered with the E.P.A as a disinfectant. It kills household bacteria on hard non-porous surfaces (it kills flies too). It is not recommended for wood or carpet surfaces, though I personally have had no problems using it on wood or carpets.
You can buy Pine-Sol at grocery stores, drug stores, warehouse club stores and mass merchandisers such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart and Target.
Product Warnings
Eye and skin irritant. Harmful, if swallowed. Do not get in eyes. Avoid prolonged or repeated skin contact. For sensitive skin or prolonged use, wear gloves. Avoid contact with food. Eyes: Immediately rinse with water for 15 minutes. If irritation persists, call a physician. If swallowed: Do not induce vomiting. Drink a glassful of water. Immediately call a physician. Skin: Rinse with water. Keep out of reach of children. Do not use or mix with other household cleaners. Keep away from heat, sparks and open flame.
The folks at Clorox, who own and manufacture Pine-Sol, warn that this product is a skin irritant. I have used Pine-Sol to disinfect cuts with no adverse effects. However, I cannot speak for everyone. If you have sensitive skin, do not put this product on your skin, and use gloves when you clean.
Pine-Sol Trivia
Pine-Sol has been around for over 75 years and was invented by Harry Cole in 1929-just in time for the “Great Depression”. Clorox bought the Pine-Sol Company in 1990.
Web Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine-Sol
Mr. Sulu, Set A Course For Earth
Now that I have defeated the Klingons (flies), shampooed the carpet, saved my neighbor, and finished my cleaning chores, I can safely say that Pine-Sol is the bomb when it comes to cleaning and product versatility. Because Pine-Sol is so concentrated, it is less expensive to use than other cleaners I have tried.
“Mission accomplished! Mr. Sulu, set a course for Earth.” “Aye, Sir.”
