I use chlorine bleach regularly. I keep a bottle of it diluted to 10% to spray down my shower to keep mildew at bay. I use it in the laundry for whites and some color-fast cottons (mostly undergarments).
Lately, I’ve noticed that Clorox has a much thicker consistency. Not like syrup, but much closer to maple syrup than plain water. I hate it. I guess it is supposed to prevent accidental spills, but I find it annoying. What did they do?
I even tried buying the bargain, store-brand bleach and found it was they same way. I guess that pretty much proves that Kroger uses The Clorox Company to source their store-brand product and paying more for the name-brand in this case is just a waste of money.
Next, I guess I’ll have to see if the dollar store bleach is the same way.
is it the “splash-less” kind? that one does have thickeners in it (cetyl betaine and sodium xylene sulfate.)
if it’s not the splash-less kind, then I dunno. they don’t list any thickening agents, but it’s not just straight sodium hypochlorite in water. I don’t know if the other ingredients would alter the viscosity.
If you can’t find it anywhere else, you can buy the type meant to chlorinate swimming pools which doesn’t have the glop factor. It’s a bit stronger at 10% (laundry-style is usually 5-6%) so you’ll probably want to dilute it to about half-strength of your usual mix. The other advantage is schlepping around less bottles of bleach for the same total amount of “shower cleaner.”
Neither the bottle of Clorox or Kroger-brand bleach are identified as “splash-less”, but both definitely have thickeners. Perhaps it was just a error on their bottling lines or maybe they decided that it’s such a superior product that everyone deserves to have it. I don’t know, but it also foams up much more than plain bleach.
Concerning the “ingredients”, I found it interesting that they felt the need to list water
I am just surprised they didn’t call it di-hydrogen monoxide.
I am quite familiar with the fact that Sodium Hydroxide is buffered with Sodium Carbonate, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Chlorate, and Sodium Hydroxide. I did take chemistry in high school. The buffering is needed to help it remain basic despite absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere (which would tend to lower the pH). Sodium Hypochlorite breaks down quickly in acidic solutions, so despite the claims they make, they are mainly added to improve the shelf-life of the product.
Thanks for the leads on the non-glopified bleach. When I first encountered the behavior, I was annoyed with myself for getting the “splash-less” formulation, until I verified that I did not, in fact, buy the “splash-less” formulation. It really irked me when I found the store-brand product (which I bought specifically to get away from the “splash-less” glop) was the same way. Since I bought a big bottle of the store-brand stuff, it is going to take me a while to go through it, but when I do, I guess I’ll have to run to Walmart to see if their Purex brand has been infected.
Different companies can produce the same mixtures (unless there’s patents or trade secrets in the way) and any company can produce different mixtures. If you make a peanut butter sandwich and your neighbor makes spaghetti, that doesn’t mean peanut butter and your kitchen always go together and spaghetti and their kitchen go together.
Clorox more recently went to Clorox w/cloromax technology, it may make it thicker. Not sure I had to stop using it for my purposes, potable water chlorination
One of the reasons I used to use Clorox over generics is their chemistry remains consistent. Generics regularly change inactive ingredients when one becomes cheaper than another. The fact I can call Clorox directly and get answers on their chemistry vs generics where I had to go through bureaucracy and wait for the stores department to track down the manufacturer was also a factor.
Clorox and almost all generic concentrates in my area are 8.25% with the exception of Walmart who sells only 6%.
I think you misread boytyperanma’s post. The “concentrated” bleach is usually 8.25%, and that is all they carry at my local grocery, either Clorox brand or generic. I believe that, per USDA (or some other government agency) regulations, if the bleach is to be used for disinfecting it must be at least 5.25%, and most bleach products have disinfectant on their label, which is why you often will see that strength, particularly among the bargain brands. Bleach also has a shelf life and begins degrading as soon as it is bottled. I guess some companies figure making it at 6% instead of 5.25% is cheap insurance.