Comments on: Making Homemade Non-Chlorine Bleach

By: Will

Will — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 19:57:32 +0000

Non-Chlorine Bleach – H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) is a great whitener and household cleaner!
BUT – It does NOT disinfect!
Got moldy smelling clothes? You need to break down and use bleach. You only need 1/4 cup per washload to disinfect, not 1 cup like manufacturer’s say, for a 60% solution.
You could use (white) vinegar, but it takes as much as 4x more, and can leave your clothes a little vinegar smelling and can yellow fabrics. Use vinegar on things that you aren’t using as work or school clothes.

PS- About the whole use less bleach save the earth – STOP going to a public pool or friends pool. – That is the real polluter here, not your washing machine – Think about it.

By: Eric

Eric — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 02:33:05 +0000

Vinegar has many many household uses. It is 99.8% disinfective, neutralizes odors, shines up bathrooms and kitchens, polishes metals, and much more. I use it daily in the shower to prevent mold and mildew, but its equally effective for irregular cleanup. A simple Google search will avail hundreds of other uses for vinegar. Best of all its environmentally friendly and cheap!

By: jake3_14

jake3_14 — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:11:26 +0000

I’ve tried this recipe, and I didn’t notice any difference in the rate of fading of my colorful (but cheaply-made) polo shirts. I tried Clorox 2 (hydrogen peroxide + fluorescent dye to reflect more incoming light), and the shirts now seem not to fade as much. I wish I could afford better-quality shirts, and the fluorescent dye is probably bad for the environment.

Would it harm clothes to start out with a stronger concentration of hydrogen peroxide? You can buy a 35% solution online. By the time you mix 1/4–1/2C in a load of 10 gallons of water, that’s diluted by a factor of 240–480.

By: Joy

Joy — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:41:14 +0000

Thanks Eileen for your sleuthing! You’ve helped us learn that you DON’T need to add water to the hydrogen peroxide! Just as Eileen said, the bottled hydrogen peroxide you buy for medical use is diluted to 3%, which is exactly the same dilution ratio is for non-chlorine bleach.

By: Aaron M.

Aaron M. — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:43:11 +0000

I don’t understand the need to dilute it. At 3%, it’s already quite dilute.

By: eileen

eileen — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:30:35 +0000

well I did a quick search and 7th generation was kind enough to post all their msds on their website. Their bleach contains 3-5% h2o2 which means it is as strong or stronger as the first aid kind. There is no need to dilute and it is actually cheaper.

By: eileen

eileen — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:25:11 +0000

Okay, I’ve been thinking about this and I’m not sure it’s cheaper to do it this way. The chlorine free bleach I buy is only 1.75 for a half gallon. do we know how diluted it is? It doesn’t say on the label and I’m too lazy to look up the msds. the kind you h2o2 you buy for first aid is only 3% I think. You can’t buy it undiluted, it would be very caustic. That is what I remember from hs chemistry.

Here’s my beef, when I’ve used it, it doesn’t help with smells at all. I fixed this by adding baking soda to my detergent but I kind of miss the power of the chlorine bleach. Sigh. I’m not going to pretend that I don’t long for chlorine in my laundry…

By: SaraR

SaraR — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:23:50 +0000

Wow, this is great to know. I’ve got some annoying mildew on our grout so I hope this works on it.

By: Mama Zen

Mama Zen — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:45:44 +0000

Great tip!

By: Condo Blues

Condo Blues — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:32:55 +0000

I pour undeluted Hydrogen Peroxide on blood stains, wait for it to bubble, and then rinse the stain or soak it in cold water. Works great at getting out blood stains.