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Cleaning the nastiest thing ever
Ein
CaliforniaRegistered User regular
CaliforniaRegistered User regular
Hey guys.
I just got back to my apartment from Thanksgiving break to make a spectacular discovery.
Basically, prior to our break, one of my apartment-mates must have made some form of food and subsequently left the remains in the sink. As far as I can tell, it looks to be some form of noodles + vegetables - at least, I think it used to be, as one of my apartment mates eats some pretty rank indian food. Some form of carbon dating might be more accurate, but I'm going to have to go by just a quick survey.
Anyway, this stuff, having been left in this sink for an ungodly amount of time, seems to be evolving. I walked into my apartment and into the kitchen to be treated to a smell very much approaching a vomit and diarrhea smoothie. I pretty much threw up from the smell from about ten feet away, and beat a hasty retreat out of there.
From what I saw, the food remnants have turned into some kind of white filmy thing that has basically coated everything that was left in the sink, including one of my pans which my apartment mates seem to have helped himself to. I'm considering pretty much everything in the sink a total loss - there's no way I'm ever cooking or eating out of anything in there ever again - but my problem is that I can't clean the thing up because it's the most unsanitary and overpowering thing I've ever had to go near.
Why do I have to clean it up, you ask?
For lack of a better answer, it's being pinned on me. Even though I don't do any cooking of my own this semester, my pan is the one in the sink, which leads the other two of my apartment mates to believe it was my doing to leave that rank stuff behind. The guy who eats indian food simply categorically denies ever having left the food behind, even though I am 100% sure it was him. And nothing's getting cleaned up.
I've resolved to suck it up and clean this thing, but I have no idea how to even approach it without dying. If I put it off much longer, it may evolve to the point where it becomes predatory, and I don't want to deal with that.
I am very ill-equipped for this job. I can't even find a decent pair of gloves. The best I've been able to do so far is run in there behind a smokescreen of lysol while holding my breath, turn the water on hot, and squeeze some dish detergent out in the hopes that it might soap up and dissolve some of the stuff that would wash down the drain, and run back out. If I had drano, I'd probably just fill the sink with it and wash it down, and then throw everything in there out, but I don't.
What should I do?
tl;dr - Are you a bad enough dude to help me combat biological terrorism?
I just got back to my apartment from Thanksgiving break to make a spectacular discovery.
Basically, prior to our break, one of my apartment-mates must have made some form of food and subsequently left the remains in the sink. As far as I can tell, it looks to be some form of noodles + vegetables - at least, I think it used to be, as one of my apartment mates eats some pretty rank indian food. Some form of carbon dating might be more accurate, but I'm going to have to go by just a quick survey.
Anyway, this stuff, having been left in this sink for an ungodly amount of time, seems to be evolving. I walked into my apartment and into the kitchen to be treated to a smell very much approaching a vomit and diarrhea smoothie. I pretty much threw up from the smell from about ten feet away, and beat a hasty retreat out of there.
From what I saw, the food remnants have turned into some kind of white filmy thing that has basically coated everything that was left in the sink, including one of my pans which my apartment mates seem to have helped himself to. I'm considering pretty much everything in the sink a total loss - there's no way I'm ever cooking or eating out of anything in there ever again - but my problem is that I can't clean the thing up because it's the most unsanitary and overpowering thing I've ever had to go near.
Why do I have to clean it up, you ask?
For lack of a better answer, it's being pinned on me. Even though I don't do any cooking of my own this semester, my pan is the one in the sink, which leads the other two of my apartment mates to believe it was my doing to leave that rank stuff behind. The guy who eats indian food simply categorically denies ever having left the food behind, even though I am 100% sure it was him. And nothing's getting cleaned up.
I've resolved to suck it up and clean this thing, but I have no idea how to even approach it without dying. If I put it off much longer, it may evolve to the point where it becomes predatory, and I don't want to deal with that.
