Sanitizers are not new to human history because they have been a part of our daily hygiene and use for a long time. But the spread of the virus that has led to the pandemic spiked the selling, buying, and use of sanitizers all over the world. Specifically, in Canada sales of hand sanitizers rose to 792% during 2019, as mentioned by Statistics Canada. There was panic-buying of sanitizers happening at grocery stores all over the country when the first death by the virus was reported in North Vancouver, Canada.

Soon, less effective and substandard sanitizers were sold in the markets, which either contained very harmful ingredients or were used without product testing. The Health Canada Agency took very strong measures to ensure the availability of good quality sanitizers and approved the temporary usage of technical-grade ethanol in alcohol-based hand sanitizers in Canada. It became mandatory to get a Natural Product Number (NPN) from the Natural and Non-prescription Health Products Directorate (NNHPD) as per the requirements listed within the Natural Health Product Regulations. Also, they suspended the license of many sanitizer-making companies including Aerochem Liquid Hand Cleaner 70% Alcohol, Bio-Odeur, Defenz, Gigi’s Goodbye Germs Hand Sanitizer, JP Wiser’s Distillery and many others. Health Canada urges the citizens of Canada to quickly stop the use of these sanitizers, and, if you have any of these at home, they can be returned to pharmacies who will dispose of them properly.

Does Hand Sanitizer Stain Clothes?

Sanitizers are life savers because of their germs-killing capacities but have you ever thought that they could cause stains on your clothes as well as be your stain remover?

There are numerous strategies and tactics toward taking out difficult stains from everything we wear, floor coverings, and furniture. Be that as it may, eliminating every single clue of a stain doesn’t need a stockpile of different compound surface-cleaners and detergents for clothes. Most stains can vanish very quickly with a small portion of an alcohol-based sanitizer. Many articles argue that no matter how hard you try with detergent or soaps, some oily or greasy stains are difficult to remove from clothes but the alcohol in the sanitizers disintegrates the stain’s bonds better. If we go behind the simple mechanics of the hand sanitizer we can see how some that are alcohol-based are good stain removers. Jolie Kerr, hygiene expert at household and travel, who is a writer in The New York Times mentions, “Hand sanitizers in Canada have a high concentration of alcohol in it, which make them a very good stain remover that will work on everything from a pen to food spills to blood.”

The usage of hand sanitizer to remove stains is even easier than laundry detergents or soaps because, for alcohol, all you need is to squeeze a specific amount of it, depending on the size of the stain, in a circular motion and allow it to settle for 15 minutes. Or you can wait for a little less time because some stains vanish earlier.

Some experts believe that if you are planning to tour the beautiful sights around the world, for example the mountainous attractions in Western Canada, it’s best to keep wipes and a travel-size bottle of hand sanitizer to save yourself from germs and stains too. Because the main agent in most hand sanitizers is alcohol, you can utilize it to treat anything that a rubbing alcohol-based sanitizer can regularly handle. This implies you can trust it to dispose of pen marks, hot sauce stains, oil stains, grass stains, and stains caused by cosmetics of pretty much every sort, including lipstick.

Nonetheless, you should realize that this stain-eliminating hack will be best as long as you treat the stain as quickly as time permits. Along these lines, assuming you’re not out getting things done or having lunch when an ‘oh no’ moment happens, don’t wait a second longer to just take the sanitizer out of your bag and see the magic happen in seconds.

Some are made of benzalkonium chloride, which is a bleaching agent that, when fallen on clothes, disturbs the natural color of the fabric. Therefore, we should look at both sides of hand sanitizers’ stain-removing and stain-causing attributes. Although it is believed that hand sanitizers stain clothes, though they actually don’t ‘stain’ garments, a few textures can be harmed by the fixings (change in formula, benzalkonium chloride) found in many brands. As we apply the sanitizer, it can spill or splatter onto attire and other different surfaces. At the point when the fluid lands on these surfaces, it shapes little coloured spots that can look like stains. These imprints are indeed where the surface has been distorted.

Alcohol is one of the principal agents in sanitizers because of its antibacterial characteristics. It is also a known stain remover. This can be somewhat of an issue with regards to our dress. Taking everything into account, there is no contrast among stains and shadings.

The stain-eliminating properties of alcohol depends on its capacity to go about as a bleaching specialist. All in all, it changes the appearance of the fabric by eliminating its tone. Because the sanitizer can be dropped in arbitrary spots and in little amounts (by using a cap of the sanitizer bottle), the fading system only works on the impacted regions, leaving only a spotted impact on the dress’ surfaces.

As per the above discussion, it is important to know that the reaction to different stains by sanitizers can be different depending on the type of sanitizer used. That is why an alcohol-based sanitizer is preferred for removing permanent stains from clothes, while a benzalkonium chloride-based sanitizer, because of its bleaching attribute, tends to fade away the beautiful color of any fabric you spill it on. So, before you use a sanitizer on clothes for cleaning purposes it is important to know which type you are using.

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