COVID-19 - Power of Disinfectants

Power. You have the power to disinfect all of your daily surfaces.

Majestic Mountain Sage, Inc, has used the power of technology to make disinfectant for our customers and our community. By using water, salt, and vinegar in a machine which will send an electrical current to split the elements, we make acidified electrolyzed water. We are using the EcoOne by Ecolox Technologies, (www.ecoloxtech.com). March 2021 edit: We have since moved to the Force of Nature for a more economical option. We feel that other machine makers have let their prices jump to unsustainable levels.

One liter of water, plus two grams of pure salt and one teaspoon of distilled vinegar are the ingredients. No fancy salt, no iodide, no minerals, just pure salt. Plain vinegar with no sugars remaining, keep that balsamic for foods. It takes 8 minutes to make a strong solution of disinfectant, one liter of disinfectant. Hypochlorous acid is used in wound care, skincare, cleaning surfaces which are porous and non-porous.

• Using the EcoOne from ecoloxtech.com allows us to make a disinfectant at home.
• Use plain salt (no iodide added)
• Use 5% distilled vinegar (no apple cider vinegar)
• Use one liter of filtered water (minerals disrupt the process, filter any way you can: boil, Brita, reverse osmosis)

Yes, there are other machines out on the market but let me give you the reason we chose this model. EMPOWERED. I hate to buy a machine that requires me to buy the pre-made cartridges which only the manufacturer can put out. During those times I wonder why I decided to make something myself! I learned to make soap for myself so I could control what was put into my soap. I learned to make bread, preserve foods, and more because I wanted the element of ‘I MADE IT MYSELF’. Some of you might see this as an OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), but I call it empowerment.

• No pre-made cartridges to buy
• Do it Yourself (DIY) mindset

Viruses can be tricky buggers. We often think that viruses are never-ending contagions that can make us a little sick, but viruses are the cause of many more issues than a few days off of work. Norovirus has been known to make entire cruise ships a sickness zone. No one likes diarrhea, especially on a vacation. Viruses can die! They can not survive without a host, like you or me. Viruses spread when we don’t remain vigilant in handwashing, covering our coughs, or avoiding our faces when we have dirty hands. The current news is that the COVID-19 virus can remain on plastic surfaces for up to 72 hours and be detectable. You know that Sharpie marker? Disinfect it! Surfaces like metal allow the virus to remain for up to 48 hours. You know that box you just received at your home? It is a carrier. Cardboard can have detectable virus RNA for up to 48 hours. Note that soft surfaces, such as your shirt, are likely to dehydrate the virus in a mere 4 hours. We’ve always wondered why only non-porous surfaces are listed on disinfectants! Now we know.

• Viruses can remain on non-porous surfaces for longer periods of time versus porous surfaces
• Coronavirus can remain on plastics for up to 72 hours.
• Soft surfaces, such as our clothing, will dehydrate a virus more quickly than a hard surface.

How do we use the electrolyzed water? We simply spray. Every label of disinfectant will note how long typical viruses need contact with the disinfectant to be killed. I don’t know about you, but waiting 10 minutes while continuing to spray the surface (it must remain wet for the entire time noted) is not something I will do to every doorknob in my house. I can’t! I would have nothing else to do all day but spray doorknobs! More important, those disinfectants must be rinsed from the non-porous surfaces with potable water!

Using the EcoOne we can make a disinfectant that kills norovirus in under a minute. What about H1N1, or SARS, or even bacteria? All of those can be killed in 60 seconds or less. The thing to know is ppm. Parts Per Million describes the amount of active disinfectant in the solution. In this case, we are looking at ppm hypochlorous acid. Varying levels of hypochlorous acid can be used in many settings, including disinfecting surfaces, washing fresh fruits and vegetables, cleaning poultry processing facilities, cleaning bathrooms, washing the delicate skin of a burn, cleaning acne bacteria from the face. We even use it to keep water troughs clean for livestock. The best part is you do not need to rinse any item that comes into contact with food or food surfaces, just let those surfaces dry.

• hypochlorous acid will act in seconds
• use 100 ppm hypochlorous acid to clean solid surfaces
• use 60 ppm to wash fresh vegetables
• use 2 ppm to keep livestock tanks cleaner

I have always felt that when I find technology that helps humans that our entire staff would have one. For years, we have invested in our people and they all have an EcoOne.