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DeadPhan


Registered: 05/05/04
Posts: 5,260
Last seen: 4 years, 2 months
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Using a shamwow in place of paper towel to sanitize jars with alcohol?
#18857463 - 09/18/13 11:07 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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I have a a box of shamwow's. was wondering if it wouldn't be a good method of wiping down my jars. Just fill a little bowl with alcohol enough to soak it and squeeze a little out so as its not completely drenched. Just that paper towels, between going through them and them sometimes ripping. These shamwow's are amazing. I have used them for washing dishes, cleaning up spills, washing cars, bbqs, cleaning appliances. I've maybe thrown out a few due to using on some serious grease, otherwise I just rinse them with water and ring out a number of times and by time they dry again are as good as new.
I was thinking if I cut a square to wipe my jars down with during innocs and transfers, maybe that would put an end to using paper towels. What might be any negative effects? If its completely saturated in isopropyl wouldn't it be completely sanitary. Or do you think some latent bad stuff could be lurking inside?
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Big Gulps! Alright! Well, See ya later! And if i claim to be a wise man, well, it surely means that i dont know!
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SgtGanja
CEO


Registered: 09/03/13
Posts: 134
Loc: United States
Last seen: 8 years, 10 months
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Re: Using a shamwow in place of paper towel to sanitize jars with alcohol? [Re: DeadPhan]
#18857478 - 09/18/13 11:11 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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I'm not sure that using a shamwow as a medium to hold alcohol for sterilization is a good idea. Along with any other cloth-like towel, the fibers of the towel are like bacteria breeding grounds. You would probably be better off sticking to using paper towels.
And using rubbing alcohol doesn't completely sterilize.
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DeadPhan


Registered: 05/05/04
Posts: 5,260
Last seen: 4 years, 2 months
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Re: Using a shamwow in place of paper towel to sanitize jars with alcohol? [Re: SgtGanja]
#18857484 - 09/18/13 11:12 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
SgtGanja said: I'm not sure that using a shamwow as a medium to hold alcohol for sterilization is a good idea. Along with any other cloth-like towel, the fibers of the towel are like bacteria breeding grounds. You would probably be better off sticking to using paper towels.
And using rubbing alcohol doesn't completely sterilize.
Specifically mentioned isopropyl alcohol.
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Big Gulps! Alright! Well, See ya later! And if i claim to be a wise man, well, it surely means that i dont know!
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SgtGanja
CEO


Registered: 09/03/13
Posts: 134
Loc: United States
Last seen: 8 years, 10 months
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Re: Using a shamwow in place of paper towel to sanitize jars with alcohol? [Re: DeadPhan]
#18857526 - 09/18/13 11:25 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
DeadPhan said:
Quote:
SgtGanja said: I'm not sure that using a shamwow as a medium to hold alcohol for sterilization is a good idea. Along with any other cloth-like towel, the fibers of the towel are like bacteria breeding grounds. You would probably be better off sticking to using paper towels.
And using rubbing alcohol doesn't completely sterilize.
Specifically mentioned isopropyl alcohol.
Rubbing alcohol is a general term that covers the realm of isopropyl alcohol and ethyl alcohol. Either of these substances will never sterilize 100% and introducing the potential for bacterial contamination that comes with using a cloth towel of some type just doesn't seem like it's worth the risk. Don't get me wrong, I do not have experience with using a shamwow, however I am quite sure that this is true for other cloth towels and I can only assume it would be the same idea.
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bodhisatta 
Smurf real estate agent



Registered: 04/30/13
Posts: 61,889
Loc: Milky way
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Re: Using a shamwow in place of paper towel to sanitize jars with alcohol? [Re: DeadPhan]
#18857527 - 09/18/13 11:25 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
DeadPhan said:
Quote:
SgtGanja said: I'm not sure that using a shamwow as a medium to hold alcohol for sterilization is a good idea. Along with any other cloth-like towel, the fibers of the towel are like bacteria breeding grounds. You would probably be better off sticking to using paper towels.
And using rubbing alcohol doesn't completely sterilize.
Specifically mentioned isopropyl alcohol.
since when is that not rubbing alcohol and even so the best you'll be able to find is 91% which doesn't work as good as 70% anyway. No alcohol sterilizes they only sanitize. You might as well use nothing at all to clean those jars because anything you use to hold the alcohol won't help you out. I suggest not cutting corners.
Quote:
If its completely saturated in isopropyl wouldn't it be completely sanitary. Or do you think some latent bad stuff could be lurking inside?
70% iso works better because iso kills by entering the cell wall of bacteria. 91% has a harder time getting in than 70%. Either way paper towels are pretty clean off the roll way more than any sham wow. This would only be good for general cleaning, not anything that needs to be sterile though. We do clean off the lids of G2G jars though with Iso since it's the best we can do but even still we do the transfer as sterile as possible with proper hand movements.
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SgtGanja
CEO


Registered: 09/03/13
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Re: Using a shamwow in place of paper towel to sanitize jars with alcohol? [Re: bodhisatta]
#18857556 - 09/18/13 11:30 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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DeadPhan


Registered: 05/05/04
Posts: 5,260
Last seen: 4 years, 2 months
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Re: Using a shamwow in place of paper towel to sanitize jars with alcohol? [Re: bodhisatta]
#18857583 - 09/18/13 11:35 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Right on. Oddly enough where I'm from, specifically labeled "rubbing alcohol" is labeled 50%. Was under assumption it referred to a specific type like that. My bad
With that thanks. Paper towels it stays then. I was curious but that does make sense. I recently bought some 91% assuming it would be better than the 70. I also have some 50% as well. Would you suggest using that over the 91%
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Big Gulps! Alright! Well, See ya later! And if i claim to be a wise man, well, it surely means that i dont know!
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SgtGanja
CEO


