I received an interesting question about the shelf life of bleach. There is a rumor circulating out there that once a bottle is open, it loses its effectiveness after a month. Another bleach myth to debunk!

Let's start at the beginning.

Bleach stability is affected primarily by temperature: hotter temperatures accelerate the decomposition of sodium hypochlorite, Clorox’s active ingredient. An open or closed container, does not matter.

This is why we have a Clorox "bleach calendar" that we use to make bleach in our plants. In summer, we add extra hypochlorite to insure that our 6.0% active level is maintained for approximately 6 months at an ambient (70°F) temperature.

Product life cycle information would suggest that from manufacture to store shelf to home is usually around 4-8 weeks. Thus, there is typically 3-5 months for normal home usage still available where the label strength is available.

Let's examine the worst case conditions. Even in very hot conditions, let's say a constant 90°F; the label strength is still available for 3-4 months.

These types of conditions are not likely to occur in homes. While the outside temperature may spike during the day, there is a cycling that typically occurs in the home. This prevents the constant external temperature exposure and means the product temperature may be temporarily affected, but will rise and fall over time. Unless the product is sitting in direct sunlight for an extended period of time, I would speculate that the maximum temperature it will reach is 80°F.

Now let's address the loss of effectiveness. The maintaining 6% active hypochlorite level is a requirement for our disinfecting registration with the EPA. For effective cleaning in the laundry and around the house, we can reduce the active level well below 6% and still provide the standard of excellence consumers expect from Clorox Bleach.

So to recap:

• We add extra bleach during manufacturing to take into account expected temperature changes and to maintain our stated label 6% sodium hypochlorite level for Clorox Regular-Bleach.


• Under most typical home storage conditions this 6% active level will be maintained at least 6 months. Excellent performance should be expected for around a year under these conditions.


• Extreme exposure may reduce the active level below 6%, but excellent performance will be maintained for laundry and home cleaning for at least 9 months.


• Opening the bottle does NOT have an effect on hypochlorite stability nor make the product ineffective.

Here’s a question from a reader on the appropriate amount of bleach to use in a laundry load.

Q: What is the minimum amount of bleach I can use to disinfect laundry? I'm mostly interested in killing mildew on towels and generally find that a very small amount will do. What does science say? I have a septic system and so I don't want to use the 3/4 cup per load that is standard.

A: Simple answer to your question; the recommended amount of Clorox Regular-Bleach, 3/4 cup for regular loads or 1 1/4 cup for large/heavily soiled loads, should do the job. Clorox Regular-Bleach is the best solution as a registered EPA disinfectant.

As for the septic tank, you shouldn't worry about using the recommended amount of bleach. The active ingredient, sodium hypochlorite, is extremely reactive and nearly all is consumed in the wash and reverts to mostly salt and water. The small amount that may be un-reacted will encounter lots of organic soil in the drain pipes and be consumed long before it reaches the septic tank.

While Dr. Laundry is on vacation, he has allowed me to be a guest on his blog today. I've asked for this privilege, because I'm concerned about a recent myth I heard about, and as a toxicologist I wanted to help debunk this myth. Hopefully the parents reading this will let other parents, and their kids know about this dangerous and VERY untrue myth.

The myth concerns the belief that drinking liquid bleach would mask the presence of drugs in urine. This is just not true. In no way will drinking Clorox Liquid bleach mask the presence of drugs in urine. It is important to know that Clorox Liquid Bleach is not meant to be ingested. If it is accidentally swallowed, it's important to follow the instructions on the product label, which tells you to call the poison control center or a doctor for treatment.

Of course, you may know that Clorox liquid bleach can be used to disinfect water in the event of an emergency. In those instances, only a small amount of the bleach is needed, anywhere from 8 to 16 drops per gallon of water, depending on the condition of the water.

Noe Galvan, Ph.D.
Product Safety, Environmental & Regulatory Compliance

Wow, it’s been another very busy couple of weeks! This time I was helping to shoot some new Clorox® Anywhere Hard Surface ™ daily sanitizing spray commercials.  It is another innovative product that’s great for busy consumers. I told you earlier that I have been shooting some commercials for a new Clorox laundry care product coming out this month. It will be on stores any day now (if not already), and I’ll be blogging about it very soon. I’m extremely excited about what we call the Unexpected Bleach; our team has been working on it for the past several years and we are anxious to see how you’ll like it.

