Household plastics
The catch-all for the polymer surfaces in every room. Solvents do not clean them, they dissolve them — and the same word covers a dozen different polymers.
What not to do
Acetone is unsafe on Household plastics
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
Damage is dissolution or crazing rather than a mark, and it cannot be polished out.
Precautions
- Ventilate the area
- Test on an inconspicuous area first
Why we say this
Strongly supported
A regulator stating in three words that the substance attacks the material, on the same sheet that lists it as a solvent FOR that material. The cleaning use and the damage are the same property.
Sources
Right to Know Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet: Acetone (RTK 0006)
New Jersey Department of Health, 2015 · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That acetone attacks plastics, and is a solvent for plastics. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The 'Description and Use' paragraph and the 'Handling and Storage' reactivity list. Supports the claim as stated. Establishes acetone as a catalogue agent on a regulator's identity and reactivity rather than on general chemistry, and supplies the plastics warning that governs every domestic use of nail polish remover on a surface.
Last reviewed by a person on .
White spirit is unsafe on Household plastics
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
Precautions
- Ventilate the area
- Test on an inconspicuous area first
Why we say this
Strongly supported
A regulator naming three material classes in one sentence. It is the reason a solvent used on an oil mark must be kept off trim, seals and finishes.
Sources
Right to Know Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet: Stoddard Solvent (RTK 1736)
New Jersey Department of Health, 2008 · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That Stoddard solvent attacks plastic, rubber and coatings. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The 'Description and Use' paragraph and the 'Handling and Storage' reactivity list. Supports the claim as stated. Gives the solvent branch of the stain records a named agent with a regulator behind it, and resolves the British/American naming collision that had kept 'white spirit' out of the catalogue.
Last reviewed by a person on .
Chlorine dioxide requires the precaution Household plastics
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
Precautions
- Ventilate the area
- Never mix with other cleaning products
- Keep away from children and pets
- Consider professional help
Why we say this
Strongly supported
A precaution edge rather than a material one. The reason to record it against an indoor surface at all is that consumer products generating it are used in enclosed domestic spaces, and the exposure limit is an order of magnitude below most substances in this register.
Sources
Right to Know Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet: Chlorine Dioxide (RTK 0368)
New Jersey Department of Health · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That chlorine dioxide is a gas whose permissible and recommended airborne exposure limits are both 0.1 ppm. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The 'IDENTIFICATION' block and the exposure limits. Supports the claim as stated. Lets the catalogue separate chlorine dioxide from hypochlorite bleach rather than treating consumer chlorine products as one family, and supplies the exposure figure that makes the distinction matter.
Last reviewed by a person on .
In detail
Most of what a household calls plastic is one of a handful of polymers — polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene, ABS, polycarbonate, PET — and they differ enough that a treatment safe on one crazes another. The single fact that governs almost every domestic question about them comes from the solvent side, and two regulator fact sheets state it in three words each: acetone attacks plastics, and Stoddard solvent, or white spirit, attacks plastic, rubber and coatings. Both substances appear on the same sheets as solvents FOR plastics, which is the point — the cleaning use and the damage are the same property applied to different objects. A caustic adds a second mechanism: potassium hydroxide attacks some forms of plastics, rubber and coatings. What is left is the safe middle, and it is wide: warm water, a neutral detergent and a soft cloth handle nearly everything. Two failure modes are worth naming because they look like ageing rather than damage. Crazing is a network of fine cracks produced by a solvent under stress, and it appears days after the exposure. And a dry cloth on a plastic surface is worse than a damp one, because static already on the part pulls dust straight back.
Properties
Sensitivity
- Acids
- Not known
- Alkalis
- Recorded
- Chlorine bleach
- Not known
- Heat
- Recorded
- Abrasion
- Recorded
- Porous
- Not applicable
“Not known” means CleaningHQ has not established this, not that the material is unaffected.
What works
Mould remover requires the precaution Household plastics
Safe only in specific conditions
This is only appropriate within specific limits. Outside those limits, CleaningHQ makes no claim.
Only within these limits:
- For MOULD. This is not a general-purpose cleaner and is not routine care
- Hard surfaces only — absorbent materials are discarded rather than treated
- Windows open during and after, and DOORS SHUT so spores are not carried to other rooms
- Mask, gloves and goggles, washed or safely discarded afterwards
- Small areas only; larger areas of mould go to qualified professionals
The doors-shut half of the ventilation instruction appears in no other source in this register, and it is the one most people get backwards.
Precautions
- Ventilate the area
- Wear gloves
- Wear eye protection
Why we say this
Supported
UK government guidance, carried with its own scope conditions. The tenure framing it is written in is a housing-law matter and is not carried.
Sources
UK Health Security Agency and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, GOV.UK, 2023 · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That an appropriate cleaning product is used on hard surfaces and left to dry completely, that windows should be open during and after clean-up and doors shut to prevent spores spreading, that a mask, gloves and goggles are worn, and that larger areas should only be addressed by qualified professionals. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The mould removal guidance, the protective equipment note and the scale-of-work split. Supports the claim as stated. Gives the mould family its first positive UK clearance, and creates a recorded international divergence on bleach that the catalogue must present rather than average away.
Last reviewed by a person on .
