As you may have noticed on your store shelves, Clorox^® recently introduced Concentrated Clorox^® Regular-Bleach, a more concentrated version of its namesake liquid bleach.

You may ask what is different about this product. Concentrated Clorox^® Regular Bleach is the same Clorox bleach product that you have come to know through generations of use, just with less water!  There are multiple benefits and improvements to this new concentration of our classic formula, as well:

Concentrated Clorox^® Regular Bleach is in a smaller bottle that is easier to handle and easier to use in high-efficiency (HE) washing machines.It improves whitening of clothes. It still has the same number of uses per bottle as the product you’re used to, but its smaller size significantly reduces the amount of water and packaging used in each bottle. This change will help reduce the product and The Clorox Company’s environmental footprint.

You can find it on store shelves nationwide with “Now Concentrated” on the label.

Because Concentrated Clorox^® Regular Bleach is more concentrated, the instructions for use are slightly different than you’re accustomed to. Below is an easy reference for common measurements, but as always, please be sure to refer to the label for instructions.

To use Concentrated Clorox^® Regular-Bleach to whiten and sanitize laundry:

• Add ½ cup of Concentrated Clorox^® Regular-Bleach to a standard or HE washer following the laundry use directions.
• As with any cleaning or laundry product, it is important to read the product label before use.

To use Concentrated Clorox^® Regular-Bleach to disinfect hard, nonporous surfaces:

• Wash, wipe of rinse surface with water.
• Add ½ cup of Concentrated Clorox^® Regular Bleach to one gallon of water.
• Apply solution to the surface and let stand 5 minutes before rinsing.
• Rinse thoroughly and air dry.

Click here for more information about Concentrated Clorox^® Regular-Bleach.

I noticed when I mix Clorox^® Regular-Bleach with my detergent, the water becomes orange. Why is this? Will Clorox^® Regular-Bleach still sanitize my laundry when this happens?

It depends on whether you see the orange color for just a few seconds, or if it remains for the remainder of the wash cycle. If it’s an orange flash that lasts for a few seconds, then what you are observing is a reaction between the fluorescent whitening agents (also called brighteners) in the detergent with the sodium hypochlorite active in Clorox^® Regular-Bleach. This happens to brighteners suspended in wash water, but it doesn’t happen with brighteners that have already deposited onto the fabric, by the way. Delaying the addition of bleach until 5 minutes after the wash cycle has begun is a great way to allow bleach adequate time to improve cleaning and whitening, as well as time for the brighteners to deposit onto the fabric. That’s why our “for best results” usage instructions recommend delaying the addition of bleach by either using a bleach dispenser with timed addition if your washer has one, or waiting and adding bleach that has been diluted in a quart of water manually.

Another possibility for the color change you observe is the presence of large amounts of metals (like iron and manganese) in your incoming water supply. These can react with the sodium hypochlorite active in bleach to form colored materials, so this could be what’s turning the water orange following the addition of bleach. When there’s a lot of metals present, over time clothing can actually become yellow or dingy from the build-up of the colored complexes on the fabric. If this is an issue for you, you might want to consider installing a water treatment/filtration system to remove impurities.

Regardless of the cause of the orange color, as long as you are using the recommended amount of bleach, you will be sanitizing your laundry. For regular size loads with an average soil level, add ½ cup New Concentrated Clorox^® Regular-Bleach. For extra-large or heavily soiled loads, add up to 1 cup. And if you live in the western U.S. and (like me) can’t purchase the new concentrated product yet, then use ¾ cup to 1 ¼ cup of Clorox^® Regular-Bleach depending on the size and soil level of your load.

Do I have to use Clorox^® High Efficiency Bleach in my HE washer or can I also use Clorox^® Regular-Bleach?

This is a great question! How long have you had your HE washer? It’s great that you are making sure whatever laundry products you use in it are appropriate. You can use both Clorox^® Regular-Bleach and Clorox^® High Efficiency Bleach in your HE washer—which one you choose is really up to you. Many consumers prefer the thicker formula of the HE product because it makes it easier to safely pour directly into the bleach dispenser. Laundry “minimalists” on the other hand just want to use Clorox^® Regular-Bleach because they limit themselves to only a handful of cleaning products on hand and they like the versatility of the regular product and its many other uses around the home. Regardless of which product you choose, always be sure to fill the bleach dispenser to the “max-fill” line to be sure you get the maximum amount of bleach active the dispenser allows you to add, especially important for machines with smaller capacity bleach dispensers. It’s definitely a personal choice—fortunately it’s not as important as making sure you only use a detergent specially formulated for your HE washer. That’s critical to prevent oversudsing, which can happen when traditional detergents originally formulated for deep-fill washers are used in a HE washer.

The hot trend in denim this fall is polka dots! But why spend hundreds of dollars on designer jeans when it is so simple to make your own with a pair you already own? Below are some instructions on how you can create your own pair of designer-inspired jeans for a fraction of the price and just a bit of effort. Be sure to let us know how your pair turns out in the comments section and feel free to link to a picture of your results!

