Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Pot cleaning, the lazy way

I've been weening myself off of bleach for a while now (other than my toilet tank cleaner, so hard to let go! Anyone know of a good alternative?), in favor of washing soda, borax, baking soda and oxyclean (which I think is like dry hydrogen peroxide, didn't check the chemical formula).

I'm trying not to use bleach because of its effects on my lungs, the environment and its potentially carcinogenic nature (I know, I know, what isn't carcinogenic nowadays...) But as many good gardeners are supposed to wash their pots out with a dilute bleach solution to rid hem of disease I've been in a bit of a quandary.

My solution thus far, part in due to laziness/timeliness is to place my pots outside, in the sun and ESPECIALLY the rain where the rain can naturally clean all the dirt and grime off of them and let the good ol' UV rays of the sun kill whatever is on them.  Like bleaching your clothes in the sun is my theory.

No chemically water to dispose of and really, no work at all! It's great!  Anyone have any brilliant ways to wash their pots (children not included)?

UPDATE: OK, I clean vinegar with everything... and after a couple of "what about vinegar?" comments (from my sister included) I feel like an idiot.  Where was my brain (as usual?) when I wrote this???  Ooops, too busy noshing on morning glories.  JUST KIDDING.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

vinegar. I've seen it recommended for organic gardeners. It works well, for me.

persephone said...

@ anonymous: Just dump and swish in the bowl? I should have clarified... any particular way to keep the toilet clean with something that goes in the tank like the bleach pill and will slowly dissolve and work its cleaning magic with every flush? (Though I suppose i could dump some vinegar in with every flush...)

persephone said...

@anonymous: Sorry, need my coffee still, vinegar for the pots, not the toilet! OY.

Anonymous said...

A home-made solar oven setup could be made large enough for your pots, and may be used for sterilizing soil also for starting seeds with compost.

Anonymous said...

Tee-hee.

Yep-I mean the pots.

persephone said...

@kermit: Ooh, I've been wanting to make a solar oven for a while now! even better reason to make one, multipurpose! Easy cooking during a summer day and pot sterilizer!