Activeion sprayer?

[lshark1800]

Good question, will water kill Influenza A -H1N1? No water will not kill h1n1, but if I to use the same test method used by Activeion’s “independent lab”, utilizing micro-fiber to wipe the testing surface, then Yes. A test result that shows a removal of H1N1 from the surface would be achievable. If the EPA’s standard test were performed where there is no wiping involved, both Activeion and water would fail the test. Once again - Snake Oil - Junk Science - Smoke and Mirrors.

[eminems]

We're not talking about merely sanitizing the surface. They claim it kills viruses on contact...again, I don't know the truth, but all the research I've done and heard about says that multiple Universities and independent testing labs have confirmed that it kills 99.999% of germs on contact.

[Kindesflaye]

eminems -- I'm getting a free ActiveIon sprayer as part of a product sampling program and will be testing it out once it arrives. I joined the forums specifically to post the results of my experience with the sprayer.

It sounds like an amazing tool, but the science behind the ActiveIon does seem a little dubious. I see an asterisk by the "Kills 99.99% of germs!" statement, which says "when used as directed". Not to say that's a show stopper, but I would like to see first-hand what "as directed entails"... am hoping that the ionized water itself kills germs right on contact.

I'll report back in a week or so once I get my ActiveIon thing and can use it...

[lara501]

My neighbor knows someone who works there and it's how I got my sprayer.
Will your water kill H1N1?

You seem like an invasate. Did they wash your brain? How much did they promise you? If ionized water would kill viruses like H1N1, don't you think that medical industries had exploited it? This is a fraud. And you are very naive - or a fraud yourself - dear eminems.

[LivingGreen]

I don't get the idea behind it and it is something I will not try for some reasons. Instead of patronizing products that you are not sure of then might as well make your own using ingredients that are safe and eco-friendly. I always believe that we should not spend even a little for products that are totally new to us. Participate more in this forum for you to know the things you have to know instead of promoting something that most of us aren't favor of.

[Thdaoub]

I am sorry, I have not seen it before, what's that?

[Kathy38]

Well, I am not sure about the technology that you are talking about. I know warm water and soap kills quite a few germs when applied. But the other piece of equipment that I do use, as I still have kids all over my hardwood floors is the steam mop, it kills bacteria, virus's and plain old regular germs. I don't use it all the time just when we have been going in and outside a lot! I spray a bit of vinegar on the floor and run my steam mop over it , germs be gone. I'm not sure it is the "greenest" but I don't use anything other then vinegar and water. If it could run on solar power then we would be kickin'....LOL

[Greener U]

This is my first post here. I'm am the custodial manager for a West coast university with about 6,000 students. In my three years here, I have converted my department to dilution control Green Seal certified chemicals, 100% recycled paper with EcoLogo certification and EcoLogo certified green encapsulating carpet cleaners. I'm currently testing green floor finishes, stripper and stripper free floor stripping methods.

I first saw these Activeion sprayers about a year ago and was initially intrigued that it was a rep from a chemical company who showed it to me. It should be known that I don't buy my chemicals from him, so he had nothing to lose if he could sell me these. He brought a sprayer in and together we played with it and a microfiber cloth for an hour or so. I was impressed, even though I know you can clean quite effectively with just microfiber and water. More about that below if you read that far.

I bought 3 sprayers and gave them to my three shifts. The crew members on those shifts fought over them. I settled on a couple people to use them long term and to try as much as possible to use them for everything they could. The reports I got back were overwhelmingly positive. One woman who cleans several floors in a dorm is using this for virtually everything, she even mops the floors in the restroom spraying a small section and them mopping it with a microfiber flat mop. Her areas have never been cleaner. She even bought the commercial version at about $330 for her own home.

In my own testing and research, (I don't buy snake oil without testing it for a while), I believe this does clean better than microfiber and water. I also believe it has a legitimate sanitizing claim which plain water won't. This has been independently tested with reports sent to the EPA. Bil Nye "The Science Guy" was criticized for his backing of this product, but he has published his own research and the standard methods he used which reached the same conclusions as those stated by the manufacturer.

I just recently spent 1/4 of this years chemical budget to buy the Ionator XP (newest version) for all of my staff custodians. If this works out well and I save at least that much on chemicals, I'll buy more for all my part time student custodians.

For me the biggest benefit of these is that my custodians will not breath and touch chemicals nearly as much. We also put less chemicals into our indoor spaces where our employees work and our students study and live. I still use a disinfectant for mopping restroom floors and a neutral cleaner for mopping regular hard floors and I use an acid cleaner as needed to control hard water build-up in our heavily used showers and toilets.

I'll try to remember to post again at the end of the year to report on how this all worked and what the payoff time was.

About Microfiber

I was one of the very first people to employ microfiber for cleaning on a large scale in this country. This was when it was first being introduced from Sweden, before the Koreans and Chinese had figured out how to knock it off. The Europeans, including some very prominent medical universities, were already cleaning with microfiber and water. The guy who brought the microfiber over from Europe had become discouraged in his efforts to sell to janitorial supply companies. They showed him the door as soon as he said it eliminated the need for most chemicals. They all sell it now, but they just don't say it eliminates chemicals. Anyway this guy started showing the microfiber to organizations he assumed would be large end users. I worked at the time as regional VP for a large contract cleaning company. We bought a bunch of microfiber and cleaned an 80,000 sq. ft. high rise class A office building with it for a year as a test. It worked fine but we still needed to use some chemicals, mainly acid for hard water build-up and disinfectant. The microfiber will mechanically remove probably 95% of germs, but you need the disinfectant to get it to the typical 99.99%

[gigi999]

I find it curious why a person on a green blog would promote using bleach rather than investigating or at least showing interest in alterantive products. I find it even more curious that people would respond to anything without first researching their comments first. You are on the Internet, take five minutes to go to the company's website and learn something about what you are talking about.

No I don't work for the comapny. I just stumbled across this thread and was very disappointed with the lack of substance in most of the comments.

[zach]

I personally did research this and the companies website is probably the last place you should "research" something like this. Especially since people promoting this product constantly spam this site. Most of the information online from reputable sources does not support most of the claims and science behind this product. Based on the information I found and the behavior of people promoting these sprayers I'm am very skeptical of this product.