Q. I spilled Clorox bleach on my navy canvas shoes and immediately rinsed them, but am left with blotchy red-brown stains. Is there a way to bleach the shoes so that they would at least be all the same shade?

A. Thanks for the question. I am so sorry about your shoes! Because we never recommend using Clorox® Regular-Bleach at full strength on any fabrics, you shouldn’t use additional undiluted bleach to lighten the remaining blue canvas. However, you might be able to unify the color on the shoes using the Clorox® Bleach Pen® Gel. I would use the wide tip with the scrubber to work the bleach into the remaining blue sections of the shoes, and then run the shoes through a wash cycle. Allow the shoes to air dry, and then check your color match. You may need to repeat the process to completely match the blotches since the bleach pen has a lower sodium hypochlorite active level than undiluted bleach (which is why it can be safely applied directly to fabric). Good luck, and let me know how it goes.

Q. This weekend I washed a load of whites and included 1 top with red trim with the load in cold water. The red dye left everything a faint pink color which I would like to remove, but I'm not sure of the best approach. The load contained:

• 1 white dress shirt (97% cotton, 3% synthetic)


• 1 cream (off-white) knit cardigan (100% acrylic)


• 1 one-piece dress consisting of a white, cotton/poly blend top and a black, synthetic (poly) skirt.

I looked at the RIT and Carbona dye removers, but they are not recommended for synthetic fabrics. I'm afraid regular bleach would ruin the black skirt of the dress. Would a color-safe bleach work? I did not heat-set the stain, though the clothes have air-dried at this point. I did run the load through the wash (on cool) two more times with a dye catcher cloth, but the faint pink color still remains. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

A. Sorry to hear about your dye-transfer problem. Thanks for such a detailed description of the items in the load, as that is very helpful. It’s also great that you have been air-drying the items. Yes, you could try soaking them with a color-safe bleach like Clorox2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster, but I also think most of the items could be safely treated with Clorox® Regular-Bleach. Let’s go over each item separately:

1. For the white dress shirt, try a quick liquid bleach soak (¼ cup Clorox Regular-Bleach in a gallon of cool water for up to 5 minutes), then wash immediately in hot water using detergent and ¾ cup Clorox Regular-Bleach. Air dry and then check for success.
   


2. The acrylic sweater is probably bleach-safe, and you can confirm this with a bleachability test: mix 2 tsp. Clorox Regular-Bleach in 1/4 cup water and apply a drop to a hidden part of the garment. Blot with a white towel; no color change means the sweater can be safely bleached. If the sweater passes the bleachability test, then try the same bleach soak and wash, as I describe above.
   


3. For the black-and-white dress: since the skirt is 100% polyester, it may also be bleachable (again, test first before proceeding with a bleach soak). If not, try a color-safe bleach soak. If that doesn’t work, then you could try RIT color remover. That RIT is not recommended for synthetics means you wouldn’t use it effectively to strip the original dye from a synthetic fabric before re-dying it a new color. But is should work to remove the fugitive pink dye on the white poly/cotton part of the dress. Just be sure to follow the package instructions. You can also try it on the other items if the bleach soaks are unsuccessful.
   

Q. Can you tell me how to soften a box of Clorox 2® so that I can use it in my washing machine and not waste it?

A. Thank you for writing–this is an interesting question. Clorox2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster should be stable and usable (and free-flowing) for at least a year when stored at 70⁰F, so I would think your box is either quite old or has been kept in a hot and humid environment. Unfortunately, the hydrogen peroxide active has likely degraded somewhat, and the product won’t provide the same performance as newer Clorox2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster that has been properly stored. So, from a performance perspective, you probably should just replace it. But you also don’t want to waste what you have, and there may be restrictions on the disposal of household cleaners in your city, so throwing out the old product isn’t a good idea, either. So to use up what you have, pre-dissolving it with boiling water before adding it to your washer will accomplish this. You can use it up on your lightly soiled colored loads, and if humidity is an issue where you live, be sure to store your new box of Clorox2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster in an airtight container. I hope this is helpful, and let me know if you have further questions.

