Can You Clean a Toothbrush With Alcohol

Alcohol is one of the more debated choices out there when it comes to using to cleaning your toothbrush.

This is mostly due to the fact that there are a lot of types available, some of them being potentially dangerous. So, it’s really important to know what you’re doing if you plan to go with this method.

Be informed! You don’t necessarily need to use alcohol to clean your toothbrush. But, it’s really important that you know that you can use alcohol to sterilize your toothbrush if you are in a bind.

Around here we think that there are better options like Listerine, Hydrogen Peroxide, or modern UV Sanitizers like this one we frequently recommend to our readers, but each options has it’s pros and cos and there is not a one-size-fits-all solution.

There a to consider, obviously, but if you want to use straight alcohol then at least read on and learn a bit about how to do it?

[Well, that’s what we’re going guide you through in today’s article, so keep reading to find out!]

But one thing that you need to keep in mind when it comes to alcohol is that there are several kinds of it. And not every kind is really going to work perfectly for cleaning your toothbrush

Types of Alcohol and which one you can use.

As I remarked a while ago, there are quite a few types of alcohol that are available out there. Now, all of these are not what you want to use to clean your toothbrush.

Let’s take a look at the main types that are available and the main features of each of them:

• Methyl Alcohol: This is by far the alcohol that you do NOT want to use when it comes to your toothbrush. It’s poisonous, and it’s very harmful for your eyes. Cleaning your toothbrush with it puts your eye and your health at risk. This is one of the things that you must keep in mind, to ensure your health, because that’s what comes first.
• Isoprophyl Alcohol: This is one of the more debated options you have. While some people believe it isn’t problematic, some people believe it actually increases the risk of cancer. So, this is one of the things you need to do a little bit of research on before going for. However, if you’re like me and prefer to stick to the safe side, you might just want to avoid it overall.
• Ethyl Alcohol: This, on the other hand is the type of alcohol that you are looking at for using. This is the alcohol that’s perfectly fine and that you can use for cleaning your toothbrush properly.

Does Alcohol Kill Bacteria on a Toothbrush?

Bacteria are the leading reason why most people don’t have a good dental health. As such, it’s not surprising that the first thing you might want to ask me is if Alcohol can kill Bacteria on a toothbrush.

Well, you’re really lucky, because it dies! As an effective disinfectant alcohol can easily get rid of of the bacteria on your toothbrush.

This means that you can pick up your toothbrush with confidence when you are about to brush your teeth the next time! That’s what Alcohol provides you with.

However, one thing that you might want to keep in mind is this: do not use pure alcohol.

The reason behind that is that pure alcohol dries up the bacteria, and that does not always kill it. However, a 60-70% alcohol (30-40% diluted) can actually kill bacteria perfectly, so that’s something that you need to keep in the back of your mind.

Does Alcohol Kill Mold On Toothbrush?

The next thing you might want to know is if you can get rid of the pesky mold that’s growing under charging spot of your electric toothbrush with the help of alcohol.

Guess what? You actually can remove it with alcohol! Alcohol is actually a great choice to get rid of mold as well, making it a great candidate to go for if you’re planning to get rid of mold! Quoting HCC,

Alcohol cleans wood, linoleum, tile, glass and sealed surfaces of mold and mildew stains and spores…alcohol makes a great mold and mildew remover.

Honestly, though that’s not enough to be impressed. You must check out the mold removing abilities of bleach if you want to see what it really means! Click here to check it out!

Does Alcohol kill Viruses on a Toothbrush?

Okay, now here’s the comparatively tricky part when it comes to alcohol.

Well, as it turns out, alcohol isn’t effective against every virus. While it does kill 90% of the viruses with really high accuracy, the rest of the viruses aren’t really killed by alcohol.

This prevents alcohol from being the best solution, although it sure is counted among the top ones out there anyway. Alcohol hand sanitizers are something that you must have come across by now, and with good reason.

