apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

This made me laugh--recently our two dogs had a tete-a-tete with a skunk... We ran to the internet and the recipe to get rid of skunk is a bottle of peroxide, 1/4 c. of baking soda, and a capful of baby shampoo or liquid dish soap. It worked like a charm!

Similarly my two dogs had a tete-a-tete with a pound and half of dark chocolate. Both the internet and poison control recommended a hydrogen peroxide dilution to induce vomiting at home (gross!). It worked like a charm!

Did the dogs look like bleach blondes afterwards? :-)

hydrogen peroxide is also particularly good for removing pet urine discoloration and smell from light-colored carpet. I tried EVERYTHING and it was the best I found for overall performance. And much cheaper than all the commercial pet products they sell at pet stores.

bleaches blood out of whites.

lhollinger,

do you mean in a solution--as in diluted?

Okay, I promise this will change your life:

To get red wine out of fabric, use hydrogen peroxide and dishwashing liquid. Mix, and presoak the stain before washing. Some idiot at a party spilled wine on my favorite gold sweater. It sat in my laundry basket for 2 months (contemplating taking it to the dry cleaner, but I forgot). I searched the internet and came up with this solution. Apparently it works on EVERY fabric. I mixed some Dawn with the HP. Apparently the HP is the most important part, so there should be plenty of that in your mix. I poured some on the stain, and when I came back 10 minutes later, it was completely gone. Didn't hurt the fabric, didn't bleach the color. A-MA-ZING!

Awesome! I guess I'll add a bit of HP to the wash tomorrow when I wash my dingy sheer white bedroom curtains :)

StephM is 100% right about the peroxide/dishwashing miracle red wine stain remover. Worked like a dream on my buff- colored modern baker sofa, I was amazed. I highly recommend it!

I found 3% peroxide too strong an agent to use on bathroom grout. I'm not sure what grade of grout I had but it bubbled, pitted, and turned a dark shade after contact.

Thanks StephM & Miriam. I'm trying that tonight on a blouse I thought was a gonner (too much red on Rosh Hashanah - oy!).

Lourdes--Let us know how it goes!

Will do, promise!

I 3rd the hydrogen peroxide and dishwashing soap solution to red wine stains, I've used it a few times and it always works like a charm! I think I usually have done about a 2 to 1 ratio of the HP to soap.

aulaire-
depends on the timing of the stain really. My cat is notorious for peeing when mad. In the same spot. So, if I find a fresh pee spot I will blot up pee, pour on a bit of peroxide, let it soak a few minutes, and then blot up. Otherwise, for general cleaning purposes I dilute it with some hot water and maybe a few drops of dish soap which I use with a little carpet steamer I got at Target. Works better than the solution the vacuum/steamer company sells to accompany it, and the pet store variety urine cleaners.

Please note though, we have beige carpet. I would recommend a patch test before trying it on any carpet.

StephM, what a brilliant thing. It worked like magic. So glad you shared. Thanks!

I get earaches and tickles in my Eustachian tubes. Hydrogen peroxide and a bit of cotton wool works wonders to clear these up since I was a wee lass.

Funny timing -- I was just asking a friend over the weekend whether she bleached her teeth (overly personal question, I know). She gave me a funny look and said no...but then added, "Well, but I DO rinse with hydrogen peroxide every day."

Antiseptic qualities, a bargain price and whiter teeth -- all reasons to give it a try in the future.

I've used hydrogen peroxide to get out cat pee stains on wood floors. It takes some elbow grease and several applications, but overnight the smell is gone and the stain will be much faded. Just keep applying it until the stain is completely gone.

blood remover! i've used it on bright colored fabric with no problem - just let it foam until it stops, rinse, squeeze out the water, and reapply - until the stain is out or it just stops foaming.

liseah, have you tried it? i feel like it would taste awful...

@akostalas

Oh, it DOES taste awful.

if i have a sore throat i use a combo of hydrogen peroxide and listerine.. it usually works for me!

I'm curious why the website linked in the list claims that it will stop transference of disease between family members if you soak your toothbrush in it. Surely they're not suggesting you /share/ the toothbrush!?

akostalas -
I've used it as a mouth wash and don't think it tastes like anything more than water really - maybe @mary pat and I have different taste buds.

not for the house but good to whiten teeth

johan, I've seen lots of family bathrooms where the toothbrushes are all stuck in one holder, so they probably share germs due to close proximity. I keep mine, bristles down, in a cup of HP that I change out every few days.

It's not so much that it tastes bad, as it leaves a funny feeling in the mouth. For a simple, effective mouthwash though, I think it's fine; besides, Listerine tastes awful too.

hydrogen peroxide got rust stains out of granite. took about a week of soaking rags with HP and laying them on the ring stain once a day. it was AMAZING. we thought the metal plant pot had RUNIED a great granite table top but this trick did it. it likely would have gone faster if we'd changed the cloth more often.

Okay, I've been using hydrogen peroxide for cleaning for a while now....but a marinade? Has anyone tried this?

there are comercialy made mouth rinse solutions that are mostly HP. They DO work. In addition to make the teeth brighter, they help to prevent build-ups. You should use them BEFORE brushing with tooth-paste, not after as with most mouth rinse solutions.