OMG! There is nothing like the scent of Clorox. To me it means clean! I use it all over the house not just for laundry. Especially bathrooms. I still use it on sheets and towels just have learned to do it properly. I use it every single day, except Sunday! Rinse, rinse, rinse!

@Jean, that's exactly what I was going to say, lol.

There is nothing quite like, the fresh C-L-E-A-N smell of Chlorine ;)

Love the smell of chlorine! We used bleach as our form of chlorine when we had our pool. So I had to add a few cups each day. Never used it in laundry.

I now use it in the clean washer cycle, but that's basically it.

I use Chlorox wipes and some cleaners with bleach, but not bleach out of the jug.

Now I do use chlorine bleach to clean the bathroom, kitchen counters, sinks,and kitchen floor since its white, yes folks Pinky has some sort of white linoleum floor that's 21 years old..lmao. Oh and Chlorine in the dishwasher is Fabulous.

That recipe that Mitch recommended was excellent Mama-more bleach! And yes the kitchen floor, counters and sinks too! Not the same but I use Clorox wipes for door knobs, drawer pulls, etc. Somewhere on the net a kid did a experiment with the different wipes-store brand, Lysol and Clorox wipes. Clorox wipes killed more germs by far than the others! (no bleach in those wipes, btw!)

That floor GLISTENS it's so clean! WOW!!

I use it to clean the bathrooms and in washing towels and sometimes sheets. I have learned on AW that LCB has a shelf life of about 6 months. So I buy the medium sized bottles now. I add it to the wash after it agitates for 5 to 10 min. and do double rinses.

Bea, you know exactly how to use Chlorine Bleach, lol.

mama-what is your floor cleaning recipe? I'm doing something wrong

Mama is never invited to my house! My floors are never clean. Granted, I don't do them often enough, but even when I do, seems they're dirty again before I even get to the other end of the house.

Jean once a week I use a soft scrub brush, yes on my knees, and I pay extra careful attention to the corners and edges, the other days I use a Libman mop,its like a wet jet except no batteries, washable pads, and you use your own solution. I fill it up with water and add 1/4 cup chlorine bleach and a few drops of Dr Bronners Peppermint liquid Castile Soap.that's it, but I have OCD with floors, I vacume and scrub everyday of the week lol.

Mich...is my Chlorine Bleach in my mop canister dead after 8 hours?

Not dead. But... according to the (EPA) of all people, it's no longer considered effective enough as a sanitizer. Those are the instructions given out to schools, and childcare's, and hospitals.

I'm sure it's still effective to some point.. it's just, in lab testing, they didn't see it as strong enough to kill bacteria.

@mamapinky0... the cap on Swiffer Bottles come off, super easily. I've been refilling bottles, with a mixture of Mexican (phosphate laden) Mr. Clean for years ;)

Thank you Mama!

Crap! I keep forgetting Mexican Mr. Clean. One more thing to add to the list!

Sorry to say, but last I knew, there is/was NO chlorine bleach in Clorox Disinfecting Wipes. Check the ingredients -- they're fooling us with the Clorox name.

Pat-right no bleach in the Clorox wipes. I didn't word that correctly.

Mich...Thanks about the clorox info..now about the wet jet, ya the lid comes off easily enough, but I still have to deal with batteries and I really like the washable pads on mine. Target sells their brand that I really like, they are extra long and wide, soft yet not too soft, they are pricey at about 7 $ each but they wash nice and last forever, I really don't like the disposable ones I have about 11 of them now but I use 2 a day so I wash them about every 4-5 days. lmao@ mop talk

In the old top loaders I would put bleach in the last 3-6 minutes of the wash cycle.

In the front loader the washer wants to dispense it in the first rinse which I think is ludicrous, so I force the quarter cup to dispense the last 10 minutes of the wash (don't give me hell Mama ;-), at least any enzymes and or oxygen bleach can do it's thing before I kill them.

This way the bleach is really rinsed out in the fist, second and third rinses.

I too am in the nothing smells cleaner that Chlorine Bleach camp. I love it!! I use it for toilets and sinks, but I have not used it in a Miele washer before.

Before the Miele W48xx series, Miele used to even say NO chlorine bleach. I used to use it for the Hygiene Cycle (Clean Machine), but I love the smell and how Tide Washing Machine Cleaner packs work, so I usually use that!