However, if you’re looking for something as delicate as dental hygiene, you might want to go one step further. In a case like that, I’d recommend going with hydrogen peroxide. See this post for more info.

Does Alcohol kill Germs on a Toothbrush?

The same as viruses goes in the case of germs as well when it comes to Alcohol.

While it does kill some of them, it really cannot claim to kill all of them. Far from it, it actually does slightly worse in case of germs, killing less than the 90% that it does in case of viruses.

So, while you it is a well known disinfectant, it really isn’t recommended by medical science that much anymore.

And given the fact that you have much better alternatives, you can actually entrust your dental hygiene to something that’s more tested. After all, your dental hygiene should be your top priority and what you use to clean your toothbrush should be decided while keeping that in mind.

Does Alcohol kill Yeast on a toothbrush?

Yeasts make alcohol under anaerobic conditions. This is something that almost every one of us know, and thus, a lot of people actually think that alcohol cannot call yeast.

In fact, I held the same opinion for a long time myself. However, I was in for a surprise. I actually got to know that alcohol can actually kill Yeast!

While yeast does produce alcohol, it actually stops doing that after a certain point of concentration. So, if you can use an alcohol above that certain point, it actually damages the body of the yeast organisms, thus killing them.

The magic percentage that you’re looking for is 20% and above. While some people recommend 15%, I would really recommend a 20% margin just to be certain, since some varieties of yeast are able to withstand up to 18% concentration of alcohol.

Quoting University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Botany Department ,

However, from the yeast’s point of view, alcohol and carbon dioxide are waste products, and as the yeast continues to grow and metabolize in the sugar solution, the accumulation of alcohol will become toxic when it reaches a concentration between 14-18%, thereby killing the yeast cells.

Does Vinegar Kill Fungus on a toothbrush?

The same as viruses goes in the case of fungus as well when it comes to Alcohol.

While it does kill some of them, it really cannot claim to kill all of them. Far from it, it actually does slightly worse in case of fungus, killing less than the 90% that it does in case of viruses.

So, while you it is a well known disinfectant, it really isn’t recommended by medical science that much anymore.

How to Disinfect your toothbrush with Alcohol?

Okay, now, you might be convinced that using Alcohol is worth it.

[In case you are, you still need to know how to use it properly. Using it the right way is what would guarantee the effects, and not just using it. So, I’d be guiding you through that as well!]

Keep in mind that using it properly is something really important. So, please pay a lot of attention to this and you can surely have an awesome oral health!

This is how you can disinfect your toothbrush with Alcohol:

• First of all, you need to get hold of your toothbrush as well as of a container and some alcohol that you’re planning to use. We have already discussed the kind of alcohol you might want to take up.
• Next, what you need to do is actually pour some of that alcohol in the container. Keep in mind that you need to soak the entire toothbrush head in there, so that’s the level you need to fill it up to.
• Then, you want to put the toothbrush in there in such a way that the head can be fully immersed in the alcohol.
• Now, you need to leave in there for about a minute or two, which would ensure that the toothbrush is properly disinfected.

How long does it take for Alcohol to sanitize a toothbrush?

Alcohol is one of the fastest options when it comes to sanitizing your toothbrush. Given the amount of time it takes, it sure gives you a really high accuracy.

You can expect the disinfection process to be complete within a minute or two if you’re using alcohol. It’s pretty safe to assume that this is one of the fastest methods available out there.

How often should you soak your toothbrush in Alcohol?

Another good question is how often one should soak their toothbrush in Vinegar.

Well, cutting to the chase, it’s usually recommend that you do it once a week if you can do it.

Tooth Advocates is here for you!

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Of course, we understand that you might still want to ask us a few things, and we’re here to answer you! So, don’t hesitate to shoot those questions right at us- we’ve got your back!

Thank you once again for reading this article till the very end, and we really hope to see you again on our upcoming articles as well! Till then, Tooth Advocates wishes you a great day!