COMMERCIAL SOLUTIONS FORMULA 409® CLEANER DEGREASER DISINFECTANT
- Gallon bottle -

Updated Oct 9, 2006

or

Note the "Commercial Solutions" name in Upper Left.
Also note the Words Degreaser and Disinfectant
All of which are important to be on the label

You probably are going to need 2.5 to 4 gallons for submerging you boots and waders

On March 21st I found it in 32 oz and gallon containers at Home Depot and Lowes here in Denver.
(Home depot at Park Meadows Mall does not have gal containers)
Also saw it at Office Max and Office Depot in 32 oz container.
People in California report seeing it at various times in Costco, Sam's Club, Walmart and other places such as that.
On Feb. 28th, 2006 Costco and Sam's Club did not have this product.

The Disinfectant is Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium Chloride (a QAC) - 0.3% - this is what will kill them
It is also important for the degreaser be present to get the NZM to relax it's operculum, i.e."trap door." So the disinfectant can kill them.
The Degreaser also reacts with the mucus the snail uses to cling to surfaces thus they are easier to brush or rinse off.

Though not very likely, superficial surface cracks in wading boots may occur but integrity of boot is not compromised.
Water may no longer bead up on outside of waders.
Formula 409 has soap in it so it tends to create a lot of suds.

The only other Formula 409 Product now in production that has the same disinfectant in it as the test product is :

Formula 409® All Purpose Cleaner Antibacterial Kitchen Lemon Fresh



According to the mfg'r The antibacterial cleaner above is available in 22 oz, 32 oz, and 42 oz spray bottles only.
I have seen this product at grocery stores and Home Depots

The following note is from Jurassicflys posting to a fly fishing forum:
"While doing research to figure out what to use to remove the "left overs" from bird strikes on aircraft (very common) and to prevent the possible spread of avian flu (to the tech's doing the cleaning) I found that 409 and several other of the cleaners containing sanitizers are extremely corrosive to aluminum. I believe should any come in contact with your aluminum gear such as reels you should clean them as soon as possible with fresh water. Just a precaution. I use the 409 on my gear and have been for quite some time after wading."

50/50 Mixture No longer recommended.
100% Formula 409® Antibacterial/Disinfectant products required.

Oct 4, 2006
I have seen a draft of a Colorado DOW testing report demonstrating that a 50% solution of Formula 409® Disinfectant is inadequate at killing all New Zealand Mudsnails. Undiluted Formula 409® disinfectant / Antibacterial products are required.
Thus the prior recommendation of a 50% solution is no longer recommended here.
The 50/50 recommendation came from a California Department of Fish and Game study where snails were evaluated after 24 hrs. The Colorado Department of Fish and Game recently did another study in which they also evaluated the NZMS 56 days after exposure. It found that there were live snails with a 50% solution of Formula 409 but virtually all were dead in the 100% Formula 409. The same Formula 409 product used in the California tests was used in the Colorado tests. The only other product tested was Sparquat 256 which also was effective for killing the snails. Also, the testing showed that 10 minute exposure was required.
When the report becomes available in its released form I will post the report.
the Webguy

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webguy - West Denver Trout Unlimited