Leave cleaning to the ions

It is a kitchen degreaser. It is a window cleaner. It kills athlete's foot. Oh, and you can drink it.

Sounds like the old Saturday Night Live gag for Shimmer, the faux floor polish plugged by Gilda Radner. But the elixir is real.

It has been approved by regulators in America. And it is starting to replace the toxic chemicals Americans use at home and on the job.

The stuff is a simple mixture of table salt and tap water whose ions have been scrambled with an electric current.

Researchers have dubbed it electrolysed water — hardly as catchy as Mr. Clean.

But at the Sheraton Delfina in Santa Monica, some hotel workers are calling it el liquido milagroso — the miracle liquid.

That is as good a name as any for a substance that scientists say is powerful enough to kill anthrax spores without harming people or the environment.

In Santa Monica, the Sheraton housekeeping staff has ditched bleach and ammonia for spray bottles filled with electrolysed water to clean toilets and sinks.

“I didn't believe in it at first because it didn't have foam or any scent,'' said housekeeper Flor Corona. “But I can tell you it works. My rooms are clean.''

“It's green. It saves money. And it's the right thing to do,'' said Glenn Epstein, executive assistant at the Sheraton Delfina. “It's almost like fantasy.''

Actually, it is chemistry. It turns out that zapping salt water with low-voltage electricity creates a couple of powerful yet non-toxic cleaning agents.

Sodium ions are converted into the alkaline liquid sodium hydroxide, which cleans and degreases like detergent but without the scrubbing bubbles.

Chloride ions become hypochlorous acid, a potent disinfectant known as acid water.

“It is ten times more effective than bleach in killing bacteria,'' said Yen-Con Hung, a professor of food science at the University of Georgia-Griffin, who has been researching electrolysed water for more than a decade. “And it's safe.''

There are drawbacks.

Electrolysed water loses its potency quickly, so it can't be stored long.

Machines are pricey and geared mainly for industrial use. The process also needs to be monitored frequently for the right strength.

Then there is the “magic water'' hype that has accompanied electrolysed drinking water. But Richard Wullaert, a consultant from Santa Barbara, California, said consumers should be careful.

“Some of these people are making claims that will get everybody in trouble,'' said Wullaert, whose non-profit Functional Water Society is spreading the word about electrolysed water.

Most of the growth has happened outside the United States. Russians are putting electrolysed water down oil wells to kill pesky microbes.

Europeans use it to treat burn victims. Electrolysing equipment is helping sanitise drinking water in parts of Latin American and Africa.

In the US, the Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency have approved electrolysed water for several uses.

PuriCore of Malvern, Pennsylvania, and Oculus Innovative Sciences of Petaluma, California, have developed treatments for chronic wounds.

Electrolyzer Corporation of Woburn, Massachusetts, is going after the hospitality market. The Sheraton Delfina purchased one of its machines.

Rebecca Jimenez, director of housekeeping, heard grumbling from the cleaning staff when the Santa Monica hotel brought the machine.

Housekeepers doubted that the flat, virtually odourless liquids were really doing the job.

“If it doesn't sud up, it doesn't work,'' Jimenez said. “That's the mentality.''

Still, she said, most have come around and are enjoying working without fumes and peeling skin.

Minnesota food scientist Joellen Feirtag said she was similarly sceptical. So she installed an electrolysis unit in her laboratory and began researching the technology.

She found that the acid water killed E. coli, salmonella, listeria and other nasty pathogens. Yet it was gentle enough to soothe her children's sunburns and acne.

“This sounds too good to be true, which is really the biggest problem,'' said Feirtag, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota.

“But it's only a matter of time before this becomes mainstream.''