Is Bleach Best?

I see a lot of posts on social media advocating the use of bleach for all manner of cleaning tasks, even by professional cleaners. Although bleach is a powerful disinfectant and does have its uses, it is not an effective all purpose cleaner and can be really damaging when used incorrectly. In fact the use of bleach is not covered by most insurances. As a professional cleaner, there are several reasons why I don't recommend bleach as best practice when it comes to cleaning.....

• It's highly corrosive - Bleach is highly unstable so needs to be stabilised with lye. This in turn raises the pH to a level where it becomes a very corrosive chemical that will damage various types of metals, pipes and fixings, commonly found within homes. Overuse or improper use can result in irreversible damage.

• Short lifespan - Bleach is easily inactivated when exposed to light and/or organic matter and it also degrades quickly with age. This gives it a significantly shorter lifespan compared to other chemicals on the market.

• Not economical - Because bleach is so unstable and inactivates rapidly, it has a short shelf life making it less cost-effective than you may think. And since most people are not aware of this, they are using a product with degraded capabilities, giving them a false sense of security in its use. Not to mention the fact that bleach loses its content from the moment it is manufactured. In fact bleach loses up to 50% of its potency within 60 days of being manufactured, something most people are not aware of. So by the time you actually purchase bleach, it may have already lost half or more of its active ingredients, losing its impact, and requiring stronger dilutions than you may think or longer dwell times.

• Time consuming - If you want to use bleach properly, it's important to pre-clean surfaces first before use (because organic debris inactivates bleach).

• Health risks - Because bleach is filled with powerful chemicals, it can aggravate the respiratory system and cause burns and skin irritation. The smell can also cause headaches, nausea and other adverse health effects.

• Potent concentration - Bleach concentrations vary widely, ranging from 2-6%. Therefore unless you are aware of this, you may be using inadequate solutions on a batch to batch basis.

• A disaster waiting to happen - You may have seen recipes that require you to mix a certain solution with bleach, but you really need to be cautious about mixing chemicals. If bleach is blended with acids, toxic chlorine gas will be released resulting in a potential disaster. To be safe and sure, never mix bleach with any other chemicals.

• Carcinogens - Bleach combines with organic debris to form carcinogenic by-products and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The good news is that there is a movement discouraging the use of bleach due to these carcinogenic by-products and volatile organic compounds.

• Ineffective ingredients - There are two forms of chlorine in bleach existing in a pH dependent equilibrium - HOCL and OCL. The more potent of the two is hypochlorous acid (HOCL) which is 120 times more potent than OCL as a disinfectant. However, HOCL concentration is limited in solutions with a pH of 9 or higher. Because bleach has a pH of 11.5, most of the chlorine will be OCL, which is much less effective than HOCL. This is one reason why bleach isn't as powerful as you may think. There are other more effective chlorine disinfectants that don't have this limitation.

• Nature's enemy - Because bleach is inactivated by all things natural, dirt and organic material prevent bleach from doing the thorough job that you may have hoped for. The production and use of bleach also contributes to environmental pollution.