I have received several reader questions recently. Thought I’d take the time to address one of them today.

Pascal asked me to how to remove stains caused by one color of the item that has bled onto a lighter colored part of the item. This problem happens a lot more frequently than you think and can show up in several different ways. The root cause is what we call dye bleeding or transfer.  This problem is most common with dark colored cotton items and is due to the type of dye used to color the item.  The dyes are not “set” in the fibers and want to migrate when they become wet. This is why those brilliant, new towels appear to ”fade” after repeated washing or if you don’t wash all the items in a set together some look a little more brighter than those that are washed more frequently   You’re actually washing away a small amount of dye with each wash.

So how else might you see this problem besides from pre-treating a stain?

Sometimes simply spilling a drink on the surface is enough to activate the process

Washing mixed darks and lights in the same load can create the problem

Leaving dark colors sitting in the washer after the wash cycle has been completed

How to fix it?

Well, this is a bit of a tough one since dye stains can be difficult or impossible to remove. As always it is best to launder immediately or re-launder as soon as you recognize the problem.  If it has dried it probably is too late to salvage. Sorry. If you want to give a go then try these approaches: If possible, use a bleach to help remove the dye.  Make sure it is bleachable (use the bleachability test). If white or colorfast then either try quickly soaking in a dilute bleach solution (1/4 cup in gallon cool water for 10-15 minutes) or wash in cool water detergent + ¾ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach.  You might also try the Clorox® Bleach Pen Gel on the affected spots and then re-wash.  If it is not bleachable, try Liquid Clorox2® for Colors rubbed on affected area and then re-wash.  A word of warning - I haven’t been very successful at totally removing in a single application.  

How to prevent it:

Some manufacturers simply don’t make their colors colorfast, which creates a problem if you accidentally get the item wet. That’s why it’s important to read the fabric care labels when you are considering the original purchase.

Always carefully sort and wash dark colors separately.  Remember they are going to bleed and it’s best if they do that with similar colors.

Always wash in cool water to minimize the bleeding

Quickly remove from the washer and get the drying process started

 Let me know how that works out…

On a side note, you may or may not have seen the Today Show on NBC Tuesday morning – but it covered a topic close to my heart: summer stubborn stain removal. While the expert featured, Elizabeth Mayhew, always provides great information, on Tuesday she did perpetuate one of the biggest bleach myths – bleach wears down fabrics. It’s just not true, not true not true!.

I know I’ve touched on this before and wished she had read my July 7^th post on this subject. When bleach is used properly (diluted before it goes in the washer), it does not wear down fabrics. In our exhaustive lab testing throughout the years, we’ve found that there’s no difference between items washed 50 times with detergent alone or detergent plus Clorox® Regular-Bleach. We’ve got the study results to prove it…so I’ll keep harping on this until the myth is busted.  Sorry Elizabeth…but for me the quickest and best way to clean those stained summer whites is with Clorox® Regular-Bleach..

Keep your questions coming in!

In my previous posting, I offered some “real deal” information on when it’s OK to bleach and when it’s not. I’m going to continue on that train of thought now as well.

MYTH: Laundry detergent alone is enough to clean your laundry. 
TRUTH: Nope, detergent alone leaves behind unseen “body soil” made up of body oils, dead skin flakes and sweat.  Yuck!  I’ll get into this more later, but adding disinfecting liquid bleach to your laundry will remove more of this gunk than detergent alone, plus it gets rid of odor-causing germs. 

MYTH: Your, or the neighborhood laundromat’s, washing machine is clean. 
TRUTH: Not rocket science here, but washing machines are a haven for germs. What’s really gross is that a microscopic layer of living slime can develop inside of the machine and dirt and germs make a home there.  Adding regular disinfecting bleach to at least one wash load a week helps prevent this build up. If you use a laundromat, make your first load a white one and use disinfecting bleach—it’s like mouthwash for your washing machine.

What are some of the bleach myths you’ve heard? There are various rumors out there and I’m interested in hearing from you.

