I am helping my invalid parents clean their house. My mom has Alzheimer’s and the cabinet under their bathroom sink is full to overflowing with household cleaners (Tilex, 409, Scrubbing Bubbles, etc.). Some are as old as 1999, others I don’t know how old they are.
How do I get rid of all this stuff? Most of them are full, some are half full. Are they even safe to use?
Check with your local fire department. They should be able to help you. A local radio station had a big “turn in your old chemicals” day and the fire station was in charge of collecting and removal.
If the chemicals are needed, keep one each of the newest containers. I used to work at a paper/chemical distributor and learned that the cleaners won’t “go bad”, but they may lose some of their kick.
For all the non-petroleum ones, ie 409 & it’s relatives, just dump into the toilet & flush 2x. They’re all just soap in one form or another. If you have a septic system and more than a gallon or two total this might be unwise to do all at once; better to do a gallon now and another gallon in 2 weeks. OTOH, if you’re on a city system then even a couple dozen gallons of soap won’t matter spit by the time it gets to the treatment facility.
For safeties’ sake, dump in 1 container, flush 2x, then dump in another. Putting 2 chemicals together can be hazardous in some combinations, and since it’s tough to know for sure what’s in what, keep them separate & diluted with a bunch of water between each batch.
For anything with lye or acid or petroleum in it, don’t use the drains. Common examples are drain cleaners and liquid polishes or waxes. Those are dangerous enough to the water quality that they want to go to the local recycling / hazmat drop off. If you live out in the country that may not be real practical, but it is the right thing to do.
And as Sky said, cleaners don’t spoil, so you can takes some home & save on cleaning supplies for yuorself. Good old 409 works fine whether it was made last week or in 1990. The bottles will begin to develop pinhole leaks after a few years, so I’d suggest keeping the newest for you and dumping the older excess.
What LSLGuy & Mr. Blue Sky said… except if there are really old cleaners, like spot remover that is so old the labeling doesn’t mention any precautions or ingredients.
There are chemicals that were once common in household products, that is now banned in the US. Old detergents might have phosphates that are no longer acceptable. If anything appears to be more than 20 years old ask the fire boys about it.
Many aqueous products actually can get stronger with age, because the water evaporates.
If any of the products are usable but you can’t personally use them, you might check with shelters to see if they can.
Yeah, we got some bottles and cans here with blonde feathered-hair, bell bottom wearin’ ladies on the front.
I think we can get rid of those.