41: True Slime

Between the two of us, we ALMOST were working with a full deck this week. But cut us a break, Hanna’s going through a birthday, here!

Our #2 listener Paige called in with a VERY common Seattle concern: Why our sinks, toilets, and dishwashers are plagued with a very gross pinkish slime. Andrew put on his lab coat and mad scientist wig and found out that it’s caused by a fat-loving bacteria called Serratia marcescens.

Here’s some reference material:

Our local NPR affiliate, KUOW, did a story on it.

The Family Handyman also has a comprehensive explainer.

Listen here:

Paige asked if it’s possible that enzyme-based cleaners might be more effective. Honestly, we’re not sure — it definitely could be, since enzymes are effective at killing bacteria AND creating a hostile environment from them. That’s important since it’s an airborne bacterium that just like, lands and squats. We’ve also theorized that, since it loves fats, any cleaner which DOESN’T have a lipid in it would be more effective.

But the real question is: Will Andrew’s alleged friend the biologist ever get back to us? And while we’re at it, why did he know about this podcast? We try so hard to keep it secret!

We also talked about self-cleaning ovens, which are basically magic? And the stuff of the Jetsons? And also like, why did both Andrew and I not know about this goddamn revelation until a month ago????

If your oven doesn’t have this exquisite feat of high heat, you can also steam the grime off. Once again, the Family Handyman delivers.

We also got an amazing tip about a VERY interesting old cleaning product that I reader found whole funding through some newspaper archives, but you’ll have to go to our Instagram to see it.

As always, we love to hear from you. 508-HOW-WASH is the Spotline.