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.

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.

Can using Clorox^® Washing Machine Cleaner affect my septic system?

I have good news for you: Clorox^® Washing Machine Cleaner can be safely used to clean clothes washers that drain into septic systems--septic tank operation is not affected by regular home use of the product. Additionally, when used as directed, Clorox^® Regular-Bleach is safe for use in septic systems. The bleach breaks down rapidly to mostly salt and water.  Please let me know if you have any other questions, and thanks again for writing!

How would I go about whitening washcloths that were grayed by liquid body wash soap?  I have washed these cloths several times in my (HE) washer using normal laundry detergent and have had no success in getting the washcloths back to white.

There are some factors that affect cleaning, and changing your laundering habits may yield better results.  Here are some suggestions;

• Detergent choice: Make sure you are using an HE detergent — better ones contain brighteners and enzymes in addition to surfactants and builders — that is specially formulated for your washer.  Review the ingredient list, since better detergents often list the purpose of the ingredients.  A good detergent will also help bleach perform better!


• Use the correct amount of detergent:  Underusing detergent will result in poor performance, especially if you wash heavily soiled items or extra-large loads.


• Choose a “hot” wash temperature: The higher the wash temperature, the better the cleaning.


• Don’t overload the washer: Clothes need to circulate/tumble freely through the wash water for optimum cleaning.  It’s better to divide up a large, heavily soiled load into two smaller loads.


• Use the correct amount of bleach: That’s ¾ cup for a regular load, and 1 ¼ cup for an extra-large or heavily soiled load.  If your clothes washer has a bleach dispenser that limits the amount of bleach you can add, experiment with smaller loads, and fill the dispenser to the “max fill” line.

All this will help your results over time so you don’t have a buildup of incomplete soil removal. For the washcloths you have now, pre-soaking them in a solution of ¼ cup Clorox^® Regular-Bleach per gallon of water will help whiten them. Fully submerge the washcloths for 5 minutes, and then drain the soaking solution. Follow up with a hot water wash using detergent and ¾ cup bleach (or fill the dispenser to the max fill line).

Q:  Can I add bleach to the rinse cycle?

A: The short answer:  it depends!  If your clothes washer is a traditional top loading deep-fill washer with one rinse cycle, then no, you do not want to add bleach to the rinse cycle because there will be residual bleach left over that could cause dye damage in the next load.  However, if you have a HE washer that has multiple rinse cycles, then you can add bleach to the first rinse cycle.  In that case, 1/3 - 1/2 cup is a good amount to add, and I do this occasionally for heavily soiled loads in my HE washer.  It's a great way to get a little extra bleach (in addition to the 3/4 cup added to the wash cycle) into the machine for added cleaning. However, make sure there are at least 2 rinses in a HE washer following any bleach addition. 

Do any readers currently add a little extra bleach during the rinse cycle?