Eco-friendly enzymes for non-toxic cleaning: a guide to understanding them

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In kitchens where family meals are prepared, grease, starch and all kinds of other food scraps are usually flushed down the drain, where they pile up in the drainpipe leading to the septic tank. This provides part of the food supply for cockroaches. The septic tank is the "sewage treatment center" that processes food after human digestion, and it relies on microorganisms to do its work. Once the microbial community is damaged, the septic process grinds to a halt, which leaves even more food for the cockroaches. Therefore, households whose cooking habits use large amounts of grease and send that kind of kitchen waste down the drain, as well as households or communities that maintain their pipes with strong acids and strong alkalis, will inevitably support a huge population of cockroaches.

As modern people, we depend on a highly efficient life. A pace that prizes efficiency does not encourage people to understand the root of a problem. So when cockroaches appear, we reach for a slipper or spray insecticide. When the drain clogs, we use a strong acid or alkali cleaner. When the septic tank fills up, we call a septic pumping truck to empty it. In fact, all three of these things are related to the microbial community in the drainpipe and septic tank being on its last legs or absent altogether.

The connection among cockroaches, clogged drainpipes and full septic tanks was uncovered by a micro-enterprise, Chang Mao Microbial Development Co., Ltd., through a team made up of a group of biologists. Their research started from cockroaches and traced the cockroaches' food source, and from the food source they found the problem of the disappearing microbial community. This research continued to develop into everyday applications, using the rebuilding of the microbial community to restore the working capacity of septic tanks and to maintain drainpipes. Enzymes are used to provide nutrients so that the microorganisms can recover their ability to work.

For dealing with grease and grime, there are degreasing enzymes. Does everyone still remember? When the British Petroleum oil spill happened in the Gulf of Mexico in the United States, one of the methods used to deal with the oil pollution at the time was to scatter bacterial powder that breaks down oil. And beyond imagination, enzyme cleaning can also be used to deal with odor problems: for urine odor, use enzymes that break down ammonia compounds; for fecal odor, use enzymes that break down sulfide compounds.

In the kitchen, I mix degreasing enzyme powder into water and pour it down the drain before bed. A rag soaked in the enzyme water, used to wipe the countertop and other surfaces, can effectively reduce the greasy smell in the kitchen. A rag that is usually always damp because of grease also becomes easy to dry after being soaked in enzyme water, raising the rag's level of cleanliness and hygiene. In the toilet, water made from deodorizing enzyme powder is poured into the toilet before bed and used to rinse the floor, also effectively removing urine odor and fecal odor.

So have the cockroaches decreased? In the early stage, wiping the inner cabinets and drawers where cockroaches come and go with water made from enzyme powder clearly removed the cockroach smell and reduced cockroach visits. As for the degree to which the cockroach army decreased, it can be seen from the reduction in the cockroach droppings left behind.

Detailed information on enzyme deodorizing and cockroach reduction