Any issues with using chlorhexidine that is past its expiration date? I’ve got this gallon jug that I’d rather not just throw away, it was given to me by a vets office near me. Just figured I’d ask first!
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The majority of things like this won’t go bad, the effectiveness can decrease but it is still usable.
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You’re probably fine. Just be careful not to overuse, you don’t want resistant pathogens developing in your collection.
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I assumed that was the same, as it is with most medications where they just lose their effectiveness overtime.
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I’m going to keep looking online, but what kind of dilution ratio have you guys done/others done? My bottle doesn’t indicate a dilution ratio, it simply has explanations on cleaning with it then rinsing the area with water. Is it like 1:30 or something?
Concentration is going to depend on what you are using it for
If you are using it for cleaning wounds you would use 0.1% for topical application or 0.015% or 0.05% for irrigation
4% is considered to be the effective concentration for preoperative washing of hands/skin and for topical preparation washing.
If you are using it for hardware (tubs, tools, bowls, etc.) then you should use this undiluted
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Perfect, that’s what I needed to know. I’m mainly using it for cleaning in the reptile room. so that answers my question. Thanks Travis!
editing to add a question @t_h_wyman - Do you just scrub it down with the solution and then rinse with water and dry? I assume using it straight you can’t just spray it and wipe it away, as it seems very soapy.
Thanks again!
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Mostly yes. There should be directions that detail the best contact time relative to specific organisms but as a general rule of thumb I would use enough to scrub the entire surface of what you want clean and leave it for around ten minutes of wet contact time before rinsing off. The longer you scrub, the less idle contact time you need (mechanical work augmenting chemical work). If you go that route I would still recommend at least three minutes of solid scrubbing time
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I am using chlorhexidine in a spray bottle for daily tub cleaning with no real time for soaking (wipe quickly and on to next). Before reading the above I was wondering about dilution for surface cleaning (thanks!) vs the label (1:128) which seems to be all about wound cleaning. My bottle strength from Tractor supply is 2% and it’s incredibly inexpensive at the 1:128 wound dilution. I went with a 1:48 dilution for my spray bottle before finding the above. Sounds like I could go much stronger. However I am also a little concerned about the full bottle strength and soapy residue.
I was unaware of the quick expiration and was actually using a 3 year expired jug until yesterday. I actually see online sources saying 6 months from opening for expiration so I wrote that date on the bottle to replace by then, especially if I’m still going to dilute I want to be sure fresh.
One possibly over the top thing I do is to dilute with distilled water. My tap water is hard and I was noticing white condensates in the spray bottle.