Cleaning

[sweety314]

Already did the site's search with "chlorhexidine" as the key word. Closest I came was a bunch of messages about using paper towels, (which helps a little) and the mix being 2 oz. to a gal.

The bottle instructions are ONE oz./gal of water. And that's how I've mixed it.

I'm new to the chlor. use. I've been using bleach and alcohol with rinses and I'd love to get away from the time spent rinsing.

Here's the ????s .....If I'm using it mixed ONE oz. to a gallon as instructed on the bottle, it should be strong enough to disinfect but......

I'm using a spray bottle to mist everything and this first time I just wiped everything off with a paper towel. Is that okay? Do I need to let it sit and air dry instead of wipe? Do I need to rinse off if only sprayed. < Like the water bowl? > Do I need to rinse off the driftwoods/pottery since they're porous?

Sorry for the befuddledness, but being a new product I want to learn it the RIGHT WAY the first time so I can get in the good habits.

Oh, and BTW....I need to double check with my vet (he's out of office ALL week because of the holiday) but does anyone (Becky? Adam? Jo?) know if I can use the chlorhexidine on my equipment/supplies / driftwood especially! that was prev. sanitized w/bleach after the pseudomonas? I really can't afford to discard the tank, UTH, lid etc. but will if I can't safely and completely rid it of bacteria.

I'm also thinking of getting some of the shop rags and bleaching them with super hot water between uses. (My H2O heater elements are both turned completely up). Four snakes ...I don't know if that's economical for electricity vs. paper towels and garbage fees for me. I'll have to try both.

Mucho TIA!!!

RuLyn

[Adam_Wysocki]

There's a huge difference between cleaning and disinfecting.

Spraying and wiping is cleaning ... soaking with a disinfectant for 15 - 30 minutes is disinfecting.

We clean every single cage, water bowl, and hide box every single week. Each month we rotate through portions of the shop disinfecting so that every 4 - 6 months every single thing in the shop is disinfected at least once (more often for quarantine cages or if a sick animal is found).

I use shop rags too ... I get them cheap enough that I can use 1 rag per box ... when we're done, they are soaked and then washed in hot water, soap, and a heavy amount of bleach.

Hope this helps.

-adam