Did You Know There Were So Many
Uses for Hydrogen Peroxide?

I find it kind of funny really, that there are so many different ways to use hydrogen peroxide. It's a bit like the old Saturday Night Live skit about the (made up) product Shimmer: “New Shimmer is a floor wax”, “No! It’s a dessert topping”. The joke, of course, is that a floor wax and a dessert topping seem impossible in one product. (More about the classic SNL Shimmer skit.....)

Here are some of the many ways to use H2O2:

• As a mouthwash and gargle
• In relaxing baths and foot baths
• To sanitize toothbrushes, and dentures
• As a produce wash, to keep fruits and veggies fresh longer
• To disinfect and deodorize compost pails, cutting boards, sponges and scrub brushes
• For washing carpets, floors, and windows
• Stripping wood furniture, and cleaning wooden decks
• Removing mold
• To brighten laundry & remove stains
• To clean out aquariums
• To keep the water clean in fish farming
• In gardening: As a plant fertilizer and plant spray
• To clean swimming pools and spas, as an alternative to chlorine
• Taxidermists use it to clean and whiten bones…..
• It's used in making cheese
• Aseptic packaging (those weird little boxes that food comes in) are sprayed with it
• It is used in products for whitening teeth, treating acne, and cleaning contact lenses
• Oh, and it's also great for cleaning cuts and skin infections! You know, like the brown bottles at the drug store....

Now, this is kind of wonderful, really. Right there, H2O2 is very practical to have around.

Do you find this all funny and intriguing like I do? Are you curious to learn more?

But there’s more to it -- hydrogen peroxide also has a wonderful quality of being good for the environment. This benefit goes deep and wide. It is good for rivers, it is good for plants, and it can be used to replace chlorine bleach, ammonia, and other chemicals which are harmful to rivers and plants.

Chlorine in pools is unpleasant and irritating to many people. For some this is a minor nuisance, for others it is a real hazard. Hydrogen peroxide can be used instead, and is non-toxic. Likewise household cleaning products containing chlorine can be upsetting to household cats and dogs – it smells like urine to them, as well as being unhealthy when they lick it off of their skin and fur.

It all starts to blend together: H2O2 is good for people, animals, plants, rivers…… and it breaks down into water and oxygen - what could be more non-toxic?

Going one step farther, H2O2 is part of the earth’s cleaning cycle. It is formed as water (H2O) passes through the ozone layer (O3) where it picks up another oxygen atom (O), becoming H202 (hydrogen peroxide). So, a bit of it comes down to us in rain. When you water your plants with the garden hose, there’s no hydrogen peroxide in that water. Adding a little hydrogen peroxide to plant water is great for the garden (indoor plants too). The runoff won’t harm streams and fish the way that many garden fertilizers do. I'll have more to say about all that.

H2O2 is also produced by the human immune system to help fight off infections. White blood cells make it……

Is this story getting interesting yet? And is it starting to sound a bit repetitive, too - like one big story applied to many different things, in a big circle from people to plants to water to fish to sky?

A story of disinfection and non-toxic cleaning and nature – spinning round and round with different words, depending on what topic we are addressing……

What brings you here today?

You may be here because you already know lots about the usefulness of hydrogen peroxide, and you're "a fan"! Welcome! I hope you can find some new uses, some new info, and some food for thought here.

OR: this topic may be completely new to you. Maybe you are looking for info on one particular use --let's say stain removal-- but you had no idea that hydrogen peroxide has a wide array of uses.  Well, maybe you'll become a fan of peroxide, or maybe not.  Either way, I hope you find the info you came looking for.... and maybe also learn that peroxide is fascinating enough that some people really dig into it as an interest. (Who knew?)

Using Hydrogen Peroxide

This site is called "Using Hydrogen Peroxide" because I think that USING peroxide is what is most, well, useful! It's where it matters -- in practice rather than in theory. It's being able to use peroxide where the benefits are. The practical applications are were we can really dig in and try things, and apply the ideas in real life. And we can all try using H2O2, within some safety limits!  Would you like to try using hydrogen peroxide? What new applications can you find to try out?

AND: If you have already used peroxide for years, I hope you'll also consider sharing some of your experience with others here.

Stories and lots to know

There are lots of interesting stories about peroxide.

• Okay, what about the “bird man of Alcatraz”, who, it is said, used it to heal birds?
• Is it true that some famous healing springs have higher-than-usual levels of peroxide in their waters?
• Some people say it has other health benefits for people, and even for farm animals ... is that true? What does the FDA say about it? And does Health Canada agree?
• Did you know that it was used in World War II to fuel catapults and rockets?

I’ll try to get to the bottom of those stories, too.

Finally, there is lots of ground to cover about handling, storage, concentrations, "grades", and mixing. Would you like to know:

• The advantages of buying 35% H2O2, and the dangers
• What are the shipping restrictions on 35%, and why
• The difference between food grade, technical grade, and the stuff in the brown bottles at the drug store
• How to mix 35% peroxide down to 3%, or 6%...
• How to mix 35% peroxide into gel to get a gel containing 3% (great for cuts and skin infections)
• How much to use in watering plants, cleaning carpets, or treating your swimming pool

The point is.....

.....finding ways to USE peroxide that provide benefits for ourselves, our homes, our families and others...  and benefits for animals and our world.

Whatever we use hydrogen peroxide for, let’s keep it fun, creative and joyful – in that spirit of non-toxic growthful life and health for water, animals, plants, and housecleaning…..

Note: Hydrogen peroxide is also called H202 -- that's its chemical name -- both terms can be used interchangeably.

I apologize if the topic you are looking for is not here yet. Please come back and visit again....