Cheap, you can make it yourself…
We have high humidity in our house, year round, and we’ve had problems with mold. Ugh. But I have found a cheap way to clean mold, with my home-concentrated powerful but nonpoisonous cleaner. It is so strong, you still have to wear gloves and protect your eyes, because it releases oxygen. You also might want to wear a dust mask when spraying it. It is super concentrated hydrogen peroxide.
You don’t actually “Make” it but you concentrate it using distillation. Don’t understand distillation? It is the process of allowing water to rise out of a source—often via boiling the water. Usually the pure water is captured while it rises as steam. This can transform sea water into fresh water. But in our case, we let the distilled water (steam) rise up and go away, but we want the concentrated solution (hydrogen peroxide) that is left behind.
The process is so simple, I will show you the steps with photos and written descriptions (I tried to use video, but my website could not support the video today.)
You can buy your hydrogen peroxide anywhere, but I found the best deal with Walmart.com. They sell 6 quarts of hydrogen peroxide for about $6. This is the exact amount I need to distill/concentrate one pint (16 oz.) of the super concentrated hydrogen peroxide. Here is an affiliate link to the set of 6 quarts (1.5 gallons) of Walmart’s hydrogen peroxide.
I stumbled across this idea by accident. I had found some mold in the bathroom, and when baking soda did not seem to keep the mold away, I remembered I had some double strength hydrogen peroxide. That peroxide is a cleaner called “Non-chlorine bleach.” It is about 7% hydrogen peroxide, just over twice as strong as household hydrogen peroxide (3%.) I had to spray it several times, but eventually it killed the mold. I wondered if a stronger hydrogen peroxide existed, and I found it on Walmart.com.
If you want to skip the distilling (concentrating) process, you can just buy the already concentrated hydrogen peroxide at the 35% concentration (for 16 oz. and priced a bit over $30.) Here is an affiliate link to a page with a few different sizes of bottles at higher concentrations.
https://www.walmart.com/search?q=hydrogen%20peroxide%2035%25
I know Walmart’s pre-made 35% concentration works, because I used it first. It killed mold fast. But it was expensive, and I wondered if I could make it myself. I could!
Remember, you MUST wear gloves, and if you use it on the wall or above your head, please wear safety glasses or at least reading glasses or sunglasses to keep it out of your eyes. This is very concentrated, and that oxygen can burn your skin. I have gotten it on my skin and even a tiny bit in my eyes, and it hurts. Use eye drops right away if that happens. Wearing a dust mask keeps any moisture and oxygen out of your throat when you first spray it. The “air” we breathe contains many inert gases, not the concentrated oxygen this solution releases. It burns, though it has never severely burned me. But I don’t want you to feel any burn—that’s why I suggest a dust mask in addition to the gloves and glasses.
I wondered how much I needed to boil to get the concentrated hydrogen peroxide. I did the math, and realized 1.5 gallons of hydrogen peroxide, boiled down to 16 oz (1 pint), would have just about the same concentration of hydrogen peroxide as the 35% kind. Technically my concentrate would have a bit less than the 35%, because some would be lost as oxygen bubbles, since the water would be boiling. But what I distilled would still be way stronger than the 3% I had started with.
So let’s look at the photos.
Get a sharpie or other permanent marker and write, “Hydrogen peroxide 35%. Caution burns hands. Wear gloves and goggles,” or something like that on the bottle so you don’t forget what it is and burn your hands. Here is an affiliate link to empty spray bottles Walmart sells.
https://www.walmart.com/search?q=empty+spray+bottle
Open the box and take out all 6 bottles. Walmart packs a smaller box (seen in this photo) into a bigger box with bubble wrap.
Choose your biggest pan. Don’t worry if it does not hold 1.5 gallons. You don’t have to boil all of this at once. Measure and pour 16 oz. plain water into your pan.
Put a ruler into your pan, and note how high the water goes up on your ruler (how many inches get wet on your ruler when you let it touch the bottom of your pan.) When you look at my photo, you see that in my pan, 16 oz. covers half an inch on my ruler. Write down the measurement you got when you dipped your ruler to the bottom of the pan and keep the ruler nearby (photo). Then toss out the 16 oz. of pure water.
You need to know this measurement, so that once you have boiled your peroxide and only 16 oz. are left, it is time to turn off the pan.
Open your bottles, pry off the inner lid, and begin to pour them in.
If your pan cannot hold all 6 quarts, leave the unopened bottles on the counter.
Turn on the stove, and fan if you use a gas stove. Do not cover the pan (let the steam rise and float away).
You should NOT stir this. You simply leave it untouched, and keep boiling it and then adding more until you have added all 6 quarts and your ruler shows you are at your 16 oz. level. Then turn off the burner, and take the pan off the stove. Let it cool until it is no longer hot to touch the pan. (photo)
Wear gloves, and carefully pour this into a measuring cup with a spout to make pouring into a small bottle easier. (photo)
Use a funnel to pour the solution into your spray bottle. (photo).
You now have a super concentrated hydrogen peroxide solution to clean your bathroom and any hard surface that has mold or any other stain. Do not use this on delicate surfaces. This can lighten surfaces, so be aware.
You must store this away from small children and anyone who might pick it up by mistake. Although this has no poisonous bleach or other toxic cleaners in it, the oxygen in this is still capable of burning skin, so you must use care when you handle it.
I spray this along edges where mold used to grow, and now it never comes back. I have not seen any mold anywhere in my shower and tub since I first cleaned out the mold, and now preemptively spray the shower daily. Now preventing mold in the shower and tub is very easy.
I love to write posts about our Christian life, but today I wanted to share my good news, because this simple spray has made my bathroom cleaning so much easier. I pray we have blessed you with today’s “tidy post.” Have a great week!
Debbie, what a great non-toxic solution! Thank you for the thorough instructions. I’ll def purchase from your affiliate links when the time comes that I need to make this solution.
Michelle, you are so kind! I am glad you are enjoying our site. Love, Debbie and the gals