To think that you don't really need to use bleach for everything all the time?

[SusanMichelson]

I keep seeing people commenting on how often they use bleach in their cleaning routine and I'm really surprised by how much it seems to be used.

I never use bleach unless someone is ill and usually not even then - just a disinfectant spray.

My kitchen and bathroom are lovely and clean. I usually just use a damp sponge or cloth with a bit of washing up liquid or whatever.

I don't get why people think bleach is necessary - and it is so poisonous, not just to us but to fish and so on. It makes me really to think there's so much of it being washed down the plug hole.

AIBU to think it doesn't really make things any cleaner than just soapy water or maybe another less harsh chemical for really tough stuff?

I promise I'm not an eco warrior or hippy. It just never really occurred to me to use the stuff except when we had a superbug and then it was necessary for a few months. Nasty stuff!

Yes, that's one of the things I've used bleach for in the past! Just remembering! Tea-stained mugs, they were lovely afterwards.

I love bleach. I do know it's no good for the environment but so are a billion other things we all do. I use about a bottle a week mainly using it for cleaning in the kitchen.... I'm one of those annoying sink people ! :)

To clean toilet we just spray a vinegar mix ( white vinegar and lemon juice and tea tree oil in spray bottle) down toilet, on seat and around toilet area. Leave 5-10 mins. Then wipes off. Add bicarb and clean with old toothbrush to any areas if there's a mark

I put some down the toilets every couple of weeks. Ironically, I use Ecover loo cleaner every week but it doesn't get rid of all smells/stains.

You know you can clean tea/ coffee stained mugs by just adding lemon juice

I've never tried lemon juice on tea-stains, Art. I'll give it a go next time, thanks for the tip.

It is nuts the amount that people use. People genuinely believe that it make their houses cleaner - it doesn't!! If you clean areas with hot soapy water, you remove as many germs as you do if you clean with bleach. Either you've cleaned properly of you haven't. It isn't better with bleach.
It's a marketing con that people have fallen for in their millions.

I use bleach down my toilets and to clean my white ceramic kitchen sink. Absolutely nothing makes it as clean as bleach does.

I use it on my floors, all of the bathroom, kitchen and window sills. Love it.

I too like firefighters ginger, hopefully they will notice my clean house and come round in their lovely uniforms....

A bottle a week?

Hate the stuff and don't have it in the house. Use Ecover loo cleaner and soda crystals down the drains. Especially if you're in a hard water area, bleach doesn't necessarily remove anything, just makes it so you can't see it.

We bleach all the loos every night. I love a bit of bleach.

I use bleach in the kitchen sink and bathroom sink, bath and loo everyday. I also love the smell of it. I get panicky if i have no bleach in the house or im running low

On every bleach thread (of which there have been a lot recently) I say the same thing.
I hate the smell, it makes me heave. If I smell it in someone's house i assume someone has had D&V or something. Or it's being used to mask another smell.

Horrible stuff. I feel sick just thinking about bleach.

I only use bleach down the toilet bowl and for plug holes, for everything else it's usually antibacterial spray or disinfectant. I also use CIF bathroom spray as limescale is a constant enemy .

I do find the smell very abrasive. I find that it irritates my lungs and throat in the times when I have used it.

We have 4 white ceramic sinks and 4 toilets in the house and still no need for bleach. (I use Astonish paste for the sinks once a year if necessary.)

I love the smell of bleach but am trying to cut down usage. I use soda crystal spray for greasy surfaces, vinegar for floors and Greenscents lavender spray for anything I can use it on.

It is nuts the amount that people use. People genuinely believe that it make their houses cleaner - it doesn't!! If you clean areas with hot soapy water, you remove as many germs as you do if you clean with bleach. Either you've cleaned properly of you haven't. It isn't better with bleach.
It's a marketing con that people have fallen for in their millions.

YY. Ditto antibacterial cleaners. Ordinary soap kills bacteria!

Will have to try soda crystals lastnightwenttomanderley

I love the smell of a bit of bleach.

I saw on pinterest the other day about killing weeds with it and tried it yesterday - the weeds are dead today.
I will be treating the rest of the bastard crazy paving area with it tomorrow.

I have a dog so use hot bleachy soapy water to clean where he wees on the patio.

but it doesn't get rid of all smells/stains.

Doesnt that mean it isnt actually cleaning?

Well said Regina. I am wondering if it's generational. my DM was a bit of a bleach fan but even she has swapped now.

I love the smell - it's a very reassuring smell, means (in my head) that everything is nice and clean - providing it's not manky to look at obviously. It goes down the toilet, down the sink (nothing better than a bleached plughole, ooerrr), takes stains out of whites...fab stuff.

gemmateller I once emptied a bucket of diluted bleach on the garden path as DDog had been sick there and murdered loads of poor earthworms, I felt so guilty.

The only thing I bleach is my cornholio.