Us v Covid >> Has the bleach died or does it just smell funny?????

[XHugsY]

Sniff it. Go round the shops and sniff it. Some 2 litre bottles smell of nothing at all. 1 litre bottles range from a faint waft of very distant bathroom to what we might expect though I'm not sure. Fresh thick bleach aroma should go up the nose like wire wool and leave us gasping.

The bathroom here is tiny with no opening window. Time was (a year ago....?? hmmm, I didn't keep a bleach diary), I had to be careful chucking the bleach about or I'd be asphyxiated. For quite a while (since before The Virus) I can splash the bleach without a care.

Reading up, I discover bleach expires after six months on the shelf, some suggest maybe twelve months. Surprise! Bleach is such a mean, tough, fire breathing baby, who'd have thought merely being left on the shelf would flatten it.

What we need is clear date labelling on bleach bottles as seen on food and medicine. Before that, supermarkets could weigh in and be helpful and put up notices saying the XXX123 code on the bottle means 'Expires 13th April 2020'. (Dull work of little interest for supermarkets but wildly exciting (well; drably vital) for the helpless customer).

Are we being deliberately taken to the cleaners with cleaning fluid? Probably not, just ignorance all down the supply chain to the shopping trolley:

"Running low on bleach Fred."
"It's alright. There're two pallets at the back of the warehouse. Load 'em up."

(They've been sitting there for three years but who knew?)

We need to clearly see the expiry date. Otherwise, either I'm having delusions of paranoia or we're strolling into a disinfecting battle with The Virus armed with lightly scented water.

Thanks for that.

Do not sniff bleach. It’s dangerous, particularly if you can’t smell it. You have lost your sense of smell and need to self isolate and take a covid test, although it might already be some time Since you were infected

I love your passion for bleach. I share it.

YANBU. But please stop sniffing bleach.

My bleach smells bleachy to me...

I can't stand the smell of bleach so I will give that a miss lol

Stop using bleach, it's not good.

Our old bleach from the back of the cupboard works to kill mould and has scent. I think you just lost your sense of smell. It can get a little less effective after literally years, butt then you just use a little more of it. It matters for anti-bac on a worktop, it doesn't matter for shoving a bit down the loo / on bathroom stuff.

@Clive222

Do not sniff bleach. It’s dangerous, particularly if you can’t smell it. You have lost your sense of smell and need to self isolate and take a covid test, although it might already be some time Since you were infected

They probably have different dilution rates as well. For example, asda smartprice thin bleach has 0.99g of chlorine per 100g. Whereas domestos thick bleach has 4.5g per 100g. So will smell more "bleachy"

Sorry I didnt mean to quote you Clive222, however I do think suggesting someone must have covid because their bleach has decomposed is a bit OTT

I noticed this too! But with the Dettol Power and Fresh pomegranate kitchen spray! Normally it smells lovely but the last bottle I bought smells of nothing, not even a mild cleaner scent. (I can smell everything else fine) I think during the hoarding shortages they were either selling off watered down product or old stock??! Or we've both gone mad

If you can't smell bleach I'd say it's more likely you've lost your sense of smell than the bleach not smelling. That's a known symptom of coronavirus so possibly the reason

Thank you to those expressing concern. I can report that my sense of smell (and taste) is doing fine. As I originally mentioned, this bleach situation has been going on for much longer than Covid. However, this is the whole point. Bringing the nose anywhere near thick bleach should have us staggering backwards. I refer and always referred to the thick bleach. The thin bleach is, of course, a diluted cousin which I haven't explored.

Beyond smell, the use in a tiny bathroom test is in some ways the more convincing evidence. I might add that my neighbour has also noticed an apparent fading of bleach strength.

All I ask is that shops/manufacturers give us clear expiry date information. I was thinking today that I've never seen shops putting bleach on half price because it's nearing it's expiry date. No one notices, no one cares. All we get is random product.

This could be another consumer complaint but right now it can be horribly much more. There's a smear of virus sitting there and the bleach doesn't do its job. The smear gets to someone with possible effects ranging from not much to fatal. At this point the ineffectuality of the bleach has been catastrophic but will anyone point a finger at the expired bleach? If this doesn't matter why are we bothering cleaning with anything more than a damp cloth?

I buy tesco or aldi and its been fine. Although it tends to smell more once its reacted with soemthing, Ie germs In toilet or whatnot.
I love the smell. But I don't sniff from the bottle ever. And I use a lot and it's never occurred to me to do so