# "Color safe bleach" - kills bacteria?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-safe-bleach-kills-bacteria/105003>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 22, 2002, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-safe-bleach-kills-bacteria/105003 "2002-04-22T16:31:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-safe-bleach-kills-bacteria/105003/1 "2002-04-22T16:31:45Z")

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Do color-safe bleaches and lanudry brighteners contain real bleach? Would they be effective in killing bacteria, mixed into a water solution?

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**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-safe-bleach-kills-bacteria/105003/2 "2002-04-22T17:05:06Z")

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The bleaching agent in color-safe bleaches is usually hydrogen peroxide.  
Peroxide is not nearly as powerful a germicide as the hypochlorite in regular bleach. Since the color-safe bleaches are not advertised as being germicidal, I doubt that they make very effective killers at the concentrations normally used.  
[http://www.cleaning101.com/laundry/fact/fact\_sheet3.html](http://www.cleaning101.com/laundry/fact/fact_sheet3.html)