To refuse to buy bleach?

Im not disputing that.

You can make your own dishwasher tablets.

If we all continue a mentality that there is always something worse then we will never improve.
Bleach is something quite easily removed from your household products with low impact.

It's annoying when people say, "I don't want a load of chemicals". Chemicals like air, water, vegetable matter, and all food and drink, presumably? Literally everything on the planet is composed of chemicals.

Not that this is what the OP is saying, of course.

I have 2 large breed, hairy dogs and three of us live here. My spend on cleaning products is minimal - for example, I just use a very hot cloth to wash the floor, no chemicals. We haven't died yet! I read the Mrs Hinch cleaning book and was astonished by the amount of chemicals she uses. And watching tv last week, I was struck by the number of cleaning product ads for products I don't use, like fabric conditioner and dryer sheets, plug in air fresheners etc. I use a steamer a lot and avoid chemicals where I can.

Which you have to leave in place for 15 minutes. You can’t just swish a little bit around the inside of a bottle and then pour it out, it wouldn’t be sterilised.

Milton is much weaker than household bleach which is why it’s safer for bottles and it takes longer to disinfect.

From what people have written in comments it looks like they wipe surfaces over with a bit of bleach on a cloth that quickly dries and somehow believe that’s cleaner than using a non-bleach product - even though bleach needs to be left in place WET for 5-10 minutes! 🤦‍♀️

I use bleach, but only a tiny amount.

Has everyone forgotten we use bleach to sterilise babies bottles?

milton is bleach.

it’s not as toxic as you think.

You shouldn’t be using bleach to clean things - it’s a disinfectant.

Clean the surface first with soap and water, THEN use bleach as a disinfectant. You need to leave it in place for a few minutes - the surface needs to be visibly wet for this.

Once you’ve left the bleach in place for the correct amount of contact time then you can wipe it away.

If you’re only wiping a bleach-dampened cloth across a surface which dries out quickly you’re not actually doing anything very useful!

Me too xx

People, please, consider using hypochlorous acid instead of bleach!

The synthetic form of hypochlorous acid destroys a broad spectrum of harmful microbes—including highly resistant spores and viruses such as norovirus. Like most disinfectants, it kills pathogens by penetrating their cell walls.

But compared with bleach, hypochlorous acid has been shown to be more than 100 times more effective at much lower concentrations, and it works much faster.

Hypochlorous acid isn’t new. It’s listed as one of the World Health Organization’s essential medicines and is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use on food products and in certain clinical applications. It’s increasingly used in industrial and commercial settings, such as water-treatment plants, hospitals and nursing homes. It doesn’t irritate the skin, eyes or lungs. In fact, optometrists use it to clean eyes before procedures, and people have been treating wounds with it for more than a century. It breaks down quickly, doesn’t produce toxic waste, and isn’t harmful to animals or the environment. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lists it as a surface disinfectant for the COVID-causing virus SARS-CoV-2.

This stuff is potent, but it’s also safe and ‘natural’. It’s produced by the body when white blood cells detect something they need to kill.

It’s in some cosmetics and skincare products and it’s used to clean wounds and eyes before surgery.

Why insist on using bleach when there’s something much more effective available - and it isn’t toxic to humans or animals??

Read whole article in Scientific American. The writer makes the limitations clear but also describes how powerful hypochlorous acid is.

In my house, toilet daily, sinks weekly, bathroom floor weekly, unless I do a spot clean then it's that in addition.

She got through all your Purdy & Figg in ONE visit??

Not a 3 bottle set, surely?

That's interesting, thanks

That's interesting, thanks

This was meant to be in response to the lady on page 1 (sorrynotathome) that said she’s over 60 and you don’t need bleach if you’re prepared to use a bit of elbow grease.
for some reason neither of my quotes quoted and I’ve no idea how to edit or remove my posts to do it again!

What on earth is she doing with them? Drinking them???!
We do use a little bit of bleach here (predominantly on things that could have viruses on them, as well as getting white cloths and the annoying white plastic chopping board’s I’d rather not have but struggling to find an acceptable alternative stained by eg fruit juice back to white) but mostly all my cleaning products are Method which I believe is a generally non toxic more environmentally friendly product - they last ages, things look and smell clean, my intense phobia of things not being clean enough is kept at bay and no one has got food poisoning or similar.

FWIW, no I don’t think you ABU. Whilst I entirely understand the cleaner’s preferences for certain products for whatever reasons and she may struggle with what SHE considers ‘inferior’ products, but it’s your HOME. You shouldn’t have to have your home filled with toxic chemicals just to keep the cleaner - that you are paying to clean YOUR home - happy.

That said, it does seem that it’s going to be a decision between toxic chemicals and the cleaner who does a good job, or looking for a new cleaner that is willing to consider your needs.

This isn’t a criticism but a genuine question - I use bleach to thoroughly kill (99.9% of) germs and viruses (and also for restoring white to things that have become stained, like white chopping boards and cloths). How does a bit of scrubbing remove ingrained stains (not surface stains - eg tomato or carrot juice soaked into something white) or, even, and more importantly, remove bacteria and viruses?

Really good cleaners are hard to come by believe me. If she only comes in weekly, buy the bleach, (the smell dosen't last forever.) See if you can reach an agreement over quantities etc. I have tried eco stuff and am not impressed. Don't lose a really good cleaner over one product.

A “quick google” will tell you that the worst environmental impact comes from laundry- detergents, fabric softeners, tumble dryer sheets etc, plus dishwasher tablets.

dishwasher tablets are far more of a problem than bleach. It’s far more harmful, if you accidentally ingest or get some in your eye bleach will generally not cause any harm, dishwasher tablets will.

i did a project on household products at uni. Bleach is surprisingly low down the list of problematic chemicals.

stains are usually due to rough surface from limescale build up.
vinegar based lime scale removers work for that.
old house had very bad build up so we used washing machine descaler over night.

and scrubbing with a toilet brush.

I use mostly vinegar In cleaning but I find the only thing that gets poo off a toilet is bleach. I can ask people to scrub after a poo until I’m blue in the face, but they won’t do it so bleach it is. I find that ecover toilet cleaner crap and the other cleaners I physically feel sick with the smell

I didn't try that one, it's not something I ever use. Their cleaning products were shite though, I chucked it all away.

Aha, fair enough, im NW and the only place ive ever seen any limescale is inside ancient kettles 😂

Yes, in the south and other areas which have hard water you get limescale build up.

Bleach is awful for the environment as well as toxic. I'm with you.

Also as a responsible employer, I don't want my cleaner putting her own health at risk by using toxic products I'm providing. 😳

Cleaners have shorter life expectancies and health problems related to the toxicity of the products. 😔

Nancy Birtwhistle uses sodium percarbonate, which she calls 'green bleach'. I've used it to great effect, but its a powder, not a thick liquid, so I'm not sure whether its going to help you out.

I've dissolved it in boilingvwater and chucked it down the loo, which bleached out the brown stain while I then put citric acid in to dissolve the limescale. Its a bit more of a faff. But works and is kinder to humans and waterways.