Leather waterproofing products are oil based and use various complex combinations of oils, waxes and sealants to plug up the leather pores thereby creating a barrier to any liquid.
Care should be used before waterproofing any indoor furniture that may be subjected to cat or dog urine. If you favorite pet decides to use your expensive leather furniture as their personal toilet how will you clean up their urine when your waterproofing product has plugged up the pores?
Leather conditioners are oil based and may contain some form of wax. Leather conditioners are not a cleaning product.
Leather conditioners are intended to replace natural oils that may have either evaporated or have rubbed off on clothing.
The lubricating oils do double duty with a secondary function of producing a shine.
Unfortunately leather conditioners may also plug up the pores of the leather making complex cleaning such as urine removal very difficult.
Be careful before purchasing any super concentrated liquid cleaning products and odor eliminators which require user preparation. When you mix the products and they do not work the vendor can always claim user error. You should stay away from cleaning products that require any type of special in the home do it yourself mixing.
One of the most popular selling points for super concentrated cleaning products is that you are saving the environment by conserving resources. The financial resources that are actually being saved are in the shipping industry. The manufacturers don’t want to pay for the additional weight of properly prepared cleaning products. This is the nexus of concentrating cleaning products.
Concentrating liquid cleaning products is a great idea if the do it yourself home user could achieve the wonderful results that are advertised. The likelihood of user error is very high, that is assuming the cleaning products are any good in the first place.
If the super concentrated cleaning products were mediocre to begin with placing the final preparation in the hands of a naïve home user is a sure recipe for failure and disappointment.
Super concentrated liquid cleaning products are most attractive to those consumers that are always looking for a deal. Their personalities are such that they are constantly looking for the very best price on anything that they buy.
Those clever marketing folks know this and mark a large bull’s eye on the foreheads of this type of consumer. They tune their advertisements to appeal to the misplaced sensibilities of the deal oriented consumer. They entice them into the deal by offering what appears to be convenient toll free customer support and too good to be true money back guarantees.
Unfortunately when the super concentrated liquid cleaning products fail to perform the manufacturers and their advertising agents are typically no where to be found.
The current marketing theme is ecologically friendly cleaning products. Green cleaning products are always preferable if they actually work. You conserve valuable resources such as water, plastics, bottles, sprayers and the electricity used in the cleaning products manufacturer. You indirectly reduce green house carbon emissions by reducing the amount of gasoline and diesel fuel needed to transport the products. There is no question that environmentally friendly cleaning products are a very attractive goal.
How ecologically friendly is it when the super concentrated liquid cleaning product fails to perform? How much will you save if you are forced to replace your carpeting and upholstery?
If you are lucky and the super concentrated odor eliminator does not damage your carpeting and upholstery how much have you really saved when you are forced to replace the ineffective cleaning product with a cleaning product that actually works?
The environmental protection agency has done an excellent job of removing harmful chemicals and ingredients from cleaning products that pose any type of risk to the environment. Manufacturers can choose any of the remaining safe ingredients and develop proprietary formulations that actually work.
The word super is a form of exaggeration and exaggerations always leads to lies.
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. The WHO was established in 1948 and is currently headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
According to the currently adopted definition by the World Health Organization probiotics refers to “Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host”.
A good example of a probiotic relationship is that between a human being and the friendly and beneficial bacteria that reside in the human intestine. Another excellent example is the active microbes in yogurt which when ingested make humans healthier.
The reason we have brought this up is because we recently saw the SCOE 10X cleaning product advertising that it was probiotic.
According to the definition crafted by a leading scientific body the World Health Organization the claim that any household cleaning product is probiotic cannot possibly be true.
For a probiotic relationship to exist both parties to the relationship and in this example it would be the SCOE10X cleaning product and the wall to wall carpeting would have to be recognized as biological life forms.
We are familiar with microbes for cleaning however since the objects SCOE 10X is trying to clean are not alive there can not be any probiotic relationship. We believe that it is incorrect for SCOE10X to claim that it employs probiotics or has a probiotic relationship with any articles that it is cleaning since this is not possible.
Colon cleansers are good examples of cleaning products where the friendly and beneficial bacteria confer some healthy benefits to the host. Think of how good you will feel when the colon cleansers do their jobs.
We added one teaspoonful of Joy to half a sink of cool water. We placed our dishes and utensils in the water and allowed them to soak for about fifteen minutes. This product is excellent and easily penetrated the dried food particles. The dishes rinsed clean with a minimal amount of water which is a great benefit in our ecology conscious environment.