Materials:

• Clorox^® Bleach Pen^® Gel (1 to 2)


• 3% hydrogen peroxide (1 quart)


• Paper towels


• Plastic Spoons


• Timer


• Old, white, full-size towels

DIY Polka Dot Jeans Directions:

1. Line the inside of the jeans with plastic (such as a cut open plastic shopping bag) to protect the gel from bleeding through from one side to the other.


2. Shake the Clorox^® Bleach Pen^® Gel with the cap on.


3. Begin applying the gel: using the fine point tip, gently squeeze out a 1/4 inch dot.


4. Continue applying gel dots in a polka dot pattern, working in one direction (such as waist to hem) with the dots you have already applied always away from you.


5. Allow the dots to sit for 2 hours.


6. Keeping the jeans flat on the counter/work surface, gently remove the plastic liners from inside the pant legs.


7. Pour 3% hydrogen peroxide directly onto each of the dots, allowing it to soak into the fabric. This stops the bleaching action, and prevents any gel from lightening other parts of the blue jeans during rinsing.


8. When all the dots have hydrogen peroxide on them, slide them into the sink a little at a time, scraping and rinsing away the gel dots as you go with warm water.


9. Squeeze the pants dry using old towels.


10. Air dry the jeans completely before repeating the treatment on the other side of the jeans.


11. After rinsing the second round of gel polka dots, run the jeans through a gentle cycle using cool water and a little detergent.

Be sure to stick around for next week’s second part of our DIY Fall Fashion series…

I put straight Clorox^® Regular-Bleach on white jeans and now I have a yellow stain.  How do I remove the bleach stain?

No matter what you are using bleach for, it should always be diluted and never used directly on a surface or fabric. Unfortunately you have first-hand experience with why we never recommend treating fabric with undiluted bleach. I wish I had better news, but instead of the yellow being a “stain” that can be removed, it is a permanent shift in the color of the white fabric (sort of the reverse of when undiluted bleach leaves a light spot on a colored item) and cannot be reversed.

Next time, be sure to wash the fabric in your washer with detergent and 3/4 cup bleach. You can also try soaking in a solution of ¼ cup Clorox^® Regular-Bleach added to 1 gallon cool water for up to 5 minutes, then rinse the slacks thoroughly. Air dry and check for success

I workout often, and it seems some shirts have a permanent odor of sweat or mold. Will Clorox 2^® help on my colored laundry?

The bleach active in Clorox2^®, hydrogen peroxide, is a gentle bleach, making it safe for almost all washable colored items. However, it doesn’t meet EPA disinfecting requirements, and so it won’t kill the germs on your workout clothes like Clorox^® Regular-Bleach. You may actually be able to use Clorox^® Regular-Bleach to safely wash some of your workout clothes provided they are colorfast to bleach and don’t contain any spandex.  You’ll need to check the items with a quick bleachability test as follows:

• Mix a test solution by diluting 2 tsp Clorox^® Regular-Bleach in ¼ cup water.


• Apply a drop to a hidden part of the item such as an inside hem, cuff, or seam. Wait one minute and then blot dry.


• No color change means the item can be safely bleached.

For items that don’t pass the bleachability test, you can try the following techniques to at least reduce the germ count.

• Always wash in the hottest water recommended on the item’s care label.


• Pre-soak with Clorox2^® before washing.  Dissolve 1 scoop of the powder in 2 gallons hot water; fully submerge the items for up to 8 hours or overnight.  Drain the soaking solution before washing.


• Wash any items of particular concern separately from other items to avoid germ transfer.


• Use the hottest dryer setting recommended on the care label, and dry items separately - or at least with some white towels so the items tumble properly in the dryer.


• Periodically run a washer clean-out cycle with an empty washer and ¾ cup Clorox^® Regular-Bleach to be sure the clothes washer is disinfected and germs don’t transfer to other loads.

How can I remove a yellow color on white handkerchief?

I wish I knew more about your wash habits--since your white handkerchiefs have yellowed over time that could indicate a long term cleaning issue.  Here are some factors that affect cleaning and whitening that you may be able to change and see better results.

1. Detergent choice— Make sure you are using a good detergent that contains brighteners and enzymes in addition to surfactants and builders.  Review the ingredient list—better detergents often list the purpose of the ingredients, too. 

2. Use the correct amount of detergent— Under using detergent will result in poor performance, especially if you wash heavily soiled items or extra-large loads, or if you have hard water. That’s when you actually need to add extra!

3. Choose a “hot” wash temperature— The higher the wash temperature, the better the cleaning.

4. Don’t overload the washer—Clothes need to circulate/tumble freely through the wash water for optimum cleaning.

5. Use the correct amount of bleach— ¾ cup for a regular load, and 1 ¼ cup for an extra-large or heavily soiled load.  Perhaps your clothes washer has a bleach dispenser that limits the amount of bleach you can add to 1/3 cup.  In that case, you can experiment with smaller loads, and fill the dispenser to the “max fill” line.

