# Does chemicals in Clorox evaporate to nothing?



## meanwhile (Dec 13, 2007)

We have been asked to clean a very slippery driveway (again). It has algae and mold all over it. We used a Clorox and water mix last time along with a product from Lowe's that said it killed driveway mold. We mixed it in with the Clorox too. We scrubbed the driveway good with brushes but.....now a month later the mold is growing back.

Does the chemicals in Clorox just evaporate in the air? And...then are they "gone"? OR if the Clorox dries on the driveway, and then it rains, do the chemicals come back? 

We were going to spray a stronger Clorox and water mix on the driveway and let it dry. Some will sink into the cracks of the pavement = that is the problem. It is a black top porous surface and just scrubbing it will not get the roots of the mold down in the cracks. We were thinking that if we pour a Clorox and water mix on there......being careful to keep it on the driveway and not in the bushes.....then it will drip into the cracks and kill the mold?
And we would do this on a dry day when it can dry.

But.....when it rains...will the chemicals get "re hydrated" and run off into the bushes? Thank you if anyone knows.


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

Sodium hypochlorite (the active ingredient in liquid bleach) has no longterm residual effect. When mixed with water, it changes to chlorine gas (strong oxidant) which either oxidizes a carbon compound or volatilizes into the air. 

You would be better off using an algacide/mildewcide if you're looking for a long-term solution.


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## rambler (Jan 20, 2004)

It will evaporate away. There is pretty much no residue left.

--->Paul


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

Chlorox Co makes a lot of "Chlorox" products, so you can look up the MDSS listings for each product here: Clorox Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)

Then you can look at Wickipedia --which shows that the _bleach_ "When dissolved in a solution of water, it will slowly decompose, releasing chlorine, oxygen, and sodium hydroxide.
4 NaClO + 2 H2O &#8594; 4 NaOH + 2 Cl2 + O2"

The sodium hydroxide being weak lye. 

But, you drink chlorinated water, and you eat hominy made with sodium hydroxide......
And you can't buy household bleach concentrated strong enough to do that much damage....

geo


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## Guest (Jun 28, 2012)

Cabin Fever said:


> Sodium hypochlorite (the active ingredient in liquid bleach) has no longterm residual effect. When mixed with water, it changes to chlorine gas (strong oxidant) which either oxidizes a carbon compound or volatilizes into the air.
> 
> You would be better off using an algacide/mildewcide if you're looking for a long-term solution.


 What Cabin said. Bleach is not what you want here, but a mildewcide or one of the copper based algaecides.

I had a neighbor used the algaecide meant for swimming pools on his front walk. It stayed wet and would get so slick you could not walk on it. Seemed to work.


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## meanwhile (Dec 13, 2007)

Cabin Fever and A.T. Hagan: 
We did use a mildicide product from Lowe's. It was a liquid, sorta white and it said to mix it with the Clorox solution. We mixed it all up according to instructions but the algae came back after a couple of rains. It is better - a lot better than it was but we think that if we do not do something, it will return to it's former bad state.

So? Maybe just repeat the process using the mildicide product and Clorox? Or maybe we should find another type. Will look at Home Depot this time. 

Thank you.


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

What was the name of the product you used?


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## meanwhile (Dec 13, 2007)

I do not remember the name of the product. We bought it at Lowe's and it said to mix it in the water after the Clorox was added. It was a whitish color. We used one cup of Clorox per 2 gallons of water and I think it was 1 cup of the other stuff. We just scrubbed the driveway with the mix and then rinsed good.

It got the slippery mold off the driveway and it seemed to be OK until after a rain and then we found several areas where it was still slick - not as bad as it had been but still needing attention.

We had thought maybe the Clorox would get rid of the rest but several folks have said we have to use something else. I think we will look at Lowe's again (we bought the bottle we had last year to wash out a water cistern and then decided it was not the right thing to use / we had it in the barn) or at Home Depot.

Any recommended specific product names? Thank you.


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## jessepona (Sep 7, 2005)

In our lab we use a product called moldzyme to kill mold in our walk-in fridge. It works well, but the mold does come back in about 3-5 months. In an open environment like the driveway, it might be difficult to keep mold away for even that long. A long term solution would be to increase the sunlight on the driveway as mold likes shadier conditions. Do you have any trees over the driveway that you could trim up to reduce shade? 

Jessica


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Clorox does not kill mold spores. Your concrete has a gazillion and two mold spores just waiting for the weather conditions to be right to grow.


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## Oldcountryboy (Feb 23, 2008)

I use to work in a clinical environment. We were always told not to mix clorox with any other cleaning chemicals as the clorox will render the cleaning compounds useless. 

Also, once clorox is exposed to the ambient air temperature, it is only 100 percent effective for 10 minutes and then becomes weaker as it dries and is exposed to light.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

I would think salt would kill the algae, but it could also harm other plants nearby and would have to be reapplied often.

Another *possible* solution would be a copper based paint like is used on boat hulls to prevent growths

Or maybe one of these would work if you could get it hot enough:

Weed Dragon:


http://www.flameengineering.com/Weed_Dragon.html












> The WEED DRAGON is the perfect propane torch kit for home and garden use. We've regulated the flame and BTU down for homeowners who don't need the power of a farm torch and we've even assembled it.
> 
> This torch kit is still plenty powerful for lots of tough jobs all year long and generates heat up to 2,000Â° F.
> 
> The 100,000 BTU Weed Dragon quickly hooks up to any refillable propane tank (barbeque cylinders work great) and even comes with a hand-tighten tank fitting (you don't even need a wrench). Overall length from torch bell to back of handle is 27 1/2".


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## dixieland (Feb 19, 2010)

What about the stuff that people put in ponds. I know the algea eats oxygen and smother the fish in ponds.Only have to put it in once a year when no flowing water.


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## meanwhile (Dec 13, 2007)

We cannot use the salt since it would kill the plants and grass all along the driveway. This is not at my house - it is at a job where my sons are working. When they used the Clorox, they were careful and only poured it enough to stay on the driveway.

Good idea about taking out trees and we did just that. Two huge trees were removed and that puts sunlight on one area. We hope that will help too.

Thanks everyone.


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