Bleach Mixture after Rat Infestation?

[Rex Delay]

A boat I look after had rats. All cleaned up now except for final bleach cleaning. What strength of bleach mixture is needed for final wipe down?

[rover88]

Originally Posted by Rex Delay

A boat I look after had rats. All cleaned up now except for final bleach cleaning. What strength of bleach mixture is needed for final wipe down?

A 10 to 1 (10% bleach / 90% water) mixture will kill any and every bacteria or virus, including AIDS.

[Rex Delay]

Thank you

[GaryMayo]

Ozone will get places you can't get to with bleach. Look in your yellow pages under fire restoration. Bleach is good, you could use both.

[Calypso52]

Yikes, sorry to hear that! Can you comment on how that happened and how you are going to stop it from happening again? Thanks.

[GordMay]

The CDC recommends a concentration of bleach solution is 1 part bleach to 10 parts water.

Cleaning up after rodents ➥ CDC - Cleaning up after rodents - Rodents

[SimonV]

Originally Posted by GaryMayo

Ozone will get places you can't get to with bleach. Look in your yellow pages under fire restoration. Bleach is good, you could use both.

Ozone Generators are not so good when used in a boat.
According to the EPA, ozone is sometimes useful for decontaminating a room not used by anyone. However, there is no scientific research data about the long-term or short-term side effects of the decontamination of biological and chemical pollutants with ozone. Anything containing a dye or pigment is likely to experience damage from ozone decontamination. People are also especially advised to not enter a room with a high level of ozone.
Damage to and includes coatings on electrical wire, rubber products, foam and fabrics.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by SimonV

Ozone Generators are not so good ...

"If used at concentrations that do not exceed public health standards, ozone applied to indoor air does not effectively remove viruses, bacteria, mold, or other biological pollutants ..."

➥ Ozone Generators that are Sold as Air Cleaners | Indoor Air | US Environmental Protection Agency

[DeepFrz]

Try mixing in some vinegar with the bleach solution, so 10% bleach, 10% vinegar and 80% water.

[Dsanduril]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

Try mixing in some vinegar with the bleach solution, so 10% bleach, 10% vinegar and 80% water.

But do it carefully. Bleach is naturally at an alkaline pH (5% bleach in the bottle is about pH 12). At that point most of the chlorine is present as OCl-. If you acidify the bleach (lower the pH by adding vinegar) you drive the solution more toward HOCl, which is a far more potent disinfectant. However, if you add too much acid and drop the pH lower than 4 the mixture will release toxic chlorine gas. The more you acidify the solution the faster (and more) chlorine gas will be generated. So, best to make up your mixture to a pH of about 6.5-6.8, which takes knowing the solution strength of both your bleach and your vinegar.

http://oregonstate.edu/dept/larc//si...fact-sheet.pdf

Vinegar increases killing power of bleach

Acidified chlorine bleach has the advantage of being able to kill bacterial spores, which are not generally affected by diluted bleach.

[DeepFrz]

Ooo, that could get nasty. Thanks for your links.

[bix85]

Even without hydrogen gas production, ventilation is imperative!!!!

[hellosailor]

"the mixture will release toxic chlorine gas."
Shhh!
Ammonia mixed withbleach also does a good job of liberating chlorine gas. I suppose that if you really wanted to sterilize anything that rats might have left anywhere in the boat...Mixing two big buckets and bugging out while the boat filled with chlorine GAS might be a good way to do it, actually. Well, who needs buckets, just let 'em mix in the bilge and take up the boards so it can circulate.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

Try mixing in some vinegar with the bleach solution, so 10% bleach, 10% vinegar and 80% water.

The Killing Power Of Bleach is Increased by Vinegar

Adding white vinegar to diluted household bleach greatly increases the disinfecting power of the solution, making it strong enough to kill even bacterial spores.

A convenient formula to produce a solution of acidified bleach is 1.0 cup (8.0 oz.) of concentrated bleach (approx. 5.25% NaOCl) added to 1.0 gallon (128 oz.) of tap water, and then add 1.0 cup of 5 % distilled white cooking vinegar. Follow the warning directions on the bleach label. Do not add cleaning solutions containing ammonia to bleach. After an exposure of 20.0 or 30.0 min, rinse the surfaces to remove the bleach. Use acidified bleach within about 8.0 hrs, and then discard to a sanitary drain.

➥ Biodefense work by MicroChem Laboratory