This is the third product in a trio of amazingly simple household cleaners. Check out all the things you can do with vinegar and baking soda, if you haven’t already!
Note that for each use below, we use a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution (comes in small brown containers at the drug store, or 1 gallon drugs at the health food store – sold as “non-chlorine bleach”). Unless otherwise specified below, I use it straight. Note that if you want to keep it in a spray bottle, it must be a bottle that keeps out all light (light breaks down the hydrogen peroxide) – otherwise, put just as much as you’ll use in the spray bottle.
1. Whiten Your Whites and Brighten Your Brights. Works fabulously as a bleach alternative that you can also use on colors. Just put the hydrogen peroxide in the bleach receptacle in washer.
2. Stain Remover. Works very well on blood, if you get to it fairly quickly – I learned this from Matt’s mom who is a nurse! Just pour a bit on a cloth and dab at your clothing; if it has sat for a while, pour some on and let it sit for a couple of hours. Also, some people just have a chemical difference in their sweat that leaves yellow underarm stains on white clothing. Or wine stains on a white blouse? Again, pour some hydrogen peroxide on the stain and let it sit a couple hours. Then wash as you would normally – this works for me every time!
3. Antiseptic. Works great to help kill germs and prevent infection on cuts and scrapes. Make sure it bubbles up first before dabbing it off.
4. Mouthwash. You can use it straight or mix 1 to 1, water to hydrogen peroxide. Gargle, Swoosh, Spit, and Rinse. This works well if you have canker sores or other mouth sores.
5. Toothpaste. You can make your own toothpaste by using two tablespoons of baking soda and one tablespoon of peroxide. I don’t do this regularly, but I have done it in a pinch.
6. Cutting Board and Countertop Sanitizer. Vinegar kills most germs, and hydrogen peroxide kills most of the rest. The two kill more germs and bacteria than bleach alone, if you do this: have the vinegar and hydrogen peroxide in two different spray bottles, spray on one first, then the other. Then rinse clean.
7. Watering Your Plants. If you tend to over-water your plants, this is for you. Mix 1 oz of hydrogen peroxide with 1 quart of water, and water your plants normally. This adds oxygen to your soil, helping stave off root rot and enhances root development. I do this particularly with plants whose soil is overly dense and more prone to water-logging.
8. Kill Shower Mold and Mildew. Spray on the surface and let sit, then wipe clean. Or spray after your shower to prevent mold from forming.
9. Toilet Bowl Cleaner. Pour 1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide into the bowl, let stand for 20 minutes, and scrub clean.You can do the same thing with vinegar.
10. For Faster Germination When Soaking Seeds. This is a new one to me – I just read about it and haven’t tried it yet. Apparently if you soak your seeds in 1 cup of water mixed with 1.5 t hydrogen peroxide, the seeds will germinate faster. Has anyone tried this yet?
Bonus: Pretty Much Any Time You Run Out Of Vinegar While Cleaning, you can substitute hydrogen peroxide!
Alright, Y’all, What Else Have You Used It For?
Is there anything not on this list that you have tried? Or have you heard any other ideas?
Similar Posts:
- What Eco / Green Household and Personal Cleaning Products Do I Use?
- GREEN YOUR INSIDES: The #1 Cheapest & Most Versatile Product For Your Home
- Twenty Uses For Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate)
- Organic Ant Control
- For Ladies Only: Greening Your Menstrual Cycle
Loading ...
I discovered Hydrogen Peroxide earlier this year when I got a sore throat/cold 3 days before going to a music festival. I was off work so knew I could afford to take to my bed to try and clear it quicker. I’d read about HP’s ability to kill bacteria and found it in my local chemist. I used a couple of drops in each ear and gargled with it for 3 minutes 3 times a day. My cold still ran it’s course but much quicker and the sore throat which usually gets worse day by day healed quickly which made the stuffy nose easier to bear.
I then used it to clean the bathroom to amazing effect – black mildew round the shower base, limescale on taps, no problem. And it’s a relief to find something that is so effective that is not bad for your lungs and the environment. And it’s so cheap! (80p for a cough medicine size bottle here).
I do the same as above for my ears and have saved myself lots of antibiotics for ear infections.
I also mix it as you do for watering plants, except I then put it in a spray bottle. When I start my seedlings in the winter, I spray them with this solution and it waters them and also seems to keep them from damping off. The seedlings are healthier and grow better.
