Katie Barton is a home improvement freelance writer. For as long as she can remember, she's had a passion for making homes beautiful. She specializes in cleaning, organizing, and home improvement projects.
Learn more about Homedit's Editorial Process | Updated on May 14, 2024 Sodium hypochlorite
Bleach is a powerful disinfectant that kills germs, viruses, mold, and bacteria in as little as five minutes. It’s safe for most hard, non-porous surfaces, such as toilets, showers, countertops, sinks, and children’s toys. But “cleaning” with bleach is a bit of a misnomer. Bleach doesn’t actually clean; it just disinfects. Before wiping a surface with diluted bleach, you need to pre-clean surfaces by clearing dust, dirt, stuck-on grime, or food residue.
As powerful as it is, bleach is unsuitable for all surface types. It can damage porous and delicate materials like wood, stone, fabric, and metal. Proper dilution is critical no matter where you use it.
The active ingredient in bleach is hypochlorite. Most household bleaches contain 5-9% hypochlorite. Anything less than this (like what you find in laundry bleach) won’t disinfect.
Follow the dilution instructions on the bottle of bleach. If there are no instructions on the bottle, the CDC recommends mixing ⅓ cup of bleach with one gallon of room-temperature water. To make a smaller batch, mix one quart of cool or room-temperature water with four teaspoons of bleach.
To disinfect the bathroom with bleach, clean all surfaces with a multi-purpose cleaner to remove dirt build-up. Then, mix your bleach solution and tackle the following areas:
Toilet – Add ½ cup of bleach to the toilet bowl and scrub with a toilet bowl brush. Allow it to sit for five minutes before flushing. Disinfect the toilet seat, base, and lid by dipping a rag in your premixed bleach solution, wringing excess moisture, and wiping all surfaces. After five minutes, use a rag dampened in water to rinse the bleach away.
Shower Curtain Liner – Kill mold and mildew by placing your shower curtain liner in the washing machine and adding ⅓ cup of bleach to the bleach dispenser. Add a small amount of laundry detergent, wash on hot, and hang dry.
Bathtub/Shower – Bleach is safe for many bathtubs and shower surrounds, killing mold, germs, and mildew. Use a dampened microfiber cloth to remove dirt and grime from the shower or bath. Then spray the shower and tub with your diluted bleach mixture, allow it to sit for thirty minutes, and rinse.
Trash Can – Wipe the inside and outside of the bathroom trash can with bleach, allow it to set for 5 minutes, and rinse.
Sink and Counters – Wipe the sink and counters with the bleach mixture, allow it to sit for five minutes, and rinse.
Use bleach in the kitchen to disinfect your sink, countertop, plastic cutting board, and trash can. Mix ⅓ cup of bleach with one gallon of water, wipe hard kitchen surfaces, allow the solution to sit for five minutes, and then rinse. Remove dirt and build-up with soap and water prior to disinfecting.
You can also use diluted bleach to disinfect appliance handles, but don’t let it sit too long on stainless steel. Bleach is corrosive and can stain or rust stainless steel surfaces. Also, be wary of using bleach on stone countertops – it can wear down the sealant, causing your stone to look dull.
Bleach can sanitize your laundry and brighten your whites, but be careful – using the wrong type can ruin your clothes. Chlorine bleach (regular household bleach) will brighten whites, while non-chlorine laundry bleach is safe for colored fabrics.
To brighten whites with chlorine bleach, add ½ cup of bleach to your bleach dispenser and use your regular laundry detergent and a hot cycle. If your washing machine doesn’t have a bleach dispenser, start the machine and add your normal detergent. After about five minutes, or when the machine is filled with water, add ½ cups of bleach to the drum.
You can also use chlorine bleach to disinfect and kill mold and foul odors inside the washing machine.
There’s debate about whether vinegar or bleach is the better mold killer. If you prefer bleach, use it to kill mold on your drywall, shower surround, and other non-porous surfaces.
Before you start, wear safety gear, including gloves and a respirator mask. Then, use a combination of soap, water, and a scrub brush or paper towels to remove mold from the surface. Mix one cup of bleach with a gallon of water and fill a spray bottle. Spray the moldy area and allow the solution to sit for fifteen minutes before rinsing and drying. The bleach will kill the mold spores, preventing them from growing back.
A bleach solution can clean vinyl siding and kill mold and mildew. But, it’s important to properly dilute it and rinse it off. Using too strong of a solution or leaving it on too long can damage vinyl.
Kids toys are prone to germs, viruses, and nasty dirt build-up. You can clean hard, non-porous kids’ toys (like most plastics), but avoid using bleach on fabric toys or those with batteries. Be sure to ventilate the room and put on plastic gloves and old clothes first.
Option # 1 – Submerge Toys in a Bleach Mixture
Fill a plastic bucket with one gallon of room-temperature water and ⅓ cup of bleach. Submerge the toys for five minutes, rinse well, and dry.
Option # 2 – Spray Toys with a Bleach Solution
Dilute bleach at a ratio of four teaspoons per one quart of water and place in a spray bottle. Place the toys in a sink or on a plastic tarp and spray them with the bleach solution. After five minutes, rinse well and then dry.
Diluted bleach kills green mildew build-up on concrete, leaving it like new. Before you start, use a leaf blower or broom to remove all leaves and debris from the patio. Also, move all patio furniture out of the way.
For this project, you’ll need bleach, water, a soft-bristled scrub brush with a long handle, and a garden hose. Before you start, wear old clothes and shoes.
Mix one gallon of water with ⅓ cup of bleach. Dip your scrub brush in the mixture and apply it to the concrete using long back-and-forth motions. Allow the solution to sit for six minutes, then rinse with your garden hose.
Use the same solution and scrub brush to remove mildew build-up on your outdoor furniture. (Skip fabric cushions, though) Then, rinse clean with your hose after six minutes.
About the authorKatie Barton is a home improvement freelance writer. For as long as she can remember, she's had a passion for making homes beautiful. She specializes in cleaning, organizing, and home improvement projects.
