Question regarding the anti-viral wipes

[Trailrider1951]

I have been unable to find them at my local grocery store after March 12. I did have most of a large canister of the Lysol wipes left over from our last family camp-out, and half a regular-sized canister of wipes in my car. I use the ones in my car for disinfecting my hands after a trip to the store and the ones at home to disinfect store purchases and delivered packages. I've noticed that the wipes themselves are made of a sturdy cloth-like fabric that is probably not as degradable in the land fill as are paper products. Can I re-use these wipes instead of throwing them away? I though about putting the used wipes in a plastic container and spraying them until moist with a 10% bleach solution and re-using and therefore recycling them would be a good choice. Please give my your opinions as to whether or not to re-use the wipes. Thanks for your input!

[MFM008]

1. I wouldnt

You can use bleach water spray and cloth wipes to.

[Yonnie3]

2. Sure

see https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-make-disinfectant-wipes tells how to make with paper towels. Your material should be better. Use appropriate precautions while making them.

"These wipes are fast to make and portable, so they’re handy if you have to go out for some reason. The key ingredient is bleach. According to experts, diluted bleach is capable of killing the coronavirus on surfaces. "

[LisaL]

4. He or she is proposing to spray bleach on used lysol wipes.

The link you provided is not proposing people do that. They are proposing making wipes with either cloth or paper towels and bleach. If you use cloth wipes, you can wash them after use.

[Yonnie3]

8. I addressed this in my add on post.

My link also talks about making reusable wipes. The material from the Lysol wipes should be reusable if rinsed out properly which was the OPs's goal.

[LisaL]

9. Why would you recommend reusing old/used Lysol wipes?

Where does it say they are washable?

[Yonnie3]

11. The OP says they appear durable and clothlike.

The OP can certainly try re-using them.

[LisaL]

12. Again, for what purpose?

Your link says use cloth or paper towels.
Not used lysol wipes.

[Trailrider1951]

16. The purpose is RECYCLING

I HATE wasting anything. I wash and reuse my ziplock bags, as long as they contained bread or raw vegetables or anything not too messy or foul. I reuse them until the ziplock fails or they develop a leak.

[LisaL]

18. Well, there is a deadly virus going on.

But if you concern is recycling, then who am I to argue?
Do whatever.

[Yonnie3]

17. Did you read the OP as to why? n/t

[LisaL]

20. He wants to recycle used wipes which are not recyclable and supposed to be disposed of.

I guess if that his main concern, why use wipes to begin with?

[Yonnie3]

6. I want to add a caution

if there are other chemicals on your wipes (ammonia, citric acid) they can react with the bleach and give off nasty gases. To be sure, a quick wash of the wipes and wring out before putting them in the bleach solution would be a reasonable precaution.

[Trailrider1951]

10. Yes! Bleach should NEVER be mixed with anything but clean pure water

Thanks for reminding us! Wash wipes in soapy water, rinse and then spray with bleach. Thank you very much!

[Yonnie3]

21. Yes, you must wash them.

The Lysol ingredients could react with the bleach.

Neither the Lysol or Clorox wipes have bleach in them. This is because the bleach will weaken over time. Washing and drying the used wipes and then wetting them just before use from a sealed container of dilute bleach will insure the potency.

[ProfessorGAC]

24. Citric Acid Is MUCH Less Concerning.

The chlorine liberated by a weak acid is short term, as the action will react very fast with the dissociated chlorine.
The gas is mostly oxygen, because of the fast replacement of the citrate anion with a chlorine anion.
Of course, mass transfer prevents everything from being instantaneous. So I wouldn't do it with my nose right over the mixture.
Ammonia is MUCH(!) worse.
The reaction liberates chloramine and some free chlorine gas.
Since it's exothermic, those gasses are warm so they liberate quickly from the liquid. And expand rapidly.
Very toxic gasses creating a fairly big vapor pocket is very bad!
There's also a possibility (very specific, but achievable conditions) that a reaction product is hydrazine. Still toxic, but highly flammable & potentially explosive!

[LisaL]

3. I wouldn't.

Wipes are supposed to be disposable. If you want to use 10 % bleach, spray it on new paper towels, and use those as wipes.

[marlakay]

5. There is a company that makes them

But not top brand they are cranking out more and got permission not to put in canisters because they were out. That is part of the problem the plastic canister that holds them was in short supply so making them in foil packs. I read a bunch will be available in a few weeks.

I guess when they make a product different they have to ask FDA for permission that can take months, they got special permission in a few weeks.

[mucifer]

7. you can wipe things down with hydrogen peroxide 3% put a spray thingy on your bottle because

it has to be in a dark bottle.

It kills virus and is far less toxic than clorox or lysol wipes. Plus it's very cheap

[Trailrider1951]

13. But I cannot find H2O2 at the store, either!

I have most of a large bottle that is reserved for oral hygene...I have a tooth with a crown that is prone to gum infections, and I want to save my H2O2 in case I need it.

[mucifer]

15. Kroger/ Marianos had a lot of 64 ounce bottles a few days ago. I got a bottle

Walgreens had it too

[onecaliberal]

19. I found it at CVS

[lunatica]

14. The viruses on them are dead so it's probably OK

I started using handy wipe cloths sprayed thoroughly with Formula 409 or a product that advertised killing 99% of germs and viruses. They say that when you wipe anything down you should let it air dry so a pretty wet handy wipe does the trick. I also wash the cloth thoroughly with soap when I wash my hands. I actually think these wipes work better than the canister wipes. They stay wet much longer and you can keep wiping everything when you go out. Things like your steering wheel, all door handles, your keys, and if you wear gloves you can wipe them too.

[wcmagumba]

22. I've been using a spray bottle with a mixture of water and dish soap...

I spray things down, door knobs, car door handles and steering wheel, my hands and even some grocery items. Then I wipe off with clean paper towels. A little messy and sticky but as soap is supposed to be a good corona virus killer this has been my system with no hand wipes available in the stores here or other...I've been using this on packages on my porch before bringing them inside too...I use a bucket of soapy water and a sponge for larger packages...

[TexasProgresive]

23. I would be careful about using chlorine bleach with anything that had Lysol on it.

It may cause a chemical reaction that will release a toxic gas.