So I purchased this on demand ozone water spray bottle, manufactured by @o3waterworks with an MSRP just under $200.
I was a bit skeptical since this just happened to popup on my insta/fb timeline with not the most professional or flashy marketing campaign.
However, after reading a lot of reviews and seeing a similar product at my dentist’s office, I thought I would give it a try.
It seems ozone infused water (aqueous ozone) has been used as an industrial disinfectant for sometime now and for cleaning the food and water supply.
While gaseous ozone (O3) is a pollutant and hazardous to our lungs, aqueous ozone is relatively safe to humans and degrades to oxygen (O2) in water. The half life of ozone is about 15 minutes. That means every 15 minutes about half the remaining ozone will become oxygen.
Ozone is an oxidizer which can destroy bacteria/viruses/fungi. It also can deodorize by destroying odor causing molecules, organisms.
So, a part of any strenuous activity is usually associated with sweat. Sweat is accompanied by strong odors. We try to limit these odors through cleaning, using a barrier device/fabric, cover up odors with stronger odors and ventilation.
While I wipe down my bogu with a wet cloth after practice I don’t generally wash or rinse it (especially since I don’t have that many sets of bogu to exchange with while I wait for the other to dry). Which — I admit — is just gross. In the past, I’ve used hockey spray (some use Febreze), a sport dryer, plain old leaving the bogu overnight outside, so who knows how much dead bacteria and other organisms have accumulated over the years.
So having a spray that can both deodorize and disinfect seems like a winner to me. Will this replace occasionally deep cleaning of the bogu? Probably not, but it should be better than nothing.
So how does it work? An electric current separates O2 gas into two separate ions. One of the ions will combine with a gas molecule to form ozone (O3). Eventually the ozone (O3) will lose an ion and return to it’s more stable gas state (O2).
The spray bottle is weighted on the bottom, probably housing much of the electronics. The neck is ergonomic. It utilizes a push button electric trigger rather than a mechanical one which is pretty cool as there is no hand fatigue. There is a charging port on cover on the top right of the bottle and the top of unit has indicators for help in determining proper operation and error codes.
The 10 oz capacity reservoir has a semi-firm plug. It is easy to fill via faucet, just don’t use distilled water (per the warnings). I found it difficult to judge the max fill line while the bottle is tilted for filling, but no worries, just tilt the other way and it will spill out. They also warn you not to operator the spray without any water.
The included charger has a green indicator to help you determine if the unit has been fully charged. They recommend you top off every day to keep it fully charge.
The spray comes out not as a mist or a stream. So it’s easy to saturate an area quickly. Also the spray does not pulse, it appears to be continuous. They recommend optimal distance of 6-8 inches.
When you first begin to use it, it will not spray which was at first concerning. However, if you hold the spray button down, it will eventually prime the pump and you are good to go.
So I’ve had this bottle for only two days now and I think it does make a difference. In the immediate time after use, it does have the smell of fresh rain/ozone. I store my bogu in our converted garage/gym and on some days it’s pretty rank. However, after the spray, it seems to have been muted. I have taken a whiff of the kotes and there is still a smell. But I don’t know if this is due to residual build up or if it is the natural smell of the smoked leather. Anyhow, it seems to have made a difference on the chin pad of the men, the tare and the himo.
Time will tell if the aqueous ozone causes any fading of the indigo dye, but I have been told officially that it does not or to test in an inconspicuous place first.
I’m going to continue to use it and will update this entry if there is anything else.
The nice thing about this spray is that it is not limited to deodorizing/sanitizing bogu or sportsgear. I can use it in the kitchen to spray down veggies and fruits, sanitize the sink, disinfect the doggie bowl, spray down surfaces, pretty much use anywhere you would like to clean without resorting to detergents or bleach.
Note: I did not receive a free unit or get paid by o3waterworks for this review, but if they want to send me another spray bottle, I will gladly take it *wink wink*.
