Using potassium hydroxide and water as a cleaning solution

[Possum_Magic]

Hi all,

This isn't a liquid soap question, but as it pertains to potassium hydroxide, I thought I would post it here as one of you may be able to answer my question. I hope this is OK.

There is a popular household universal cleaning solution for sale in Australia called Koh. It's a pretty self explanatory product, LOL. It is made of water and potassium hydroxide. I think the solution has <0.5% potassium hydroxide in it. It is a very expensive cleaning product. Koh® | Eco-Certified Home Cleaning System

I know from making liquid soap that potassium hydroxide is quite inexpensive.

I have made some of my own cleaning solution at home. I am interested in making a stronger batch. I have seen online someone uses 15g of Potassium Hydroxide with 500g water KOH By Ecoworx Copy Cat Recipe.

Is potassium hydroxide and water a commonly known DIY household cleaning mixture? If so, and you use it, what percentage of potassium hydroxide do you add? I am concerned that if I make a stronger solution that long term it could be too strong for household surfaces.

Thanks!

 

[DeeAnna]

No, a mix of KOH and water is not a common DIY cleaning solution, if for only that KOH isn't easy to find and buy by DIYers. I'm not even sure it's very common as a commercial cleaning solution.

There are no KOH police to stop you from making a stronger solution, but have you tried a 0.5% KOH solution to see how it works?

I can't fathom why the DIY recipe makes a 3% concentration -- that's six times higher. Small wonder one of the commenters of this DIY recipe said it releases fumes when used.

Even household ammonia is normally diluted in water to around 0.1% NH4OH for general household cleaning (that's 1/4 cup of 5% ammonia solution per gallon of water).

The old saying "more is not necessarily better" holds true here. With a strong alkali like KOH or NaOH, I'd proceed with caution.

 

[Possum_Magic]

Thanks DeeAnna, I appreciate you response. I have just made the 0.5% solution. I haven't used it extensively yet, but so far it has been good in the kitchen. I'll start using it in other areas of the house. I wanted a stronger batch to deal with the oven, but maybe I should just put in some elbow grease. Thanks again.

 

[DeeAnna]

I know from experience now that newer ovens do not necessarily have an alkali-resistant finish in the oven area. Read the owners manual to verify the best way to clean the oven and take heed if they say to not use lye based cleaners.

I CPOPed some soap recently in my brand new Maytag oven. A few drops of alkaline liquid dripped from the soap onto the bottom of the oven. It permanently etched the finish. Very unhappy, but I have only myself to blame.

 

[GemstonePony]

I know from experience now that newer ovens do not necessarily have an alkali-resistant finish in the oven area. Read the owners manual to verify the best way to clean the oven and take heed if they say to not use lye based cleaners.

I CPOPed some soap recently in my brand new Maytag oven. A few drops of alkaline liquid dripped from the soap onto the bottom of the oven. It permanently etched the finish. Very unhappy, but I have only myself to blame.

That's good to know. Weird, considering that ovens are frequently subjected to oven cleaner, but I guess it's another reason to be careful when CPOPing.

 

[DeeAnna]

My new stove and the one I had before this one (bought in the 1990s) have special cleaning cycles that supposedly eliminate the need for alkaline oven cleaners. The old oven cleaned with really high heat. The new one has a cleaning cycle where you put water in the bottom of the oven, but I haven't spent a lot of time figuring out the details.

I only used the cleaning cycle of my previous oven a couple of times, mostly to figure out I didn't like to use it. I used alkaline oven cleaner only a few times and that was more years ago than I want to admit -- I learned I don't like using harsh cleaning products like that. Maybe I'm in the minority, but it's not been a hardship to keep my oven decently clean without high heat or lye-based cleaners. I like to cook and bake, so it's not like my oven stays pristine because it's not used.

I have learned over the years to clean up spills as they happen. If something sugary boils over (a pie is the usual culprit), I'll sprinkle salt or baking soda on the spill in the hot oven and let the oven cool. That often breaks up the mess so I can get it cleaned up without a lot of scrubbing.

But, yeah, the CPOP incident was an eye opener. Thankfully the spill was only a few drops so the damage is small and inconspicuous. But I was pretty annoyed with myself when I realized what I'd inadvertently done.

 

[CathyB]

Deann, thank you for your sad, but important information. I do CPOP without a "safety net" under the mold and that will change immediately.

 

[earlene]

Thank you for sharing that information, DeeAnna. I have not ever had a new stove or oven, but heaven knows, I do use new ones sometimes when I travel (newer than mine at home). As long as I continue to always keep a drip pan under everything that gets heated in my oven (when I am the one using the oven), the ovens should be safe enough. But it's good to know this tidbit in case I ever buy a house with a more recently manufactured oven or have to replace one in future.

 

[Kim123]

Hi can anyone give me specific instructions on how to make the KOH Eco Friendly cleaning product. I would be very interested to learn this and save some money

 

[DeeAnna]

@Kim123 -- The original poster as well as the Koh/Ecoworx website says the Koh cleaner is a mixture of about 0.5% KOH (potassium hydroxide) with the rest being water. That's all you really need to know to make this cleaner -- are you having trouble with the math?

 

[Kim123]

Haven’t tried it at all yet just wanted to get some help with the making

 

[GemstonePony]

Haven’t tried it at all yet just wanted to get some help with the making

Do you need help with math? With how to weigh things? Material handling safety? Equipment considerations? Something else?
Where in this process do you need assistance?
A lot of individuals on here already work with these or similar materials on a regular basis, so it's not readily apparent where your knowledge or experience gap is.