I am very ill-equipped for this job. I can't even find a decent pair of gloves. The best I've been able to do so far is run in there behind a smokescreen of lysol while holding my breath, turn the water on hot, and squeeze some dish detergent out in the hopes that it might soap up and dissolve some of the stuff that would wash down the drain, and run back out. If I had drano, I'd probably just fill the sink with it and wash it down, and then throw everything in there out, but I don't.
What should I do?
tl;dr - Are you a bad enough dude to help me combat biological terrorism?
Ein on
0
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Jordan of Elienor, Human Shaman
Open the vinegar and hold under your nose to combat the smell until you can get close enough to dump the vinegar onto the nastiness. Once the vinegar is in the air, it should cut the smell reasonably well anyway and it will kill whatever's growing, and the smell will fade pretty quickly once you're done cleaning. And its not any kind of harsh chemical that will give you cancer. And its cheap as can be.
Elbow grease that shit away and wash your hands thoroughly.
punch your roommate in the junk.
Or scoop the food/mold into a garbage bag and throw it away immediately, while letting the sink and pan soak in a mixture of the hottest water you can afford and some dish soap for a while to break up the remainder.
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral
But yeah, you're going to have to chip away at it. I would actually get a garbage pail emptied and nearby, on the horrible chance that the sink backs up.
When I can't handle the smell of something rotting in the kitchen sink, I take a Kleenex, rip it in half, soak both pieces in my cologne and shove them up my nostrils. This gives me a good 10 minutes of pleasant smells before I have to run from the kitchen. Just do this twice an hour until the mess is gone. Like I said, it sounds weird, but it works for me.
Oh yeah, it burns pretty bad the first time. Just a warning.
That's probably the alcohol.
Whatever you do, make it clear to your roomates that leaving a mess on that scale in the kitchen in the future will not be acceptable, or else they'll just do it again.
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral
It won't work and it's terrible for the pipes.
You have two options: get whoever made the shit to clean it up (honestly, this is not your responsiblity--you did not make that mess, so you need to absolve yourself). Or suck it up and get scrubbing. You do not need rubber gloves, you do not need some kind of industrial-strength cleanser--fucking Dawn and a sponge will get this clean. If there's a lot of it left over, then scrape it out into a garbage sack.
If the smell really bothers you that much, then open a window. Get some of that Lysol Air Freshener aerosol and spray it around. You will have to deal with some unpleasantness, but the sooner you get it done the sooner it will be over.
I second the "no Drano" comment, for the same reasons as Makershot.
Put on the gloves, hold your breath, run into the kitchen, throw everything into a heavy garbage bag (like the kind for leaves), and seal it. Then put that in another garbage bag and seal that. Now you should be able to take the double-bagged thing to the dumpster pretty easily.
And no, this isn't the nastiest thing ever. When I ran the network at a student newspaper years ago, someone had literally masturbated on one of the computers one morning. It was discovered when one of the staffers picked up something next to it and got jizz on her hand.
http://www.thelostworlds.net/
Fuck it, just get a bag, and dump all the shit into it.
Put it on the offending room-mate's bed.
That'll teach him.
I've done it to my siblings whenever they've left huge messes around the house. I've cleaned it up, stuffed it into a bag and dropped it off onto their bed. I got my point across, they don't mess up the kitchen, or elsewhere, anymore.
Seriously man. Get some gloves & shit, hold your breath, and pick the shit up. Put it in the guy's room.
I was going to say this, but it's the OP's pan and so this wouldn't do him any good. His roommate is likely to say screw it, and then the dude never gets his pan back. That's what makes this situation really crappy - roommate took his pan and messed it up.
He mentioned that at this point, the pan's forfeit regardless.
Rubber Gauntlets.
Heavy plastic bags.
or
Fire. Lots and lots of Fire.*
*not recommended if you need to continue living in the residence.
That sounds like something from the bizaro version of this thread in SE++
ANYWAY
If the pan is an issue, clean it. Keep it.
