Distilled Water: The Best Floor Cleaner
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david
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When I took a training course for cleaning technicians several years ago taught by the national cleaning organization’s lead evaluator for cleaning product effectiveness he surprised the class by telling us that he had found distilled water to be the best floor cleaner that he had tested. Because it is also so appropriate for eco-friendly cleaning, I have been using it ever since.
Distilled water is the 2.0 of deionized water in the cleaning industry. Ten, fifteen years ago certain manufacturers were promoting appliances that produced deionized water, the newest hi tech cleaning process. It didn’t take people long to discover that distilled water was a pretty good substitute that contained the same basic properties of deionized water and cleaned with approximately the same degree of effectiveness.
Distilled water is water that has been purified through a process that involves boiling away its impurities. What is left is water with negligible minerals and bacteria. Iron and calcium are two of the main minerals that get removed. This turns water into a very effective cleaner through two means.
First, the distilling process reduces the ionic electrical charge of the water, which makes distilled water function as an attractant for ions from the surfaces it comes in contact with. Thus it pulls minerals and other impurities into itself away from surfaces, an effective cleaning mechanism.
Second, distilled water doesn’t leave a residue—those water spots you see on drinking glasses sometimes after their washed, for instance—making them streak free. Thus they are also a particularly good chemical to use for glass cleaning.
Because it is only made of water and because it doesn’t leave a residue, it is also an especially eco-friendly cleaning agent.
Distilled water is used in many industrial processes, for instance sterilizing environments, that require surfaces free of contaminants. In cleaning it is touted especially for many uses, though especially for glass, since there we can often see the residue that tap water or other cleaners use. But it is also a highly effective general cleaner and, as my trainer recommended, it is particularly good for floors, which is how I make use of it.
It may be surprising how a number of common household products make effective cleaners—and most of them are eco-friendly cleaning agents. Distilled water is a stellar example!
For more information:
https://ultrapureh2otech.com/2020/09/why-is-deionized-water-best-used-for-cleaning/