 

[DeeAnna]

Haven’t tried it at all yet just wanted to get some help with the making

In looking at the posts you've made, you haven't introduced yourself or share that you are a soap maker. Since you seem to be very focused on making this particular cleaner, I gather that's your main goal for posting here. I don't know of anyone has ever mentioned making this cleaner except in this thread, but here's how I'd make it if I wanted to do this --

Buy the solid 100% potassium hydroxide crystals or flakes. A small amount of dry KOH will last a very long time if you're using it only for this cleaner so you will not need much. I recommend you use distilled or reverse osmosis water, not tap water, so you will need to find a source for this water as well.

Decide how much KOH solution you want to make. Calculate the weight of KOH to use based on a blend of 0.5% KOH and 99.5% water.

KOH is dangerous to work with, so understand the risks and be careful when working with it -- Wear googles or safety glasses made for protecting your eyes from chemical splashes. Wear nitrile gloves or other chemical resistant gloves as well as shoes and sensible clothing. Work in an area with good ventilation. Have access to clean running water for first aid if you get KOH on your skin. Know the first aid and clean-up procedures for dealing with KOH accidents.

Measure out the KOH and water using a scale. Do not measure by volume.

Pour the KOH into the water (not the other way around) and stir until the KOH dissolves.

Let the mixture cool to room temperature. Pour into a sturdy plastic container made of polypropylene or high density polyethylene (#2 or #5 recycle code) with a secure screw on cap.

Store the dry KOH in a dry, secure place that is safely contained so pets and curious, uninformed humans can't get access to it. KOH is NOT something you want to casually store in a kitchen cupboard.

Hope this helps.

 

[Kim123]

Do you need help with math? With how to weigh things? Material handling safety? Equipment considerations? Something else?
Where in this process do you need assistance?
A lot of individuals on here already work with these or similar materials on a regular basis, so it's not readily apparent where your knowledge or experience gap is.

Any help would be great weighing to actually using it

 

[DeeAnna]

You're pretty much asking the same question here and in this thread -- Koh

It would be best if you choose this thread or the other thread and stick with it. It gets confusing when there are two threads by the same person asking for pretty much the same info.

 

[dibbles]

Any help would be great weighing to actually using it

I think DeeAnna gave you a pretty detailed answer about how to make this - post #13 above.

 

[DeeAnna]

People use ammonia solution for cleaning. Ammonia solution and a KOH solution are going to behave pretty much the same way -- they are both alkalis. The main difference would be the lack of odor with KOH and the greater availability of ammonia in the consumer market as opposed to KOH.

In a dilute solution (0.5% KOH by weight) they both will have pretty much the same safety precautions and will both have a similar cleaning action. Honestly, there's no real magic to using KOH as opposed to the other alkalis available, regardless of the buzz this company is creating about using KOH specifically.

 

[Nostalgicgranny]

For a while I collected old lye pamphlets. They did recommend adding small amounts of lye in dishwater and in the wash water for clothes among other things. At first I was taken aback but then I realized how little was actually used. Basically it was watered down quite a bit. Although I did try both, it wasn't worth it to me. To much worrying whether it all rinsed off everything properly.

 

[AliOop]

For a while I collected old lye pamphlets. They did recommend adding small amounts of lye in dishwater and in the wash water for clothes among other things. At first I was taken aback but then I realized how little was actually used. Basically it was watered down quite a bit. Although I did try both, it wasn't worth it to me. To much worrying whether it all rinsed off everything properly.

FYI, if you eat olives or pretzels, you are ingesting food made with a weak lye solution. Hope I didn’t just ruin those for you.

 

[DeeAnna]

I gather this is the product you're wanting to dupe -- Koh® | Eco-Certified Home Cleaning System

Regarding your concern about copyright infringement, you don't need to be concerned. People have been using alkali solutions for centuries for cleaning. Now if you went into business to market a copycat version of the product already on the market, that would be a different story. But making this solution for personal use? It's just not an issue.

The math --

You want to make a 0.5% KOH solution.​

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Decide how much of this cleaning solution you want to make, in liters or grams, whichever you prefer. If liters, convert to grams. The solution will be mostly water, so it's reasonable to say 1 liter of the solution will weigh 1000 grams.​

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Weight of cleaning solution, grams = 1000 X Liters of solution​

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Weight of dry KOH, grams = 0.005 X Weight of cleaning solution​

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Weight of water, grams = Weight of cleaning solution - Weight of dry KOH​

Example -

You want to make 1.5 liters of cleaning solution using 0.5% KOH.​

Weight of cleaning solution = 1000 X 1.5 = 1500 grams​

Weight of dry KOH = 1500 grams X 0.005 = 7.5 grams dry KOH​

Weight of water = 1500 grams - 7.5 grams = 1492.5 grams water​

​

Measure the water into a clean alkali-safe container (polypropylene or high density polyethylene) that has a secure, leak proof cap.​

​

Pour the dry KOH into the water. Stir until dissolved. You may hear a slight fizzing or buzzing sound as the KOH dissolves in the water. That's normal.​

​

Let the solution cool to room temperature if it gets obviously warm (the solution is weak so it probably won't heat up much). When cool, securely fasten the cap.​

​

Make sure the container is properly labeled with a suitable warning -- it's going to look and smell exactly like plain water, so make sure people know it's not just water.​