Registered: 09/03/13
Posts: 134
Loc: United States
Last seen: 8 years, 10 months
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Re: Using a shamwow in place of paper towel to sanitize jars with alcohol? [Re: DeadPhan]
#18857633 - 09/18/13 11:48 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
DeadPhan said: Right on. Oddly enough where I'm from, specifically labeled "rubbing alcohol" is labeled 50%. Was under assumption it referred to a specific type like that. My bad
With that thanks. Paper towels it stays then. I was curious but that does make sense. I recently bought some 91% assuming it would be better than the 70. I also have some 50% as well. Would you suggest using that over the 91%
I believe the 50% would be a better alternative to the 91%, don't quote me on that one though. 70% is always the better option though
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bodhisatta 
Smurf real estate agent



Registered: 04/30/13
Posts: 61,889
Loc: Milky way
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Re: Using a shamwow in place of paper towel to sanitize jars with alcohol? [Re: DeadPhan]
#18857640 - 09/18/13 11:49 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Alcohol
Overview. In the healthcare setting, "alcohol" refers to two water-soluble chemical compounds—ethyl alcohol and isopropyl alcohol—that have generally underrated germicidal characteristics 482. FDA has not cleared any liquid chemical sterilant or high-level disinfectant with alcohol as the main active ingredient. These alcohols are rapidly bactericidal rather than bacteriostatic against vegetative forms of bacteria; they also are tuberculocidal, fungicidal, and virucidal but do not destroy bacterial spores. Their cidal activity drops sharply when diluted below 50% concentration, and the optimum bactericidal concentration is 60%–90% solutions in water (volume/volume) 483, 484.
Mode of Action. The most feasible explanation for the antimicrobial action of alcohol is denaturation of proteins. This mechanism is supported by the observation that absolute ethyl alcohol, a dehydrating agent, is less bactericidal than mixtures of alcohol and water because proteins are denatured more quickly in the presence of water 484, 485. Protein denaturation also is consistent with observations that alcohol destroys the dehydrogenases(DHO is a protein that de-hydrogenates molecules) of Escherichia coli 486, and that ethyl alcohol increases the lag phase of Enterobacter aerogenes 487 and that the lag phase effect could be reversed by adding certain amino acids. The bacteriostatic action was believed caused by inhibition(not complete disruption) of the production of metabolites essential for rapid cell division.
http://www.cdc.gov/hicpac/disinfection_sterilization/6_0disinfection.html
Not that I trust the CDC, but this might be of interest. I'm no expert on the percentages and effectiveness but I have long heard that 91% is far inferior to 70%. Also you can clearly see why alcohol doesn't sterilize because it's effective only against non-endospores it can only sanitize. So your sham wow has way more bacteria loaded up in it than a towel. and there's some percentage in both the towel and shamwow that won't be killed. You're left with more in the relatively dirty shamwow. I know which one I would use.
Edited by Trusted cuItivator (09/18/13 11:53 AM)
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Cb411
New grower


Registered: 08/03/13
Posts: 110
Loc: New York new york
Last seen: 8 years, 11 days
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Re: Using a shamwow in place of paper towel to sanitize jars with alcohol? [Re: DeadPhan]
#18857659 - 09/18/13 11:55 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Mix equal parts of the 50 and 90 percent it'll give you 70 percent
-------------------- "Reality is a crutch for people who can't handle drugs. "
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bodhisatta 
Smurf real estate agent



Registered: 04/30/13
Posts: 61,889
Loc: Milky way
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Re: Using a shamwow in place of paper towel to sanitize jars with alcohol? [Re: Cb411]
#18857688 - 09/18/13 12:01 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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This made me think of beer killing itself in fermentation chambers as the ABV climbs. I mean you kind of run into problems at 10+% but that's just tired beer yeast.
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StygianKnight
A Mushroom

Registered: 03/12/12
Posts: 2,717
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Re: Using a shamwow in place of paper towel to sanitize jars with alcohol? [Re: bodhisatta]
#18857751 - 09/18/13 12:16 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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You could probably do a swab onto agar to test the difference but I'm going to say it doesn't really matter (as long as the shammies have been washed and cleaned and aren't sitting around grungy). It's the physical scrubbing action that is doing a lot of the cleaning by transferring contams to the absorbent towel.
This is the same basic principal as washing your hands, the soap makes bacteria more soluble in water and then the scrubbing washes them away. (and also why anti-bacterial soap is pointless for most cases).
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Gretchenmeister
Starbeing/Psilocybin Savant



Registered: 07/23/05
Posts: 1,032
Loc: From the Stars
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Re: Using a shamwow in place of paper towel to sanitize jars with alcohol? [Re: StygianKnight]
#18857767 - 09/18/13 12:20 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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I still use a cotton ball to dab my filter covered inoc sites with. If I am not using any kind of filter on my jar I just flame the inoc hole with my long ass torch lighter.
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bodhisatta 
Smurf real estate agent



Registered: 04/30/13
Posts: 61,889
Loc: Milky way
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Re: Using a shamwow in place of paper towel to sanitize jars with alcohol? [Re: Gretchenmeister]
#18857810 - 09/18/13 12:29 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Notahacker420 said:
Quote:
TieACable2aTree said: Is it possible for the red hot syringe to ignite the alcohol when it comes in contact with the soaked sponge?
I doubt it, but wiping a flame sterilized needle with an unsterile substance like alcohol is like wiping shit on your face after a shower.
this quote is pretty famous around here too.
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