Last night, the manager of a plant that makes Clorox wipes was interviewed on nightly news. He said demand has tripled. Consequently, they’re working overtime (and making big bucks). to fill up empty store shelves. Everyone is beginning to panic. Stop! You don’t need wipes to disinfect.
You can’t even buy Clorox wipes on Amazon. They’re out of stock. It boggles the mind, when you know how easy it is to disinfect with plain old bleach. I haven’t seen any store out of it. I always have a big bottle of it in my broom closet. It’s dirt cheap. All you have to do is pour a little bit of bleach into some water, put on some rubber gloves, take an old rag, and voila! You have a disinfectant every bit as good as clorox wipes. You not only saved money, but you helped the environment.
Can you believe there was a time when people didn’t use wipes to clean a baby’s bottom, wash their face, or disinfect? In the early sixties, I used soap and water on a washcloth. I had never heard of a baby wipe. It wasn’t until the seventies that they became popular. It wasn’t long before there were wipes for just about everything. And people thought they couldn’t do without them.
What’s bad about wipes? For starters, they’re bad for the environment. Whether baby wipes or disinfecting wipes, they pose a major problem by clogging up sewer systems. Once they enter the sewer system, wet wipes bunch together and trap food and other waste to form wads called “fatbergs” made of fat from food waste and wipes.
Most wipes contain plastic fibers that are not biodegradable. When the wipes make their way into the ocean, they get ingested by sea creatures, such as turtles, who mistake them for jellyfish. The plastic stays in the stomach of the animal, and eventually, they die of starvation.
Plumbers do not like wipes. Even though some wet wipes are marketed as “flushable” and “septic-safe,” they take a longer amount of time to do so compared to toilet paper. Consequently, clogged pipes and blockages occur more frequently.
Save money, save the environment. First, clean and remove dirt and grime from surfaces. Next, follow the directions on a bottle of bleach to make your own disinfectant solution. But be careful not to use too much. Fumes from too strong a solution can sting your eyes and nose.
Yes, you can get through this pandemic, even if you can’t buy disinfectant wipes.