I’ve been meaning to try it in my ears. :)
I love HP, but I didn’t know that the giant bottle of 7th Gen Bleach Alternative was HP. So I am so buying that next week at the Co-op. I use HP for lots of things, and I think you got most of them here. Have always loved HP. While it still toxic to drink, its not so dangerous as Bleach (chemical fumes, and contact burns).
Thanks for this article.
I use it to grow Oyster and Portabella mushrooms with wood stove pellets:
http://www.wildmushrooms.org/frames/oms_peroxide.htm
[...] Plastic Fish has the most comprehensive post about baking soda that I’ve ever seen, and One Green Generation has 10 household uses for hydrogen [...]
The one drawback I have found to using it on clothing stains is that it seems to cause the fabric to break down faster. Over time, places where I used HP wear holes quicker.
Also, I assume that’s a typo on #9 – HP instead of vinegar.
I’ll pass the watering suggestion on to my sweetie. Wonder what it would do in a hydroponic set-up…
I always thought hydrogen peroxide is dangerous, but I guess that’s because I’m accustomed to things being called by their molecular structure is somehow dangerous to green consumers. (SLS, for example.) Like that pesky and very dangerous dihydrogen monoxide. Awful stuff. ;)
Stain remover is useful. ‘Course I hardly have been using my stain remover…
I no longer use Hydrogen Peroxide on cuts as I’ve heard it slows down healing because it dries out the wound. I use it mainly as a stain remover and bleach.
Awesome – I love all these great new ideas – will totally use it for seedlings (thanks The Mom). And interesting about the mushrooms, Red Icculus. Hadn’t planned on drinking it, Tree, but good to know I shouldn’t! ;) And Chile, very interesting – I hadn’t noticed that it breaks down clothes more quickly. I’ll keep an eye on it. (Yes, thank you for pointing out the typo!)
I must admit, I’ve read about putting it in your ears but it kinda scares me yet… that may take a little extra time for me to do that! So for sure it doesn’t hurt your ears, and it works??
Hi Melinda, it definitely doesn’t hurt. You lie on your side and use just a couple of drops and it starts to fizz – same sound you’ll notice when you use it as a bathroom cleaner and pour it on mildew. The bubbling sound is how you know it’s working – it’s the bacteria being suffocated by the releasing of the extra oxygen atom (HP is H202 so all you’re left with after this chemical reaction is hydrogen and oxygen – water!). The only reason it would hurt would be if you had any spots or cuts in your ear and I guess you could test this out before hand with a very dilute saline solution (although personally I’d rather be putting HP in my ears than water because of the way it evaporates). After a couple of minutes turn over, placing a towel under the ear you’ve already done to catch the drips and repeat (HP is a natural bleach though so don’t use a dark coloured towel or one you’re precious about). You can get different strengths of HP but only use 3% solutions for this. If you’re still concerned here’s a medic’s view http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2002/03/13/hydrogen-peroxide-part-one.aspx
Thanks so much, Nic – I will try it the next time I need it!
another use!!
My doctor friend told me that in case u have a thorn or such thing stuck on the sole of your foot, HP can be used by making a slight incision in the spot and then dabbing the spot with HP, the piece of thorn is either fllushed away or is loosened so that you can remove the thorn more easily.
That was awesome! Thanks for the recommendation! I even did a review on my website! Why am I using exclamation marks everywhere! :D
[...] Household cleaners: http://1greengeneration.elementsintime.com/?p=1325 [...]
Hi, I just would like to say I don’t think its a good idea to use HP as a mouthwash. My Dentist has told me that it might be a carcinogen when used on cuts repeatedly. For this use I think alcohol is better, in the form of Listerine, or pure isopropyl alcohol for the skin. For other uses I believe it is safe, and is a much better alternative to bleach.
[...] Ten Uses for Hydrogen Pyroxide – One Green Generation. Still collecting cleaning info… [...]
A friend gave me an extensive list of uses for H2O2, one of which was a Christmas tree formula. It included sugar. Her tree was up for several weeks and had several inches of new, though weak, growth. I tried the formula and had several weeks of HEALTHY growth, about 5 inches. I moved and lost the formula. I’ve since tried several combinations unsuccessfully. Sure would like the original recipe.