Shame on you Clorox: Bleach Doesn’t Belong in our Homes
According a Clorox commercial on TV today (during a baby show, meaning lots of Moms saw this ad) you should sanitize not only your child’s toys but also their BOTTLES and SIPPY cups in a bleach and water solution.
Are you freaking kidding me?
Bleach is a huge cause of calls to the poison control center, and the makers of Clorox Chlorine Bleach want us to soak young children’s food containers in it?
These are just some of the oh so useful suggestions found on Clorox.com under AMAZING USES. Heh… the only amazing thing about bleach is its ability to strip fabric of all colors and eat through fabric when used repeatedly or in higher concentrations (and that SMELL!)
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Chlorine bleach is bad for the environment and more importantly, it is bad for the health of our families and our homes. While traditional household concentrations of bleach won’t cause any life threatening reaction if ingested, it is still a toxic chemical, one that our homes should be free of.
The MSDS for Clorox Regular bleach states: “DANGER: CORROSIVE. May cause severe irritation or damage to eyes and skin. Vapor or mist may irritate. Harmful if swallowed. Keep out of reach of children.”
I’m just absolutely shocked at the recommendation to clean an infants bottles and sippy cups with a bleach solution. For one, WHY do we need to sanitize to the level of killing all bacteria (good and bad)? If for some reason, sanitation is required, boiling water works wonders without chemicals. Many dishwashers on the market today have a sanitation cycle, you can stick lots of toys, bottles and sippy cups on the top rack and they come out sparkling clean.
According to Clorox, one should mix one tablespoon of bleach with a gallon of water and soak prewashed bottles in the solution for two minutes. Then you should pour the solution through the nipples and drain dry. They don’t even recommend a final rinse.
I’d like to think that we are well beyond the days of feeling like we have to sanitize our children’s bottles. But if you do want to or have been advised to by a Doctor, then use boiling water (you know, the old fashioned method our parents used when we were infants). There are also options on the market for microwave sanitation.
I cannot believe the commercial! I am a Clorox user for moldy rags in the laundry, but that’s about all I use it for. I would never put bleach in my baby’s bottles.
Thank you for writing about this. I actually spoke with a lady who I once asked how to quickly remove smell from my kitchen trashcan, and she said that she is a day care director and she sprays the toddler room after diaper changes and it works wonders with removing odor from the air……., glad my toddler isn’t in that room every day. People need to educate themselves.
Sorry, JR Trantow but you need to get your facts straight. People who can’t breathe around bleach are not smokers. Bleach is a hazard, the bottle says to only use in a “well ventilated area”!
Please keep believing what the ADVERTISERS say and keep adding to their pockets. THEY wouldn’t have a reason to mislead you now would they?
Explain how a teaspoon of bleach to a gallon of water is more dangerous than the water itself with fluoride, lead, bacterias and parasites and who knows what else in it. If you’ve ever taken a chem class, you’d know baking powder, salt, vinegar can be caustic if not dangerous as well if you’re careless or over indulgent with them. The key is “clean” - whatever works, green or mean. Be responsible, do what works for you and know your facts about products and marketing.
FDA are a bunch of idiots, they once allowed the promotion of smoking as a healthy way to treat the throat!
Stay natural keep the big chemical companies out of your house.
Germs don’t make people sick, weak immune systems do.
I work in a pharmacy and we compound bleach and distilled water to make a dressing that helps heal wounds that are are not healing properly. Small amounts of bleach kill bacteria. You also flush bleach thru well water systems to kill bacteria that can cause illness and swimming pools use chlorine to sanitize the water. And just recently a medical study found that putting a small amount of bleach in kids bath water can help heal eczema. All chemicals are not bad many save lives everyday. The trick is moderation and getting all the facts before you act and write on blogs.
What can I do for my skin, I was cleaning my walls with bleach and it burned the skin of parts of my hands and arms?
THe reason they do this is because bleach is completely safe. IF you know how to use it. All three of my kids are healthy and I have only used clorox to sanitize, but then again, I also have a background in chemistry and know how to make proper dilutions. my guess is that the general public does not. I do not suggest it is for every household, but you should know that Clorox bleach works well because it is oxidized, but cheap-o brands are not always so. be careful what you choose and how you do it folks! babies can be harmed by “natural” cleaners too.
@ Shalini
“I completely agree about the clorox bleach. It DOES NOT belong in a household. I nearly died yesterday after cleaning my bathtub with it. This product s/b banned.”
… a bathroom is typically a small, enclosed area with limited ventilation. Without diluting the bleach in water, of course you are going to run a severe health risk. Even with dilution, you still want to use it when the door is OPEN, with the air vent running.
@ Jamie Irvin:
“Bleach is bad news period. The fumes? Anything that smells so strongly that you must use it in a well ventilated area doesn’t belong in my home.”
If you want a “chemical free home” make sure to filter all your tap water, for every purpose… ever. Tap water has trace chemicals which sanitize it (chlorine, for example… found in BLEACH nonetheless, fluoride, etc)
@ E Magnet:
Yes. I agree 100%
@ the majority of the people saying “BLEACH IS THE DEVIL”… get serious. Learn to dilute things, and how to handle it properly. Heck, even vinegar can be dangerous… splash some of that in your eyes and see what happens.
here’s a solution, if you don’t like it, don’t use it. don’t knock the people who do. its a personal decision, what works for some might not for others. just use common sense while using any chemical.