Throughout my years, I’ve answered many questions about bleach and the safety of using it. Despite what you may be thinking, properly bleaching fabrics will not destroy them. There, I said it! And it’s not just because I work for Clorox. We’ve done what seems like a ton of fabric safety research at Clorox and outside labs.  When used as directed, we found it does NOT eat your clothing or ruin your washing machine. We’ll take a look at some of the common tall tales I’ve heard over the years about using bleach.  Let’s start with the most common one and save a couple for later.

Key Bleach Usage Hints:
The most important thing is to always read and follow label directions

• 
  
  Always use the proper amount
  
  


• 
  
  Never pour full-strength bleach directly on fabric. 
  
  


• 
  
  Dilute it using one of the three following methods
  
  




• 
  
  Adding to your bleach dispenser
  
  


• 
  
  Adding with the detergent as the washer water is filling, but BEFORE adding clothes
  
  


• 
  
  Diluting in a quart of water and adding 5 minutes into the wash cycle
  
  

MYTH: Bleach wears down fabric and shortens its lifespan. 
TRUTH: Fabrics will naturally deteriorate from wearing, washing and drying. Abrasion from normal wearing and contact with other items during washing and drying are the major contributors to fiber degradation.  So when your socks get holes at the toes or when your t-shirt stretches out, most of the wearing out occurs just by being worn. 

We evaluated a wide range of normally bleached items- socks, underwear, towels, bed sheets, t-shirts, dress shirts and baseball pants.  Our lab tests have shown no significant difference in fabric damage after 50 wash cycles between detergent alone and detergent and liquid bleach.  So what we have shown in our testing is liquid bleach does not significantly reduce the life of fabric when used as directed. 

MYTH: If a garment label says don’t use bleach, do not bleach it. 
TRUTH: It’s a shame but a lot of manufacturers will actually under-label items to minimize any legal liability.  We know almost all cotton whites and most synthetic whites are safe to wash in liquid bleach.  If a label on your whites says not to use bleach, use my bleachability test and test it in a hidden area.

Not everything is bleachable.  Remember to check the label. I don’t recommend bleaching wool, silk, mohair, leather, spandex and non-colorfast colors.

Dr. Laundry’s DO This So You Won’t be Sorry Tips:

Whenever you are using a laundry product for the first time and you have some anxiety/concerns about whether it’s OK to proceed, try the following list to help ease your mind.

1. ALWAYS read the garment/fabric label.  It contains useful information like recommended washing, drying and handling directions.  Unfortunately, many manufacturers add “Do Not Bleach or Non-chlorine bleach only” even when one can safely use bleach. So you may want to test it on your own.


2. Unsure if a product is safe to use? Do a PRETEST.  Most products have a simple test to confirm it is acceptable to use.  For sodium hypochlorite, I always recommend the Bleachability Test.


3. If PRETEST is successful, follow product label instructions for further peace of mind.


4. Be careful when pouring or leaving bleach on surfaces.  When these contact the clothes your wearing, it can leave “bleach spots” or worse, little holes.  Unfortunately you don’t notice either until much later.


5. Check for success at the end of the wash cycle.  Make sure you solved your problem before tossing items into the dryer.  If at first you don’t succeed, either repeat the procedure or consider another approach.

Check out my “Tried and True Laundry Tips” and the Bleachability Test. Next time I think I’ll talk about some Bleach Myths like shortened fabric life and really clean clothes. Stay tuned…  

I wanted to address RB’s question from last week on mixing grays with the whites.I think it's great that you have the sweaty clothes (exercise is great!!). And I know just what you mean about wanting to make sure they get clean and disinfected. Nothing better than detergent and Clorox Regular Bleach for that job.

It’s usually OK to put grays in the whites load with bleach. A couple of things to consider here:

First, since it probably is a cotton item, we want to make sure that it can be safely bleached. So you will want to perform the simple bleachability test first on the garments in question. Any color change noted will give you a clue about how fast the hue may change. I would expect some small portion of the grey to be bleached out each time you wash, but my experience is that this is usually almost imperceptible. A larger change would make you reconsider adding it to whites since there is concern about dye transfer to the other white items.

Second, if the items are a set (shorts and shirt), always wash both items together. Since you can expect a slight color change to occur, this will help keep the set looking the same.