# Concentrated bleach



## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

Has anyone else noticed that concentrated bleach is overtaking regular bleach at the store. My last trip to Target there was an entire aisle of bleach with disgusting scents and all of it was concentrated. No regular bleach at all! The directions on it for how much to use are only for laundry. Luckily my local store still has some Western Family normal bleach. 

First, a rant. I hate when manufacturers do this! I hated the new concentrated dish soaps, still used just as much of them, so all that really happened is we get less for more money. Luckily, Amazon has original Dawn if you buy a case of it  The concentrated bleach is thick and not clear. 

Does anyone know how much concentrated bleach to use to treat water? 8 drops per gallon is the usual with regular bleach. 

Does being concentrated change the shelf life?


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

2 different kinds here:

Clorox concentrated germicidal says to use 2 tsp per gallon of water for sanitizing things like dishes, counter tops.

Dilution table: PPM (parts per million)
1/3 oz (2 tsp) + 1 gallon water = 200 ppm
4 0z. + 1 gallon water = 2400 ppm

HDX from Home Depot says it's 33% more concentrated and to use 2 teaspoons of bleach to 1 gallon of rinse water.

Further reading of both labels say the Active ingred. Sodium Hypochlorite is 8.3%. Dunno what amount it is on regular bleach, but I think I read that all bleach has the same concentration. 

Hope this helps. Really tiring trying to read labels in 2 languages and itty bitty print.


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

I will admit I never have my glasses when I'm shopping, I can't possibly read the itty bitty print! Thanks for the info.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

I think regular bleach is 5%.


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

We only use the tablets.

They are real cheap, they last for many years, I only mix-up a small bit at a time.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

I've switched over to the tablets too. They take up so little room, last for years, and aren't nearly as messy as pouring liquid bleach. I've never tried them for treating stored drinking water, though....are they just bleach or do they have other ingredients?


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

I do have tablets in my preps, that's probably a good idea to switch over for water. I'm storing them but not using them! 

But I also use bleach to clean some veggies. Our garden water is untreated open ditch irrigation water that goes through several ranches. It always tests positive for e-coli and bacillus cereus and has been the cause of several outbreaks of salmonella. We have a treatment system for the house, but lettuce and other veggies eaten raw and unpeeled get treated. 2 teaspoons per gallon for 2 minutes.


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

Mom_of_Four said:


> I've switched over to the tablets too. They take up so little room, last for years, and aren't nearly as messy as pouring liquid bleach. I've never tried them for treating stored drinking water, though....are they just bleach or do they have other ingredients?


Check the list of ingredients.

Usually it is just hyper-chlorine.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

I only buy pool bleach now.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

Where do you get the tablets?


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkoWTXOukgQ[/ame]

Here ya go - this shows how to figure how much chlorine in pool tablets & shock vs liquid household bleach.

My concern is bleach down a drain into a septic tank. I don't do it - wonder if others do?


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

duplicate post...


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## BadFordRanger (Apr 26, 2014)

7thswan said:


> I only buy pool bleach now.


Can you advise how much to use to make up whatever size batch you make up? 

And I see this has been asked but again, does anyone know about the shelve life for the liquid, tablets, and also the pool bleach?

I am sure that the pool bleach has got to be far cheaper than regular gallons of liquid Clorox.

And if one were to think about what the pool bleach is made for, it seems that it would even be safe for cleaning drinking water had you have to take it from a stream sometime ahead. 

Godspeed

Ranger


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

paiselytree said:


> Where do you get the tablets?


Walmart and Amazon sell them, but I'm sure other places with laundry supplies do too. Here's a link to Amazon, but it's about 3x the price of buying it at Walmart.

http://www.amazon.com/Evolve-Original-Concentrated-Bleach-Tablets/dp/B008UTREHK%3FSubscriptionId%3DAKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q%26tag%3Dduckduckgo-d-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB008UTREHK


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

Pool shock typically contains flocculents and stabilizers including cyanuric acid.
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/porta..._acid_and_stabilized_chlorine_products/556676

Although the toxicity is considered low based on lab rat studies, cyanuric acid AND melamine are what caused all the pet deaths from the Chinese pet food. I personally would strenuously avoid using it in drinking water.