Actually, I own NO chlorine bleach as of now. :-o

It adds the bleach in the first rinse so it is in cold water.(unless I am bad wrong)

About the mopping, have you ever mopped in blue Dawn? Of course you have to rinse well but you can see yourself in the floor afterward. I know several cleaning services and that is what they use for all floors.

I worked with a lady that had a service do her house. First time they did it she went home that night and she thought they had put something on her floors they were so shiny. She called the next day and asked and they told her no, just mopped them. She asked what in, they told her all they use is blue Dawn. She liked the shiny floors but didnt want wax or anything on them--but it was just Dawn...

Sparky...I read different things on the internet about using bleach with cold and hot water.

All I know is it still does it's job even in the Sanitize cycle which gets pretty hot (150F at least).

It still gets hair color out of towels even at high temps. so it still works.

Clorox even says it's OK in any temp...

https://www.clorox.com/dr-laundry/water-temperature-and-bleach/

George Yeah I have read that it works in all temps and also Clorox recommends Hot water and I have nothing against that. I remember years ago the city where I live said something had happened to a filter or something on the city water(I have a well so didnt apply to my family) and they were saying people needed to add so much bleach to a gal of water to be sure it was safe. They made sure and say be sure you added it to cold water and let it sit that if you heated it that killed the bleach--this was on the radio at the time. Plus I posted this here before about processing plants arent allowed to use hot water with the bleach, just cold. Dont take any of this like I am trying to argue cause I'm not. I dont care if people use it in any temp--that is their business. I just figured that is why all these front loaders add it to the 1st rinse cold water? Mine actually adds it to the wash water but waits till the last 2 min. Then it re-adds water to the cup in the first rinse--why I dont know.

Flushing the bleach dispenser an extra time is to insure there's no residual bleach remaining to adversely affect a subsequent load that perhaps would be damaged. Not all machines do that, however. My Calypso flushes the bleach dispenser upwards of 4 more times after the initial release. My Neptune TL flushes only once.

George, you are not in trouble, no sending you to bed to watch TV ..lol...but when you add Chlorine Bleach to your laundry that is in the process of the wash cycle even if your adding it the last 5 minutes, if that load has oxygen bleach in it your not getting the benefits of the Chlorine. Otherwise your fine.

Something we all need to remember is: if you are doing a Chlorine Bleach load than be sure to use a non oxygen Bleach detergent, oxygen bleach and chlorine bleach cancel each other out, so even though your adding that chlorine the last 5 minutes of the wash cycle if your using say, Tide/Bleach to wash with, its going to cancel the Chlorine.

Another thing to remember, the most important thing in my book, when your laundry comes out of the washer, if you smell chlorine, throw em back in for another rinse, smelling the stuff means its still there and will continue doing damage to fabrics. Thats the main cause of textile damage, holes, and yellowing from chlorine bleach. Actually if your doing 3 rinses you could add a bit of distilled vinegar to the 2'nd rinse, I believe vinegar has some mild Anti-Chlor properties, maybe Sin can touch on this.

Larsi, doesn't Miele Washers have sensors between the drums? That is probably why Miele discourages the use of LCB, I'm just taking a guess here since I know zilch about Miele or any othet FL'er lol

Chlorine bleach is not very popular in Finland. It is used mainly on floor drains or in the bathroom in general, if it is used at all. I have never used it for laundry and usually never buy it. I hate the scent of chlorine. The bottles do give instructions for whitening clothes.

Chlorine bleach will work in any temperature. It works more quickly in hotter water. So, really hot water=quicker reaction, but less effective time. Chlorine bleach is also weakened by organic solids like food stains, body soil, etc. The point of washers dispensing the first rinse is to drain away the enzyme and soil laden detergent water, and have fresher water for bleaching. It increases it's abilities. It also will rinse better if it is not combined with detergent. Pinky is right, if you smell bleach, it is still in the textiles and you need either more rinsing or a smaller dose. I worked at a nursing home once, and helped in the laundry. All of the bleachable linens got washed in detergent first, then had a hot rinse, and then a bleach rinse for 4-6 minutes in hot water, followed by at least 3 rinses. I personally, very rarely use bleach in my laundry, and I have blinding whites. I once read in an old washer manual that chlorine bleach should not be used to replace good laundry practices. And except for disinfection, I can agree with that statement.

I use Clorox in my Duet whenever I'm doing a Whitest Whites cycle of socks, kitchen towels, cleaning rags, and microfibre clothes, etc. I use the dispenser and fill to the Max line (2/3 cup). My machine dilutes and dispenses it during the first hot rinse after the wash cycle, then gives it an extra rinse at the end.

