Bleach expiration/production date codes...

steveinaz

https://www.clorox.com/how-to/laundry-basics/bleach-101/bleach-expiration-dates/

Polkitup2

Good info Steve. I have some Clorox wipes that are a few years old I was using. Probably not doing their job!

pitdogg2

Yep the wipes and hand sanitizer expires. Hard to believe alcohol hand sanitizer expires but it does

Gardenstater

I found this on the Clorox site:

"So when you purchase a bottle of Clorox® Regular-Bleach₂ with CLOROMAX® at the grocery or Target, you are buying a solution of at least 6% sodium hypochlorite with a little sodium hydroxide and sodium carbonate to help buffer the solution and help maintain the product performance for up to a year. Under normal usage, it will quickly break down to 95–98% salt and water, and any remaining bleach will quickly react with components in your sewer or septic tank line."

I don't think it necessarily breaks down at all rapidly in the bottle, but only when you use it. I'm not clear on how much disinfection or cleaning performance it would lose after a year, but they define the shelf life as around 1 year but they also say that after that they can't guarantee that the potency of the sodium hypochlorite is still at least 6%. To me that means that you just don't dilute it quite as much since you don't use it at anywhere near full strength for disinfection purposes on surfaces. I definitely wouldn't throw away a bottle of bleach that was 2 years old, but that's just me.

steveinaz

My main reason for sharing this, is that many people are not aware of bleachs' fairly short shelf life. Those "stock piling" a bunch of bleach will likely end up with a bunch of bottles of saline water if they don't rotate/use often.

Gardenstater

I think they are not aware of the fact that it just means they don't guarantee 6+% after one year. It might be 5.9% after 1 year, 5.8% after 2 years, 5.7% after 3 years, etc.......

It's not like an antibiotic expiration date where you wouldn't want to "risk" it for something as vital as an infection. On the other hand I once took some clindamycin that was 7 yrs past the expiration date when my damn doctor wouldn't give me the right antibiotic for a respiratory infection that was dragging on and on and it knocked it right out in a couple days lol.

steveinaz

I've had less than 1 yr old bleach lose all of it's disinfecting ability in the past. In the Winter months I use bleach in my pool because my salt water chlorine generator does not produce chlorine under 56 degree water temps. I poured a gallon in, an hour later my Taylor test kit showed no chlorine. That amount should have registered about 8ppm in 13,000 gallon pool. This is when I learned about the short shelf life of Clorox. This is also widely known in swimming pool community forums.

Do you have any first hand experience?

Gardenstater

Can you use your test kit on a fresh bottle of clorox for a baseline reading?

No sorry, I don't have any firsthand experience. I was just going by the Clorox website info. which said that it starts out at least 6% sodium hypochlorite and that after 1 year they do not guarantee that. So I just *guessed* maybe an initial concentration of approx. 6.1% and extrapolated a rate of breakdown per year. I also have lots of old bottles of bleach that smell strong to me.

steveinaz

No, the ppm reading would be way out of range with my kit (Taylor K2006). What can be done is to dilute with water, but then that is exactly what my pool did in the test I spoke of.

Plenty of information out there on bleach "real" shelf life vs "theoretical" shelf life. Do a search. Also keep in mind, how long has that bottle sat on the shelf at the store; hence the date code info given above.

Smell is NO indicator of chlorines ability to disinfect, as it smells very strong when fighting germs. That strong smell at the public pool? Yeah, that's urine/lotion/sweat, etc being fought by "combined" chlorine. A well maintained pool will have no chlorine smell; though a chlorine smell doesn't necessarily indicate a poorly maintained pool.

pitdogg2

Sunshine and aeration is also is very hostile to chlorine.

I'm not discounting your claims that is does go bad Steve. The fact is that UV breaks it down quickly and aeration off gasses is quickly as well. It's one of the reasons there are aeration devices on faucets.

There is both in swimming pools. The larger the surface area of your pool will help with off gassing as do the jets of the pool circulation system as well as people using the pool splashing about. (Aeration)

Gardenstater

This info. here is pretty informative:

https://www.oxy.com/OurBusinesses/Chemicals/Products/Documents/sodiumhypochlorite/bleach.pdf

treitz3

Due to this post, Steve. I must thank you. Now that I know my gallons of bleach are bad, I have switched to lathering up with toilet bowl cleaner with bleach. It's still fresh.

I have no skin left and I can't see at all but I am 100% free of this beer virus goin'round. I owe you one.

Tom

steveinaz

pitdogg2 wrote: »

Sunshine and aeration is also is very hostile to chlorine.

I'm not discounting your claims that is does go bad Steve. The fact is that UV breaks it down quickly and aeration off gasses is quickly as well. It's one of the reasons there are aeration devices on faucets.

There is both in swimming pools. The larger the surface area of your pool will help with off gassing as do the jets of the pool circulation system as well as people using the pool splashing about. (Aeration)

Agree 100%. This why CYA (stabilizer) is used to help protect chlorine from the sun. Aeration gasses off CO2, which in turn raises pH.

Gardenstater

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303708217_Shelf-Life_of_Chlorine_Solutions_Recommended_in_Ebola_Virus_Disease_Response

Gardenstater