Has anyone ever dealt with limescale in a bathroom sink?

[kyphysics]

Quick Follow-Up Question:

It's been recommended that to get the mold out of my laundry, as opposed to throwing away a lot of clothes (I did with one shirt, b/c it has some large patches of black streaks on it that I assumed were mold after it came out of the dryer and I didn't want to have that laying around and spores spreading everywhere) that I wash vinegar into my laundry load.

I've heard from half a cup to up to two cups of vinegar with a load.

Supposedly ammonia reacts very badly with vinegar and I've seen warnings to avoid it.

Does typical laundry detergent have ammonia? We use lots of liquid ones, but they don't show ingredients on the labels. Don't want to blow up the washing machine or have like dangerous gases released from the possible ammonia and white distilled vinegar reaction...or whatever harmful effect it typically produces.

Thanks!

 

[symbolipoint]

Quick Follow-Up Question:

It's been recommended that to get the mold out of my laundry, as opposed to throwing away a lot of clothes (I did with one shirt, b/c it has some large patches of black streaks on it that I assumed were mold after it came out of the dryer and I didn't want to have that laying around and spores spreading everywhere) that I wash vinegar into my laundry load.

I've heard from half a cup to up to two cups of vinegar with a load.

Supposedly ammonia reacts very badly with vinegar and I've seen warnings to avoid it.

Does typical laundry detergent have ammonia? We use lots of liquid ones, but they don't show ingredients on the labels. Don't want to blow up the washing machine or have like dangerous gases released from the possible ammonia and white distilled vinegar reaction...or whatever harmful effect it typically produces.

Thanks!

Acid (like vinegar) and ammonia will neutralize each other. No sense trying to mix them. Counter-productive! Wasted!

Laundry detergents containing ammonia? Maybe; probably NO. Best of memory, no. Not know for absolute sure. Maybe urea in some cheap liquid laundry detergents. Maybe some use of alkyl amines or alkyl ethanolamines in a few industrial laundry products. Still mixing with an acid would NOT make any sense, unless the purpose were to neutralize alkalinity AFTER usage of the laundry detergent.

 

[Tom.G]

I need a sink stopper to plug it up to fill the sink with vinegar

A piece of thin rubber, or several layers of plastic wrap or a plastic bag over the drain hole will do. It just has to be stiff enough that the pressure of the sink contents don't force it down the drain. One of the above used over a poorly fitting stopper would also do the trick.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[kyphysics]

Acid (like vinegar) and ammonia will neutralize each other. No sense trying to mix them. Counter-productive! Wasted!

Laundry detergents containing ammonia? Maybe; probably NO. Best of memory, no. Not know for absolute sure. Maybe urea in some cheap liquid laundry detergents. Maybe some use of alkyl amines or alkyl ethanolamines in a few industrial laundry products.

You're, right. I re-Googled the mix and it's not a toxic mix, but rather a neutralizing one if you combine vinegar and ammonia.

It was ammonia + bleach that was toxic.

I think I will soak (and maybe even wash entirely and exclusively) my clothes first with the white distilled vinegar to kill the mold in them. Then add detergent and run the regular full wash. I actually did a cycle of clothes this morning with vinegar + detergent. I washed them twice just to be sure (using same combo). In the future, I'll let the clothes soak first in vinegar and maybe even run them through some of the washing cycle before adding detergent.

Is that what you were getting at with this quote?:

Still mixing with an acid would NOT make any sense, unless the purpose were to neutralize alkalinity AFTER usage of the laundry detergent.

You're saying vinegar + detergent (even without ammonia) doesn't work for mold killing?

A piece of thin rubber, or several layers of plastic wrap or a plastic bag over the drain hole will do. It just has to be stiff enough that the pressure of the sink contents don't force it down the drain. One of the above used over a poorly fitting stopper would also do the trick.

Good problem-solving idea, Tom. G.

Would vinegar "eat" away the plastic wraps at all? It's really strong stuff.

Some Follow-Ups (for everyone)
1.) We are going to call and schedule a mold inspector appointment with a local company that does independent mold testing tomorrow. We found other contractors who do inspection and remediation, but through talking to my uncle (who is an engineer and more knowledgeable on household things than my deadbeat dad), it's not a good idea to go with a company doing both, as they have conflicts of interest.

Obv., they stand to make more money if your tests come back positive for mold. So, this was a good lesson/tip.

2.) We're all freaked out and going to do a replacement of washer/dryer in the future just to be safe. Gonna see what mold experts have to say about possible mold in the pipes and air vents.

3.) We have several windows with what look like mold in the screen area. Gonna have to get swabbed for a test to be sure. This stuff seems easily spread everywhere, though.

4.) re: really harsh plumbing liquids

This was discussed earlier. Curious why on Earth hardware stores sell these drain uncloggers if they are known to eat through people's pipes? Shouldn't there be a warning on them that they often destroy people's pipes? Seems a lot of people, unfortunately, still use them in their homes.

I came across some YouTube videos of the damage they cause. You can cost yourself thousands of dollars.

 

[Tom.G]

Would vinegar "eat" away the plastic wraps at all?

