Where are you JonMiles?
Ok. PH is a grading scale of acidic to alkaline (Basic) with the strongest oxidizing acids with a PH of 1 and the strongest reduction bases at PH 14. Neutral is a PH of 7 with pure water, although regular spring water is normally one side of 7 or another. Neutral will probably use more surfactants to emulsify the grime.
Cleaners can run the gamut of acidic to neutral to basic. PH depends on formulation and how the product is supposed to work. A neutral cleaner should be the safest but acids and bases work better to break chemical bonds with some contaminants.
Think of it this way, you make ceviche out of fresh fish with lemon and lime juice. It cooks the fish with acids in the citrus. Citrus cleaners will probably tend towards the acidic. Acids will oxidize or rust metals so you want to be careful. Lye (a base) is used to turn fats into soap. We use chlorine bleach to whiten our cloths or remove stains. A number of cleaning products will be alkaline in nature. Alkaline solutions will bleach out colors and turn your skin into soap. Think how your skin feels after getting a little bleach on your hands. Both acids and bases do great things with the appropriate applications. Each will have positive and negative attributes.
A good policy is to use the least aggressive product first and use more aggressive products as necessary. Let the chemists make products and share what works and what doesn't work amongst us.
Does that help at all? Where are you Jon?
I'm here Kurt.
Very nice explanation of the pH basics. For the most part, in cleaning surfaces pH refers to intensity because all pH really is telling us is the concentration of protons in a solution.
The goal of a product is one of two things. to neutralize grime or to release grime. For instance most soils are acidic in nature and can be neutralized with an alkaline solution. This is why many all-purpose cleaners are alkaline and the strength can be determined by dilution. Acidic cleaners are great for releasing alkaline contamination. As Kurt mentioned previously, acids can rust metals. But, acids can also dissolve metal oxides, such as brake dust.
The real meaning in the pH scale with cleaning supplies is that one needs to neutralize the ions of a particular problem in order for surfactants to effectively emulsify the dirt, oil, stain, bugs, etc. The pH may also contribute to the ability of the engineered surfactant to chemically react and do its job.
To sum everything said up, there is a lot more to the cleaning ability than pH alone. It is a complex mix of surfactant behavior, pH, concentrations, emulsification, transport mechanisms, redox, chemical species, and in recent cases polymerization.