It’s also important to note that there are also a few situations where using Clorox® Regular-Bleach can cause whites to yellow:

--Fabric not safe for bleach—You should never bleach garments made with wool, silk, mohair, leather, and spandex—they are damaged by exposure to bleach, which can include yellowing as well as fiber deterioration. I doubt your handkerchiefs include any of these, but it's still good to note.

--The fabric finish yellows—Sometimes a finish applied to the fabric/garment will react with bleach and turn yellow.  Hopefully these are garments labeled "non-chlorine bleach only".

--Concentrated bleach exposure—If cotton is exposed to undiluted or extremely concentrated bleach solutions, it can yellow.

--Poor water quality—When the household water supply contains large amounts of metals (like iron and manganese), they react with the sodium hypochlorite active in bleach to form colored materials that can deposit onto clothes.  The best way to handle this problem is to install a water treatment/filtration system to remove the impurities.

Since your handkerchiefs have yellowed over time, there’s a good chance you can whiten them up again (as long as the yellowing wasn’t caused by metals or concentrated bleach exposure).  Here are some techniques you could try:

1. Soak the handkerchiefs in a solution of ¼ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach per gallon of water.  Fully submerge them for 5 minutes, then rinse the soaking solution and finish up by machine washing in hot water using detergent + ¾ cup bleach (or fill the dispenser to the max-fill line).  This is ideal for dingy yellow build-up from poor cleaning over time.

2. Try an overnight pre-soak with powdered Clorox2® Stain Fighter and Color Booster. Add 1 scoop Clorox2® to 2 gallons hot water, and stir to be sure the product dissolves.  Fully submerge the handkerchiefs for 8 hours or overnight.  Rinse the soaking solution, and then wash in hot water using detergent and additional Clorox2®.  This is ideal for white items that contain a small amount of spandex, which should never be washed with Clorox® Regular-Bleach.

Q. What will remove cooking oil from a t-shirt?

A. I would start by pretreating the stain with something to help solubilize the cooking oil, breaking it up to make it easier to remove.  Try liquid Clorox2® Stain Fighter and Color Booster or liquid dishwashing detergent.  Apply a little and rub it into the stain, and wait 10 minutes (but don't let it sit too long or dry out on the fabric).  How you proceed next depends on the item.  Here are some options for different color types and fabric:

If the t-shirt is white and bleachable (avoid bleaching wool, silk, mohair, leather, and spandex) then wash it in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent and 3/4 cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach.  Air dry and check for success – hopefully the stain will be gone. If a little remains you can repeat the treatment with a decent chance of eventual success; if the t-shirt has been kept out of a hot dryer.

If the t-shirt is colored, then wash in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent and more Clorox2®.  Again, be sure to air dry the shirt and then check for success, and repeat the treatment if necessary.

Q:  How do I remove color bleeding during laundering?

A: Most garments that are new bleed a little, but usually they stop after a few cycles, so washing newer items alone or only with like colors is an effective strategy for limiting dye transfer.  To restore items that have picked up fugitive color during the wash cycle, you can often do this with a bleach soaking solution as long as the items are safely bleachable.  First, check the care labels and don’t use the soaking solution if the item contains wool, silk, mohair, spandex, and leather--these should never be bleached.  Also, depending on whether your items are white, another color or a combination of colors, you may need to check for colorfastness to bleach with a simple bleachability test:  dilute 2 teaspoons Clorox® Regular-Bleach in ¼ cup water; apply a drop of this solution to a hidden part of the each item (like a hem, cuff, collar, or inside seam); wait 1 minute then blot dry; no color change means the item can be safely bleached.

For items that are not on the “avoid bleaching” list and pass the bleachablility test, try a bleach soak:  fully submerge the item in a solution of ¼ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach diluted in 1 gallon cool water for up to 5 minutes, then rinse thoroughly.  Air dry the item, and check for success (it’s important to keep the item out of the dryer so the heat doesn’t set any remaining dye).  Hopefully the fugitive color will be gone, but if it is lighter, then repeat the bleach soak again.  However, if the bleach soak leaves the dye transfer color unchanged, then you may need to try RIT® Color Remover, which can usually be found at drug and hardware stores.  A dilute RIT® solution works best to limit stripping off the original color of an item in addition to the fugitive dye, so be careful.

Q: Can I bath in bleach water?  

A:  Clorox® Regular-Bleach is NOT recommended for personal hygiene of any kind--consumers should always avoid direct skin and eye contacts with both undiluted bleach, as well as prolonged contact with the various bleach solutions we recommend for household cleaning and laundry.  Perhaps you are familiar with the instructions for using bleach for emergency treatment of drinking water.  That’s an entirely different situation.  For that, the bleach to water ratio is 1/8 teaspoon bleach per gallon of clear water, and the treated water has to stand for 30 minutes before drinking. During this time, the bleach kills any bacteria in the water before breaking down into salt and water.  While this solution is safe to drink, using a bleach and water solution for bathing is not approved by the EPA and should not be done.