Thursday, January 24, 2008

Random Factoid: Vodka for Cleaning

The Dean and several of us reference librarians were chatting a bit this morning, which led to a discussion of cleaning habits. Some of us are more obsessive-compulsive than others, which led to a discussion of ways to clean clothes.

I shared this method of cleaning costumes that I learned from a costumer: sometimes costumers will spray costumes with vodka to "clean" them or freshen them up, when there isn't time to wash or dry-clean costumes between performances. The vodka dries quickly, doesn't leave behind any kind of scent, and kills bacteria, which cause smells. And it doesn't matter which vodka you use, so it could potentially be more cost-effective than frequent dry-cleaning!

And that's a random factoid from a librarian. :D

2 comments:

Karen N. said...

The Discovery Channel TV show "Mythbusters" has tested not one but several myths about vodka.

It is good for...

-- Mouthwash
-- foot scrub
-- making it easier to remove band-aids
-- removing smoke odors from clothes

But it will not kill bees, filter water, or alleviate poison oak.

Megan Lowe said...

Not much will alleviate poison oak, other than Calamine (in copious amounts), cortizone, and lots of Benedryl. Oh, and wearing a long-sleeved shirt ALL THE TIME to keep from scratching yourself up too badly (I had poison sumac a few summers ago). :P