Mysterious Fluorescent Yellow Reaction with Dettol Antibacterial Spray

[julietta]

Hello,

I was wondering if someone knew what product/chemical could turn the clear Dettol antibacterial spray fluorescent yellow. I sprayed some Dettol onto a bit of kitchen towel and wiped my tap with it and the Dettol on the kitchen towel instantly turned fluorescent yellow.

I tried it again a few minutes later but it didn't do it again. Clearly there must have been something on the tap that either was fluorescent yellow (I really doubt it...) or something that reacted with the Dettol. But what could it have been?

Any ideas?

 

[Borek]

What have you used to clean the tap before applying the spray?

 

[julietta]

Nothing, I only ever use my Dettol spray :-/

 

[Borek]

You didn't even wash it with a water and some kind of detergent?

I don't want to even try to imagine how it must look like if that's the way you treat it ;)

 

[vemvare]

We got to find the MSDS so we can see

http://www.rb-msds.com.au/product/product_display.aspx?intProductID=14

any of these?

 

[Quantum Defect]

This sounds to me more like you have something on the faucet that is being dissolved in the Dettol. I have used dyes before, where it is very difficult to see a spilled bit of dye, but when wiping up the spill, you suddenly see lots and lots of color!

This is actually how the first synthetic dye (Mauve) was discovered. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_William_Henry_Perkin

Some natural pigments will also change color when exposed to different pH (indicators) -- If your cleaner is alkaline it may be taking something that is near colorless and making it bright-bright. There was a funny story of a chemsitry teacher with a beard who had eaten some food (with turmeric). His students noticed the yellow in his normally snow-white beard and laughed at him. He went to wash the stuff out with soap (alkaline), and the color became a very bright, day-glo orange! Here is a Youtube video showing this (minus the beard):

Here is the link to the turmeric beard anecdote:
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ed072p540

 

[Borek]

This sounds to me more like you have something on the faucet

That's exactly why I asked about what happened prior to applying the spray.

 

[julietta]

Thank you all so much for your replies! vemvare, it's the Dettol Surface Cleanser, at the bottom of the list.
Borek, yes I just use the spray straight onto the appliances. Shouldn't I? Oops!
Quantum Defect, thank you for the funny story and the video, very interesting. Maybe there was some kind of spice on my tap, it is a possibility.