Bleach is the miracle chemical.

[Tobin S.]

Scrubbed the tub insert and tub today and put up a new shower curtain- the latest project in my home improvement binge. I wish I would have known about bleach earlier. I thought it was for laundry type stuff, but it will take care of a multitude of cleaning projects. It took the mildew off of my vinyl siding and the mold off of my front door and tub insert. Our basement is wet at times and we had some mold there as well. Bleach, the miracle chemical, took care of it.

I'm thinking my next project is going to be the lawn mower. Last year we couldn't get it to start and determined that the carburetor was gummed up. Instead of fixing it (I didn't feel like mowing anyway), I hired a guy to mow the lawn for us. He's not expensive, $20 a mow, but if I invest a little money in my lawn mower I can keep that $20 in my pocket.

[Tobin S.]

3. Yeah, I heard about that.

I'm not that gung-ho, though. I just cut it with water and soap.

[Wounded Bear]

4. No, no, no...

mixing bleach and ammonia forms toxic fumes, very toxic fumes.

Don't do it.

[Orrex]

5. Well, that was unexpected...

Last edited Mon May 23, 2016, 10:57 PM - Edit history (1)

Oh well.

[Wounded Bear]

6. yuk away...

I find it a disgusting form of humor.

[Orrex]

7. I thought it was common knowledge, but I suppose that it is not.

Last edited Mon May 23, 2016, 10:58 PM - Edit history (1)

Fair enough.

[lunatica]

8. Yeah, but does it whiten your teeth?

[Wounded Bear]

9. I'm sure your local funeral director could answer that one...nt

[lunatica]

11. Yeah, but I'm asking Orrex

[glitterbag]

13. please don't do this

I know this is a joke and you assume everyone understands that mixing ammonia with bleach creates a toxic gas, but not everybody does. It should be common knowledge, but sadly not everybody does. I actually know this is toxic but still tried to clean a litter box (sans litter) with a little bleach to get the debris out of the cat scratches on the bottom, and when the bleach hit the pan, I almost passed out. The fumes hit you like a brick. It was stupid, I should have remembered that cat urine is full of ammonia, but carelessly did it anyway. I thought since i had dumped the litter and rinsed the box with water is would be ok. Boy did I make a mistake. Luckily I was cleaning the box in the garage and had quick access outside, it's amazingly overpowering. Not trying to b a buzz-kill, just worried someone might try this.

[glitterbag]

19. Oh well

I'm new here and I don't have PM privileges yet.

[oldandhappy]

2. I pour it down the drains in kitchen and bathroom

to keep lines cleaned out. Does a great job preventing hair build-up from blocking shower drains. Happy cleaning!

[glitterbag]

14. something else

you can also pour a half cup of salt, half up of baking soda into a drain then pour a cup or more of vinegar in and it will also clean it up pretty well. Vinegar has a million uses and it won't spot your clothes if it splashes.

[NWCorona]

15. Good tip!

[oldandhappy]

16. cool, thanks

[demwing]

10. Careful!

Don't mix it with ammonia (or cleaner that include ammonia), this can creat toxic chloramine fumes. Nasty stuff.

www.state.nj.us/health/eoh/cehsweb/bleach_fs.pdf

[Major Nikon]

12. Cleaning a lawnmower carb isn't that hard

Once you get it disassembled down to the throttle body, it's a good idea to take it to your local small engine repair shop and have it dipped. You can do this yourself, but for a single job it's probably cheaper to have it done rather than buying the stuff to do it yourself. Expect to pay about $10 or so to have it dipped. Make sure they don't leave it in the dip overnight as there will probably still be plastic parts attached that are impractical to remove. The plastic parts can withstand a few hours in the dip, but eventually they will start to break down.

Be careful during disassembly so that you don't ruin the gaskets. You can certainly buy a complete carburetor overhaul kit that will include all the gaskets, but sometimes it's pricey to buy the whole kit when you may only need to replace a gasket or two. It's a good idea to replace the needle and seat as that part is usually pretty cheap.

Once you identify the particular carburetor you have, there's lots of stuff on the youtubes about cleaning it.

[rurallib]

17. you could try a battery powered lawn mower

if you were willing to spend a few bucks. Those little gas engines are real polluters.
ETA - no more gas, no more oil, no more plugged carbs - may pay for itself over time
+ you can mow on Sunday morning without making your neighbors want to shoot you.

[orleans]

20. + (n/t)

[clarice]

22. Or just a little pair of scissors...0 carbon footprint. nt

[jmowreader]

21. One of my operators in Berlin did the bleach + ammonia thing

We were getting ready for a Sergeant Major McKnight visit. (If Sergeant Major McKnight ever dies, he will be sent to the Eighth Circle of Hell...as one of the torturers.) I was the barracks sergeant in charge of my stack. The two people I assigned to clean the stairwell couldn't get the stains out of the concrete with a quart of bleach in two gallons of water, so one of 'em got a quart of Parson's Ammonia and threw that in there. Fifteen seconds later, she ran to my floor...

"Jim, the mop water is giving off white smoke and it stinks really bad."
'What did you put in it?'
"A quart of bleach and a quart of ammonia."
'Oh...fuck.'

Fortunately, the fire station is only three minutes away.

[Mnpaul]

23. If you take the carb off

take many pics with digital camera/phone paying particular attention to the linkage. You may be to find a diagram online. Start looking by engine model #. Don't even think about using bleach. Use carb cleaner w/eye protection(it really burns the eyes) and you may want gloves(some brands are strong enough to damage the skin. I can give more detailed instructions if needed.