The two most common plastic films, polyethylene and vinyl, hold up well to vinegar. No worries with either of them. Polyethylene is the most common, it is used in food storage bags and the high density version (hard enough to hold its shape) is used for plastic milk jugs and to hold vinegar, ammonia, drain cleaner, etc.

 

[kyphysics]

The two most common plastic films, polyethylene and vinyl, hold up well to vinegar. No worries with either of them. Polyethylene is the most common, it is used in food storage bags and the high density version (hard enough to hold its shape) is used for plastic milk jugs and to hold vinegar, ammonia, drain cleaner, etc.

That does sound good. Is polyethylene the same as a saran wrap or a zip lock plastic bag material? Wondering what in the house I can use.

We tried a Home Depot sink stopper and it has a small gap that won't cover the sink hole. We also tried a rubber stopper of two sizes and both sizes didn't fit (one too small and the other too big. It's been a hell of a night with lots of yelling, as I've had to use my sister's sink.

On a personal note, Tom G., I greatly appreciate you (and everyone else's) expert feedback on things in this thread. I don't know much about chemistry and biology and even these common everyday house problems. But, this has been both emotionally frustrating as heck to deal with (fungal and yeast infections on my skin, a moldy dryer and clothes, mold in windows/sink/tub) and perhaps a very, very small silver liner educational as well.

Thank for your kind help and time! It's made a difference for me.

(p.s. I thank you for your post in the air purifier thread too, as that was helpful.)

Will update folks later next week maybe. I have work in a few hours and have a ton to do to get ready.

 

[MidgetDwarf]

That does sound good. Is polyethylene the same as a saran wrap or a zip lock plastic bag material? Wondering what in the house I can use.

We tried a Home Depot sink stopper and it has a small gap that won't cover the sink hole. We also tried a rubber stopper of two sizes and both sizes didn't fit (one too small and the other too big. It's been a hell of a night with lots of yelling, as I've had to use my sister's sink.

On a personal note, Tom G., I greatly appreciate you (and everyone else's) expert feedback on things in this thread. I don't know much about chemistry and biology and even these common everyday house problems. But, this has been both emotionally frustrating as heck to deal with (fungal and yeast infections on my skin, a moldy dryer and clothes, mold in windows/sink/tub) and perhaps a very, very small silver liner educational as well.

Thank for your kind help and time! It's made a difference for me.

(p.s. I thank you for your post in the air purifier thread too, as that was helpful.)

Will update folks later next week maybe. I have work in a few hours and have a ton to do to get ready.

Irish Spring makes my skin dry and itchy. My skin tends to peel with it. Using white Dove soap, the bar, leaves my skin moisturized. I follow this with lotion after a shower.
Aveeno, is a lotion i use...

 

[kyphysics]

re: Vinegar in laundry machine

Doh! I now am reading that you should NEVER put it into a washing machine, despite tons of DIY articles saying so (I think a few legit website articles as well)...Apparently, the acid will damage your hoses and rubber seals, as it eats away at them!

Very frustrating. You learn one thing and then you hear something else. I guess I'd have to hand wash the clothes using vinegar in a bucket or something. Having run about 12 loads of laundry this past week in our house using the vinegar + detergent combo, I hope our washer isn't messed up already or weakened so that it'll burst.

Irish Spring makes my skin dry and itchy. My skin tends to peel with it. Using white Dove soap, the bar, leaves my skin moisturized. I follow this with lotion after a shower.
Aveeno, is a lotion i use...

My skin is crazy itchy today. I cleaned up the sink of the mold and soap scum, but stuff was flying and sloshing around while I did it. I'm sure mold spores and whatever else probably splashed/flew all over.

I'm using Dove starting today. Parents and sister are still going to finish out Irish Spring pack (a few more bars left) to not waste it.

Did you find Irish Spring left a lot of soap scum, MD?

 

[CWatters]

Yeah, vinegar does work, but I need a sink stopper to plug it up to fill the sink with vinegar and leave it for 30 minutes or more.

What we do is soak paper towels in the stuff and press/lay them on the surface.

 

[MidgetDwarf]

re: Vinegar in laundry machine

Doh! I now am reading that you should NEVER put it into a washing machine, despite tons of DIY articles saying so (I think a few legit website articles as well)...Apparently, the acid will damage your hoses and rubber seals, as it eats away at them!

Very frustrating. You learn one thing and then you hear something else. I guess I'd have to hand wash the clothes using vinegar in a bucket or something. Having run about 12 loads of laundry this past week in our house using the vinegar + detergent combo, I hope our washer isn't messed up already or weakened so that it'll burst.
My skin is crazy itchy today. I cleaned up the sink of the mold and soap scum, but stuff was flying and sloshing around while I did it. I'm sure mold spores and whatever else probably splashed/flew all over.

I'm using Dove starting today. Parents and sister are still going to finish out Irish Spring pack (a few more bars left) to not waste it.

Did you find Irish Spring left a lot of soap scum, MD?

Yes, and so did Dial. I think these are the soap bars used in prisons. But I am not 100% sure.

 

[Mark Harder]

Yes, and so did Dial. I think these are the soap bars used in prisons. But I am not 100% sure.

A few more bars? Are they suicidal? Oh, nevermind.

 

[jim mcnamara]

This thread is now closed. Thanks for participating.