Detergent is safe on, in specific conditions, Household plastics
Safe only in specific conditions
This is only appropriate within specific limits. Outside those limits, CleaningHQ makes no claim.
Only within these limits:
- Hard plastic that is structurally sound
- Scrub with a stiff brush in HOT water with household detergent, the aim being physical REMOVAL of the growth
- Dry completely, within 24 to 48 hours
- Correct the moisture problem first, or it comes back
Two regulators say the same thing from different directions: the federal guidance directs detergent and water on hard surfaces, and a state health department names hard plastic among the materials that can be cleaned if structurally sound.
Precautions
- Ventilate the area
- Wear gloves
- Rinse thoroughly afterwards
Why we say this
Strongly supported
Two independent regulators giving the same positive instruction, one of which names the material class. The strongest positive clearance in the catalogue, and it had been sitting unbuilt in three sources for nine sprints.
Sources
Minnesota Department of Health · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That surfaces are scrubbed with a stiff brush, hot water and household detergent with the goal of removing the physical mould growth, that hard plastic, solid wood, concrete, metal and glass can be cleaned if structurally sound, and that drying follows within 24 to 48 hours. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The cleanup steps, the bleach step, and the salvageable-materials section. Page last updated 19 February 2026. Supports the claim as stated.
United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That mould is scrubbed off hard surfaces with detergent and water and dried completely. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The 'Mold Cleanup' section and the 'Tips and Techniques' list. Supports a narrower statement — our claim was reduced. CleaningHQ had been prepared to attribute a bleach position to the EPA in either direction, which the page does not support. The catalogue now states only what the agency states — detergent and water, dry completely, fix the moisture — and the widespread belief that mould requires bleach is handled as an assessed claim resting on the absence of any authority recommending it, not as an EPA prohibition.
A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home
United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Air and Radiation, 2012 · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That it is not enough to simply kill mould, it must also be removed, and that moisture control is the key to preventing recurrence. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — Read in full. The load-bearing passages are 'Cleanup and Biocides' (p.15), the 'Please note' immediately below it, 'Mold Cleanup Guidelines' and the Bathroom Tip (p.6), the porous-materials bullet (p.7), 'How do I get rid of mold?' (p.3), 'What to Wear' (pp.8–9) and the humidity targets (p.11). Supports a wider statement — our claim was widened. The catalogue previously recorded that no authority it held recommended bleach for mould. It can now record that the federal regulator positively does not recommend it as routine, while carrying that this is advice against ROUTINE use rather than a prohibition, and that the agency leaves room for professional judgement. The kill-versus-remove sentence became the governing fact of the whole mould family and is what several backlog rows actually needed. The Sprint 5 record against the short EPA page stands unchanged and correct about that page; this is a different document, cited separately.
Last reviewed by a person on .
Why
- Household plastics is explained by Solvent crazing
- Household plastics is explained by Static and dust
- Household plastics is explained by Solvents and polymers
- Household plastics is explained by Plasticizer migration
Related
- Household plastics is commonly affected by Dust
- Household plastics is commonly affected by Food colouring
- Household plastics is commonly affected by Tobacco residue
- Household plastics is commonly affected by Mustard stain
- Household plastics is commonly affected by Sticky plastic
- Household plastics is commonly affected by Dust
Hacks and claims involving this
- Nail polish remover to lift a stubborn mark Supported
- Sticky plastic just needs cleaning Does not work
Sources for this page
Sources
Right to Know Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet: Acetone (RTK 0006)
New Jersey Department of Health, 2015 · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That acetone is a solvent for plastics and that it attacks plastics. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The 'Description and Use' paragraph and the 'Handling and Storage' reactivity list. Supports the claim as stated. Establishes acetone as a catalogue agent on a regulator's identity and reactivity rather than on general chemistry, and supplies the plastics warning that governs every domestic use of nail polish remover on a surface.
Right to Know Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet: Stoddard Solvent (RTK 1736)
New Jersey Department of Health, 2008 · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That Stoddard solvent attacks plastic, rubber and coatings. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The 'Description and Use' paragraph and the 'Handling and Storage' reactivity list. Supports the claim as stated. Gives the solvent branch of the stain records a named agent with a regulator behind it, and resolves the British/American naming collision that had kept 'white spirit' out of the catalogue.
Cleaning instructions for luminaires
ETAP Lighting International · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That a dry cloth must not be used on plastic parts because static already built up on them attracts dust, and that only antistatic detergents without alcohol and no abrasive or polishing products should be used. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — Section 0, the introduction, covering the safety instructions and the general instructions; and section 1, the cleaning table for parts that affect lighting, by component material. Supports the claim as stated. Opens the light-fitting domain, which had three externally observed rows and no source. Covers how-to-clean-a-light-fitting and, with the consumer safety body read alongside it, power-off-before-cleaning-a-light-fitting. It does NOT close waiting-for-a-bulb-to-cool: it states the condition and declines the duration, so the thirty-minute figure that recurs in consumer results still has no authority behind it and is not adopted.
What CleaningHQ cannot answer yet
These are recorded questions about this subject that we have not yet researched to a standard we would publish.
- Identify a polymer before cleaning it
Last reviewed by a person on .