If not, proceed as I previously mentioned.
Also, take some pictures.
Soak.
That stuff breaks down anything.
I bet it would have helped with the berlin wall.
i would go so far as to put it all in a bag then dump the bag out on the roommates bed.
also, pics of this abomination?
Cover sink with paper towels nad saturate in bleach.
Let stand for 30 minutes.
Rinse with cool water.
Pour 1 cup of salt and 1 cup of baking soda down the drain.
Then pour boiling water
Never tried it, it sounds cool.
Spray some whatever good smelling stuff on a bandanna and put that over your face cowboy style first of all. If that shit in the pan is soft still, get a bag and pick it out like dog poop. (if it's hard, but in a no stick pan, a bit of nudging with a butter knife or something should get it out fairly quickly)
Fill up the sink with straight hot water, soap and some vinegar if you have it and let it all soak. Refill it later even if you like. By the time it's finished soaking, most of the smell should be gone. Let out the water (leave the strainer to catch the crap) line your hand with another bag if you're still squeemish and clean out the bits. Refill and wash dishes as per normal. Give the sink a good wipe down too.
One more layer of lysol and you should be good to go.
Alternately, you can just throw out the whole thing and start over. Just soak the sink as per instructions above and it'll be good to go.
When it's super hot, plug sink.
Dump in half a container of bleach and a 1/4 of container of ammonia.
Keep water running till sink is full.
turn on fan and open windows.
Let sit for a day or so.
Un plug.
Don't, uh, don't do what he said. Unless you're going to be wearing an oxygen mask and want to kill everyone else in the building. Which I guess might hold true in your case, but still. Don't do it.
edit: amazing how slow I am to react sometimes. It bears being repeated at least a couple more times.
A long time ago, a guy I was working with on a closing shift at a restaurant thought he'd be smart and mix up some bleach with other cleaners to help clean the grout in the tile floors. Everything was going fine until he put in the drain cleaner. We had to evacuate the whole place and air it out for a day. Stupid fucker...
.........
Are you trying to kill this man?! That's it, your internet card is revoked mister.
Also: - I had a roommate who was lazy in the extreme. His frequent messes in the kitchen were often vomit inducing. Simple Orange, Febreeze, and thick rubber gloves were my best allies. Breathing through the mouth also helps.
Bleach and ammonia. Nice.
Seriously, the folks saying you don't need anything special are correct. Soap and water will clean this adequately, including your pan. Your sink is not made of cloth, it will not irrevocably absorb odors and nastiness. It's porcelin or steel, and both will clean easily. Fill the sink with hot water, pour in some soap, let it sit. After 30 minutes, scrape the shit down the sink, run the garbage disposal, and scrub. It'll almost certainly come off.
If the sink is stained, fill it with hot water and maybe 1/4 cup of bleach. If it's stinky, do hot water and Pine-Sol. If there's really still crap caked to the sink, use cleanser.
This is all assuming that you're a goddamned pussy and don't kidney punch your fuckwad roommate until he agrees to clean up his own damned mess.
Budec, you're taking a couple days off for that one.
I suggested opening a window.
Are they really toxic when mixed together? I know your not supose to breathing either of them in (even if used alone) - but is it really that dangerous?
btw, bleach and ammonia can clean about anything.
There was a kid on my street growing up who was playing around with chemicals in his garage. He mixed bleach and ammonia and died within an hour from fume inhalation. So to answer your question, yes. It really is that dangerous.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/classic/A795611
read linky for more gasious death goodness
@OP: I suggest hot water and ultra concentrated dish soap. Other than that, to combat the smell, the vinegar idea mentioned above is good, If you can't stand that, rag + lovelysmells over the nose ftw
I should probably stop doing that.
Or go to vegas, cause I'm one lucky son of a bitch.
um. So are they safe to use alone... can I still clean with just bleach as long as I got a window open?