My boss at the school where I am the janitor wants to use a mild bleach solution to disinfect the children’s' desks after lunch. She believes that the health organization, which monitors our cleaning, requires that this be done with "Ultra" Clorox. Does Ultra Clorox exist? I cannot find it on the shelves.

A. Let's clear up the confusion. Your boss is correct in using a disinfecting bleach solution to wipe down the desks after lunch as a way to help control the spread of germs and viruses. The only EPA registered liquid bleach sold by The Clorox Company is Clorox® Regular-Bleach, the familiar blue label product. When Clorox moved from the old 5.25% sodium hypochlorite active to the more concentrated 6.0% active, we introduced the product as Ultra Clorox® Bleach to be consistent with the detergents that were introducing more concentrated formulas at that time. After a couple of years, the Ultra adjective was dropped as the consumer became familiar with the concentrated products. It was replaced with Clorox® Regular-Bleach which is the same product as Ultra Clorox.

Here's the directions from our EPA Master Label for making the Clorox® Regular -Bleach standard disinfecting solution (mix 3/4 cup Clorox Bleach in 1 gallon of cool water), preclean any major dirt, etc., then apply solution to surface, wait at least 5 minutes, then rinse and air dry.

Q. I use bleach in my white wash, but also have a septic tank. I need to be careful about how much bleach I use, so as not to kill the bacteria in the tank. We are a family of four adults, but have occasional invasions of germy little grandchildren. Any ideas?

A. I can put your mind at ease regarding using Clorox® Regular-Bleach and your fear of harming your septic tank bacteria. As long as you use the recommended amount (3/4 cup per wash), the bulk of the sodium hypochlorite active will be broken down to salt and water while attacking the stains, soils and germs in the wash load. Any un-reacted hypochlorite will find lots of "things" to react with going down the pipes before it enters your septic tank field to be converted into salt and water. So as long as you’re not pouring a whole bottle down the drain, you have nothing to fear and those germy grandkids can have the cleanest, whitest clothes while visiting.

Q. Your website says to use 3/4 of a cup of Clorox to disinfect laundry, but my HE machine is marked "1/3 cup max" in the plastic dispenser drawer for bleach. How can I properly disinfect?

A. Our recommendation is always/has been 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach for disinfecting clothes. This was based on using a top loader washer where the consumer has several options for adding the liquid bleach (directly with the detergent before the clothes, to the liquid bleach dispenser or diluted and after ~5 minutes of the wash cycle, etc.).

The HE washers created a whole new laundry world. In order to use liquid bleach, the consumer is at the mercy of the liquid bleach dispenser designer and the point in the wash cycle that they have chosen to add the product. Unlike the old top loaders, the HE washers wait until much later in the wash cycle (or at one of the early rinse cycles, depending on the manufacturer) to dispense the liquid bleach. Since more cleaning has been completed, they believe there is less of a need for the full dosage and thus the smaller sizes for the dispensers. The 1/3 of a cup later in the cycle may be enough for you to achieve your goal. Unfortunately, I don't know how to add more, so my only caution would be to not over pack the washer when doing whites in order to get the best result.

Q. I have well water and know there is iron in it. So, when I bleach my whites, they turn yellowish. What can I use, either with bleach to prevent this, or instead of bleach? I have a brand new HE front

A. Well water and liquid bleach are just not very compatible. The sodium hypochlorite active in liquid bleach reacts with the iron and changes it to the chemical form as rust. This new yellow/red discoloration then deposits on clothes, and after drying has essentially dyed the clothes.

You may need to start using separate products to treat the wash water supply (some folks use IronOut), since the iron needs to be removed. A water treatment system may be your best long-term solution. For the discolored clothes, a separate product can be used to strip the discoloration away (I've been told that Summit Brands White Brite or Rit can be used for this purpose).