I'd like to say I use it in the Clean Washer cycle, too, but must admit I have never run it. I always figured the Whitest Whites load I do at least once a month was sufficient. I have never had a stinky washer (other than when SS is visiting and over stuffs it, over soaps it, and leaves his load sitting in there for three days).

I wrote in my cheat sheet that Miele discourages the use of chlorine bleach and got an irate comment from a reader. That is actually not true. They mention bleach in the manual. Had to make a correction on that.

There is a jug in my house always. You never know. I use it to clean out the garbage cans which get really gunky inside. But I'm always careful with bleach and hot water as the fumes (talk about huffing) can be harmful if very strongly inhaled.

Don't use liquid bleach in laundry any longer. With the FL there's no need for whitening. It would only be for disinfecting but the high temp/sanitize covers that as well. Too many laundry streaks from using it in the old TL days.

But bleach is an amazing product and I always want to have it on hand. These days, for disinfecting in the kitchen I use 90% alcohol. I also give door knobs, handles and all the things we unthinkingly touch in the bathroom and kitchen, plus things like computer keyboards and mice an alcohol wipe down regularly. Still very effective but the smell goes away quickly and nothing changes color LOL .

@rococogurl, "sudsy ammonia" is wonderful for cleaning out trash cans. Cuts through grease and odors like a magnet, and when left to soak... It's not so overbearing of a scent.

:)

When I use LCB, I use it for 6 1/2 minutes, with 40*C, or about warm water. And I always follow it up with Anti-Chlor and a vinegar rinse.

Oh, how bright and clean dish towels look. And they smell wonderful. :-)

I think I posted this before, but I want to repeat it.

When purchasing Bleach, you'd be shocked how different your options are.

Many of the scented bleaches, are only 2.75 or 3% sodium hypochlorite. And I've only seen splash less come up to 4.25%.

That's litterily have the strength of "real" bleach, that should have 8.25%. If your not getting 8.25%, your buying a huge, heavy jug of water, so.. Look at the label when buying. Also, worth noting... Only Regular Bleach is considered strong enough to sanitize.

With that said...

The "KIK" made bleach sold under Great Value & Up and Up, at Target and Walmart have got to be some of the best, pure bleach I've ever used.

Many of the other store brand bleachs contains impurities that can yellow fabrics, but the KIK brand seems to be super high quality, and I think it works better then Clorox.

:-)

Good to know about the Wal Mart etc bleaches. Thanks for that Mitch. I will have to try the Wal Mart. Last I bought, I got the Clorox dry kind in a small bottle. Just use to line 1or 2 on cap which looks like 1-2 Tablespoons. It smells strong and seems to work fine. I dont like adding at the start though, usually go back and add at last few minutes.

This is another great thread. I would like to see a thread like this on every additive, pinned to the top or pasted into a " body of knowledge" FAQ to explain HOW to use them, and what NOT to use them with. This kind of info is hard to come by -- especially once your grandmother is dead. (Yep, miss her every day.)

I use Clorox on towels and on the dh's running socks occasionally. We used it mixed 25/75 with water to clean kennels when I was an animal shelter volunteer, but the policy was that once it was mixed, it was good for 2 hours, and then all disinfectant properties were assumed lost and down the sink it went.

As an aside, I had good luck with Walmart bleach, but the bottle was so thin it either dissolved one corner, or it somehow weakened, and a whole bottle leaked out in my garage while I was OOT caring for my mother. So I went back to plain Clorox. Next time I will try Up&Up. I thought bleach was bleach, and all the same.

I routinely use Clorox Bleach for towels, kitchen, and sheets in routine laundry. Around the house in the bathroom, kitchen sinks and counters, toliets. I love Clorox Cleanup in the kitchen.

Regarding use in the laundry, so much has changed over the years with washing machines, and the programming. Decades ago Bleach was a washroom stable for whitening and disinfecting, not much has changed there. What has changed is WHEN it is added to the main wash. When the first top loaders rolled out with bleach dispensers timing was generally set to dispense 5-10 minutes after the main wash started giving your soap/detergent time to work. Keep in mind NONE of the detergents of that era contained enzymes so that was fine and it worked for many years. Fast forward ahead.... New phosphate free detergent formulations were invented and bio enzymes added to detergent formulas. With that said, the old school adding at beginning of wash is dead, as those enzymes will be when the bleach hits the water!