Our baked on oven grease test consisted of baking fish in a 350 degree oven for forty minutes with a light film of olive oil spray. The second part of our baked on oven grease test consisted of baking chicken breast at 350 degrees for 40 minutes also using a light film of olive oil.
With just a short soak in the sink containing the Joy Ultra Concentrated Dish Washing Liquid the baking pans cleaned up nicely with our trusty S.O.S. Tuffy Nylon Scouring Pad. It was clear that this formulation of Joy was easily able to penetrate the baked on oven grease.
Ok so how did Joy perform on greasy pans?
Our test skillet had been used to cook seven pieces of bacon. Those of you that know how to cook can visualize the grease in this pan. We cooked the bacon long and slow under low heat so we could maximize the grease in the pan.
We soaked our bacon grease and egg encrusted skillet in the Joy Ultra Concentrated Dishwashing solution for fifteen minutes.
The bacon grease was easily dissolved by the Joy. In fact it is noteworthy to point out that this excellent dish washing liquid was easily able to suspend the grease and keep it out of our way. We noticed there was very little greasy residue on our hands.
Are there other uses for Joy Dishwashing Liquid?
During my high school years and before the automobile manufacturers migrated to clear coat paint Joy Dishwashing Liquid was my favorite for my car washing duties. On non clear coat paint Joy does a great job of cleaning the paint finish and the chrome including most bugs and road dirt.
The Joy Ultra Concentrated Dishwashing Liquid is an excellent performer. It performed so well on greasy pans that this product will give Dawn Dishwashing Liquid a strong run for the money.
The Lexol Leather Cleaner is intended for normal surface dirt.
This product is not intended for pet urine stain and odor removal.
The Lexol Leather Cleaner features a glycerin rich formulation.
Glycerol courtesy of Wikipedia is a chemical compound also commonly called glycerin or glycerine. It is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid that is widely used in pharmaceutical formulations. Glycerol is a sugar alcohol, and is sweet-tasting and of low toxicity. Glycerol has three hydrophilic alcoholic hydroxyl groups that are responsible for its solubility in water and its hygroscopic nature.
This product cleans normal surface dirt efficiently.
Because Lexol has clearly stated on the label that this product is not appropriate for stain removal we did not evaluate the leather cleaner for any cat or dog urine removal properties.
During September 2008 we purchased the Obenauf’s Leather Oil at retail for about thirteen dollars.
The primary ingredients are natural preserving oils, beeswax and propolis.
Propolis courtesy of Wikipedia is a resinous mixture that bees collect from tree buds, sap flows, or other botanical sources. It is used as a sealant for unwanted open spaces in the hive. Propolis is used for small gaps (approximately 6.35 millimeters (0.3 in) or less), while larger spaces are usually filled with beeswax.
In layman’s terms the primary ingredients are natural preserving oils, beeswax and sealant.
We applied two coats per the label instructions and tested for water repellency. This product is excellent with water beading up and away almost immediately. With monthly applications the end user would effectively waterproof their clothing and shoes.
This product would be particularly effective for sportsmen and hunters who have a strong need to waterproof their outdoor apparel including their boots.
What about other household uses?
We applied the product to a new leather sofa. We exposed the leather furniture to our cat and as expected the cat urinated on it.
After repeated attempts we were unsuccessful removing the urine.
Excellent waterproofing characteristics are what make this product so attractive to sportsman. Waterproofing is why this product is not recommended if you have cats. The cats will get around to urinating on that leather furniture and the urine will be sealed in by the waterproofing.
The Obenauf’s leather oil earned a buy recommendation.
During September 2008 we reviewed the Lexol Leather Conditioner.
This product was purchased at retail for approximately seven dollars.
This is a tanning oil based product. The tanning oils are emulsified into microscopic droplets for better penetration.
Lexol’s technical strategy is excellent and should result in a product that maintains that fine leather furniture.
Nice feel and capable of maintaining that expensive leather surface.
Suggested uses are the automotive environment where the leather should be conditioned regularly.
During September 2008 we reviewed Clorox regular bleach.
This is probably the best known of the disinfectants.
Clorox claims to kill over ninety nine percent of common bacteria.
At a couple of dollars for a large bottle this is a cost effective solution to disinfecting the bathroom including that toilet bowl.
Like all disinfectants this product is most comfortable in the bathroom.
When it comes to bleach, Clorox is our favorite.
The very ingredients that make disinfectants effective could create serious complications when trying to remove urine from your carpeting and upholstery.
We live in a world of bacteria and viruses.
Products that kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria or viruses are disinfectants.
Disinfectants belong in the bathroom and kitchen, not in your living room.
The very ingredients that make disinfectants effective could create serious complications when trying to remove urine from your carpeting and upholstery.