Our Clorox® Regular-Bleach actually has an added polymer, polyacrylate, which acts like a sponge to remove and hold the iron keeping it from reacting with the sodium hypochlorite. This may be enough for you if the metal content isn't too high. Otherwise, you may have to stop using liquid bleach and might try our milder oxygen bleach, Clorox2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster, which is based on hydrogen peroxide and is not strong enough to convert the iron to rust. You add this with the detergent dispenser at the beginning of the wash.

Recently my family was cleaning my grandma’s house. I was using hot water with bleach to wipe things down, thinking I was disinfecting the surfaces. My sister-in-law informed me that when you use hot water with bleach, you deactivate the bleach. I have never heard this before, is this true? She said to only use cold water with bleach when cleaning.

A. She's probably referring to the CBS Early Show segment on Germ Warfare: The Laundry Room. While I didn't see it live, I have reviewed the presentation and the only thing that I took issue with was their "expert" and his comment about bleach losing its efficacy in hot water.

The facts are:

• Clorox® Regular-Bleach disinfects effectively in hot, warm or cold water whether for laundry or household cleaning/disinfecting.


• For maximum cleaning, stain and soil removal, one should wash with hot water with detergent and Clorox® Regular-Bleach.


• For household cleaning and disinfecting, Clorox® Regular-Bleach is the most cost-effective disinfectant and can be used in hot, warm or cold water.


• Overall, the consumer has several choices to obtain sanitizing and disinfecting with Clorox® Regular-Bleach.

Hope this clears up any confusion on the subject. Let me know if you have any further questions.

Q. I recently bought Clorox- Regular Bleach. I wanted to use this to wash my clothes. I was watching your video - Laundry 101 video. Thanks for the nice information.
My questions:

• 1) My wife is pregnant, and I was wondering if I can use this product to clean the clothes? Are there any precautions I should be taking before and/or after using this product for laundry?


• 2) If I can use Clorox regular bleach, is it safe to use with "All" detergent liquid to wash clothes? If yes, what is the combination?

A. Thanks for your question. Congrats on the future child and glad you liked the video. Answers to your questions:

• 1) Yes, you and your pregnant wife can continue to use Clorox® Regular-Bleach to clean, whiten and disinfect your clothes as well as disinfect areas around the house. No special precautions are needed above and beyond those one always uses when handling liquid bleach (use recommended amounts, dilute and use as instructed and avoid splashes and spills).


• 2) Clorox® Regular-Bleach is safe to use with leading liquid or powder detergents including All detergent. Laundry instructions to be followed include: sort laundry by whites, light and dark colors; in top loaders start water, add recommended amount of detergent and Clorox® Regular-Bleach; after these have a chance to mix/dilute (1/4-1/2 full washer), then add clothes. If you have a bleach dispenser on the top loader or new HE washers, use it by adding 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach in the top loader or fill to the top of the bleach dispenser on the HE machines. For colored clothes that aren't safe to use liquid bleach on, try our Clorox2® Stain Fighter & Color Booster.

Q. We just bought new white towels from the “Biltmore for your Home” line at Belk. They are the Micro Cotton style. The care label says do not bleach. Can they be bleached anyway?

You can absolutely bleach your white Micro Cotton towels with Clorox® Regular Bleach. I checked out the towels at the store, and it was impressive to see a whole wall of towels in a rainbow of colors (plus the white ones) all labeled "do not bleach." This is likely a way for the towel manufacturer to save money by using the same conservative care label on all of the towels in their product line, regardless of the towel’s colorfastness to either chlorine or oxygen bleach. It’s too bad; this "low-labeling" practice doesn't provide consumers with readily accessible accurate information to help them care for their textiles, the whole purpose of care labels. Anytime you have an item you aren’t sure can be safely bleached, you should do a quick bleachability test: add 2 tsp liquid Clorox® Regular- Bleach to 1/4 cup water; apply a drop on a hidden section area like inside seam, hemline or cuff; wait 1 minute and then blot dry. No color change means it is safe to use bleach on the item. I hope this helps and let me know if you have any further questions.