Dettol Power and Pure Bathroom Cleaner turned my bath yellow

[thedayafterwomensday]

I used this product on a metal enamelled bath, and it turned it bright yellow. I rang the Dettol help number, and they told me it was my fault because I had not done a patch test. In my view, if the product is sold for bathrooms, says prominently on the packaging that there is 'no harsh chemical residue', and that it is suitable for baths, then most of us are going to ignore the small print warning to test on an inconspicuous area before use. Before you ask, I made things worse by panicking and using an abrasive cleaner to get rid of it. I know, I should have googled first, in which case I'd eventually have discovered that many people have had this issue, and that the yellow has come off with bleach-based products. But I'm not that sensible, and now I have a streaky yellow bath with metal streaks where the enamel has come off. Nightmare. But don't follow me down the path to ruin. Just don't use Dettol. I'm going to complain about the packaging to whoever will listen. It should have a great big red warning on the front.

[mousmous]

isn't there a warning on the back?
I'm afraid the bath is now ruined...does the surface feel gritty? you can buy a special paint to treat it, but it's a pain to apply neatly...

[Aquamarine70]

Could you claim on your insurance for a new bath under 'accidental
damage?

[WittgensteinsBunny]

That's a complete pain in the rear. We had a reclaimed bath re-enamelled by a company called bathshield. You may want to contact them. They're not cheap, but cheaper than a new bath. They recommended to me that we only use a gentle washing up liquid and e cloth for cleaning the bath. We use an eco all purpose cleaner / method bathroom cleaner and haven't had any problems to date. I know that doesn't help you now. There is also a vitreous enamel society and they too recommend various products. All the best!

[Macbless]

Thank you so much for this post. I've just done exactly the same thing. I think it is so bad it doesn't say anything about not using ok enamel when it does on their website. I've attached a pic of the solution we just used to get the yellow off. The bath still has a slightly blue tinge but so much better than big yellow stripes. Hopefully it will settle in time. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

[MrFish323]

Thank you for posting this. I just fitted a new bath yesterday and had bought some Detol. I carefully read the back to see if it was suitable for enamel baths and found nothing to suggest it wasn't. £2 wasted on it, but at least I won't have to chuck out a brand new bath that cost me £118. Flash used to be suitable, but it no longer carries the information to say it can be used on enamel.
Also, thank you WittgensteinsBunny for the information.

[dettolsnumberonehater]

hi!! i had this issue but used cillit bang burnt on degreaser and it got rid of the yellow!! so if anyone else has this issue that's how to fix it