Bleaches are not all the same either. Some bleaches contain traces of iron, which can cause staining on clothes. It is possible to make bleach at home, however since chlorine is dangerous, I'll only suggest the salt pool chlorinators.


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## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

Dollar General here sells Dawn..$1 size and a big jug; the original. Don't know exact oz's. I'm well stocked up plus with a pool we always have a huge bucket of chlorine tabs on hand. I seem to remember reading somewhere that bleach" expires" (loses potency) after so many months; 6 mos. sticks in my mind....don't know if that is true. That's why we only get bleach tabs as we aren't regular bleach users.


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

Wolf mom said:


> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkoWTXOukgQ
> 
> Here ya go - this shows how to figure how much chlorine in pool tablets & shock vs liquid household bleach.
> 
> My concern is bleach down a drain into a septic tank. I don't do it - wonder if others do?


My grandmother always put bleach in her rinse water (for dishes) and then used that waster to water her plants. Never bothered them. Our washer drains into our septic tank and the bleach hasn't affected anything. It's working like it should. Our old house had the washer draining out into the garden and never noticed any damage.


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## Ozarks Tom (May 27, 2011)

When you consider the majority of the bottle's contents is water, they can reduce the amount of water and the size of the jug - while fiddling with the price. If they just reduced the ounces in the same bottle people would notice, and if they sold a smaller bottle for the same price people would scream. I guess if you sat down with a calculator and enough time you could figure out how much the price per load has gone up, but who's going to do that?


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

Wolf Mom - I don't overly worry about a little bleach in the septic. It means that things aren't going to break down as fast as the bleach kills the bacteria that is breaking down all that waste. But I don't really have a choice with our veggies. I rarely use it in the wash, so I figure it's only a little bit over the summer. It also helps that we are just 2 people with a large septic.


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

BadFordRanger said:


> Can you advise how much to use to make up whatever size batch you make up?
> 
> And I see this has been asked but again, does anyone know about the shelve life for the liquid, tablets, and also the pool bleach?
> 
> ...


Regular bleach starts losing it's potency in 6 months. I use it old, just a bit more of it. But that's not ideal if you are relying on it to treat water. 

The tablets we bought were good for 4 years or so. 

I think pool bleach is good for a long time.


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## barefootflowers (Jun 3, 2010)

I hate the concentrated bleach. And when I clean my equipment, it foams up and requires extra rinsing. Hate it.


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

barefootflowers said:


> I hate the concentrated bleach. And when I clean my equipment, it foams up and requires extra rinsing. Hate it.


This is what I wonder - is it really the same? I got the feeling it was designed with laundry and not the myriad of other things we use bleach for.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

We're on a septic system, and I use bleach (Sodium Hypochlorite) when needed for laundry, or disinfecting household items. Bleach is NaOCl, which breaks down into mainly salt and water. It gives off chlorine gas, which dissipates in the air (that's what you smell). 

When we lived in developing countries, I soaked our produce in bleach water to kill diseases (cholera, salmonella, measles, TB were the main risks) from people handling it - except for lettuce and leafy veggies, which are ruined by bleach, so I used vinegar water. The only thing I soak that way in the US is non-home-grown cantaloupe, which can hide germs in all the nooks and crannies.

In 7 years at this house and 5 at the last house, we never had any issues with the septic system not working because of bleach. I consider the benefits of using bleach to be more important than the minor kill-off of bacteria in our septic system. And in a survival situation, cleanliness, food safety and safe drinking water will be much more important


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## Seeria (Jul 21, 2006)

Haven't noticed the change because I stopped buying liquid bleach years ago. The germ killing ability only lasts 24 hours after opened, so why bother? 
I use 93% pool shock now, mix as needed so I know it is fresh and able to kill germs. I keep ten or so bags on stock.


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