Hello,
I'm starting an exterior cleaning service with a focus on using sustainable, carbon neutral and environmentally friendly chemicals, practices, and machinery.
Within this industry, Sodium Hypochlorite is considered king, even when it's often a poor choice for the task, and has been shown to have long term negative impacts on the environment and water it is introduced to (when used as a cleaner).
As such I've been looking for effective alternatives to Sodium Hypochlorite (referred to as bleach moving forward). The immediate downside is that even in situations where bleach is a poor cleaner, it often appears to be effective due to its excellent whitening characteristics. The dirt, grime, and other surface contaminants may not have been removed, but the surfaces appear to be clean because the contaminants have been bleached.
My immediate first choice as an alternative was Hydrogen Peroxide, since it has many desirable qualities in a cleaning chemical. Additionally, it decomposes into water and oxygen. It's also very unstable and decomposes very quickly. This would lead me to believe it is significantly less likely to result in unexpected chemical reactions than bleach, when introduced to the environment at large through an exterior cleaning process.
Question 1: Is Hydrogen Peroxide better than bleach for the environment at large, or are there known reactions that result from Hydrogen Peroxide and common environmental substances which are as bad as bleach?
Question 2: Does Sodium Percarbonate, when mixed with water, have cleaning qualities beyond that of Hydrogen Peroxide? I'm generally unfamiliar with Sodium Carbonate and its potential environmental impacts or advantages over a simple diluted Hydrogen Peroxide solution.
Question 3: Are there any known substances that would increase the viscosity, or surface tension of a Hydrogen Peroxide solution to enable better adhesion to vertical surfaces?
Apologies for the wall of text. I was not blessed with the gift of brevity.
Thanks in advance.