Currently it is preferential to dispense bleach in the last 5-10 minutes of the main wash. Some machines do this, while others dispense after the drain of the main wash creating what is called a carryover. Goods are still hot from the wash, water is added, and bleach is dispensed and run with residual carryover detergent left from the main wash, for 4 or 5 minutes. This is also a very acceptable process. Some have commented their bleach is dispensed in the first rinse, however that depends on how you look it at. It's really an independent bleach run, followed by the usual deep water rinses.

When I was doing commercial, programming was such bleach was run after the main washes, with a water change at 135F. Bleach is bleach and the disinfection property's are not made better or worse by temperature. It will be just as effective in cold water as it will at 200F.

In the case of light soil items, programming was such the bleach was added with the detergent several minutes after the start. However keep in mind the wash chemistry is different than our store bought hybrid blended detergents. The only thing bio enzyme detergent was used on was hospitality kitchen bar rags, and wipes, uniforms, and slop rags. Since our light soil items where in a detergent formula of Alkali and Soap running the bleach concurrently had no effect, there were no enzymes. Since correct dosage of Chlorine Bleach is difficult to determine you always run the risk of textile damage. Generally the load is run with 120ppm of active chlorine, and that's potent! Antichlor should be used to neutralize the chlorine bleach at those concentrations.

Generally speaking in our residential settings with Regular Clorox as Pink has pointed out, if the finished goods have the odor of bleach, they need several additional rinses. The use of Antichlor in a residential setting is something I would not recommend. The correct dosing in correlation to the residual active chlorine is impossible to calculate without specialized testing strips and chemicals.

@Mama, I use Clorox bleach in the laundry the same way you do. I use it on sheets and towels in cases of illness, and every so often on kitchen towels (I have tons). I read you don't need to add much bleach to use it as a disinfectant in laundry. Plus, I don't have the ability to sanitize my laundry from hot water in the washer (don't have a water heater on the machine) so I use bleach when needed. Although I have been lately boiling water in Mama fashion (although with a fast electric kettle) to add to my washer to make my laundry water hotter!

Way to go Bright, lol, i find my pot of boiling water added to whites with sodium percarbonate really boosts the whitening power of the sod.percarb. i notice it the most on white socks since frankly everyone here already has dazzling whites lol.

By the way Bright, hubs is on his way to the post office with your package.

you are always better using thermal disinfection especially with clothes. It is almost impossible to rinse out chlorine bleach - ruins the clothes, affects sensitive skin and ultimately affects the machine mechanically (splashes around). the hottest water you can get into the machine chamber with a decent low sudsing detergent . No reason to use it when using the Miele Little Giant

if you can smell it in the clothes then it isn't rinsed out

webuser, what you say is well and good but not everybody has a Miele or any other machine that will heat water to sanitizing temps. And their are some things that it takes bleach to kill.

I thought the same thing Bea and I'm not hauling a entire washer full of boiling water pot after pot.

I always use it in hot water on our white underwear and socks. That is the only way I can get tracks out of the mens briefs and dirt out of the work socks.

I know it smells terrible and mediciney, but I use Lysol concentrate disinfectant when someone in my house has the flu or stomach bug.

I think the point is to minimize the use of chlorine bleach. in some cases it is overkill for the situation. sometimes sanitization can achieved by the choice of detergent and water temp. adding bleach isn't sound long term for a variety of reasons - clothing life, skin rashes etc

I use a cup of scented bleach in each side of my kitchen sink to brighten it and also to flush the garbage disposal/drains once a week. Rarely use it in the laundry, only when desperate and the only option would be to discard the item in question if the bleach doesn't clear the problem.

I need to look for the 8.25% bleach and cut the per sink quantity to 1/2 cup. Thank you to whoever posted that information about the chemical composition of various bleach products!

Clorox regular or I believe White Cloud chlorine bleach is 8.25% unless they changed it..I use it in my sink also.

Webuser, I'm not a fan of regular use of chlorine bleach in the laundry, it can be a real pain to rinse out, and that is where the real problems with chlorine is ..not so much in the washer but out of the washer where it lays in the fabric turning things yellow and munching away, I do however believe as long as you follow a few required steps you will have great results, there's a few members here that use chlorine bleach the correct way and it works for them. I may not use it often but it does have its place in the laundry room.