Cleaning Your Birdbath Is A Breeze With The Help Of This Unexpected Medicine

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Water is a critical need for all wildlife. Adding one or more birdbaths to the garden is a great way to provide water that will attract birds, butterflies, and bees. With a wide variety to choose from, you will be able to choose a birdbath that is perfect size and style for the local wildlife you want to attract. Keeping your birdbath as clean as possible is important for the health of your birds and other visitors. Although you should avoid using certain cleaning staples to clean your birdbath, like bleach, due to the dangers they can pose, one unique ingredient you can use to keep your birdbath squeaky clean is Alka-Seltzer original effervescent tablets. Essentially, the same effervescence and ingredient that allows the popular heartburn tablets to clean jewelry or toilets also works on birdbaths.

Regular cleaning keeps algae away, reduces any chance of bird illnesses being spread, and works well to banish pesky mosquitoes from your birdbath. Fortunately, cleaning is easy and straightforward if you stay on top of it and don't let tons of algae build up on the birdbath's surface. Placing the birdbath in shade or partial shade reduces the amount of algae that accumulates so cleaning will be easier. For this cleaning aid, you will need a few simple supplies, including a scrub brush with stiff bristles, a hose, an old towel, and two to four Alka-Seltzer tablets, crushed up, depending on how dirty the birdbath is when you start.

Once you have all your supplies together, remove any existing old water from the birdbath, grab your stiff bristled brush and start scrubbing. If you have cleaned the birdbath at least once a week and changed the water frequently, there shouldn't be a lot of algae buildup. Once the algae, dirt, and grime is scrubbed away, dry the birdbath with your old towel. Pour the crushed Alka-Seltzer tablets onto the birdbath's surface and scrub the birdbath again until it is squeaky clean. After scrubbing, rinse the entire birdbath off with the hose until there is no Alka-Seltzer remaining and refill it with cool, fresh water.

The reason Alka-Seltzer works so well to clean a birdbath is sodium bicarbonate, one of the active ingredients in this popular medicine and the same ingredient that makes up baking soda. Baking soda is often used in cleaning applications and works well to eliminate stains and grime without using harsher chemical agents that can leach into the surface of the birdbath and taint the water. In fact a combination of vinegar and baking soda are often recommended to safely clean birdbaths, so this hack makes sense (Alka-Seltzer also contains citric acid). Birdbaths should be cleaned at least one or two times per week or more if needed. The more birds you have visiting the birdbath, and the warmer the weather, the more it will need to be cleaned. The water should be changed every other day as well, even if the bath doesn't need cleaning.