Chlorine Bleach

[Debbie in Wa]

I have wanted to make my own chlorine bleach for laundry use and found the article about buying the SHOCK "calcium Hypochlorite" from walmart to make my own chlorine bleach. After reading the new Backwoods home article "water treatment" they talk about details on specific agents. They say chlorine bleach contains sodium hypochlorite and calcuim hypochlorite is much more concentrated.
After reading all these things I am a tad bit confused Am I using the right thing for the laundry use? I know that they say you can treat your drinking water with chlorine bleach and I wanted something that will fit both purposes if possible. I wish I was more brain smart in this area and hope one of you out there is so as to help me understand and learn more.

Thanks so much

[Jeff54321]

These are some VERY serious compounds you are talking about. I would proceed with tremendous caution.

"Calcium hypochlorite is best kept in a cool dry place away from any organic material. It is known to undergo self heating and rapid decomposition accompanied by the release of toxic chlorine gas."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium_hypochlorite

[airotciv]

I guess, I have to ask why you want to go here? Chlorine bleach is very inexpensive and I would not treat my drinking water with bleach. I have a 4 year degree in chemistry, that i have not used in the last 20 years, but I have no Idea why someone would want to go here.

[littlebitfarm]

Chlorine bleach degrades. At the water treatment plant where I work it is what we used to chlorinate the water. A semi load lasts about a month but by the end of the month we are feeding about 40% more liquid to get the same level of chlorine in the water.

The powder won't degrade and you can make a fresh solution as you need it.

Kathie

[Harry Chickpea]

To answer your question, both types of bleaches can be used for laundry. Bleach works in laundry by tearing apart (breaking weak bonds in) some common molecules that have color and/or are used as coloring agents or dyes. The most active part of the bleach is an ion that is formed because of the presence of chlorine in water. In fact, some sanitation and industrial bleaching is (or used to be) done by injecting chlorine gas directly into the water. Obviously, no calcium or sodium is even present when this is done.

Bleach is a strong oxidizer. While not a scientific definition, just think of oxidizers as chemicals (in this case, the element chlorine) that like to beat up on other chemicals or get them into fights. They have a lot of energy for the task. Because of that energy, they can be dangerous, while another element like argon or xenon will just lie around doing nothing unless a lot of energy is used to excite it. Those elements can also be dangerous, precisely because they do nothing.

The funny part about all the hoopla is that the real bad boy is plain old water (H2O). Without water or some form of hydrogen, chlorine can't make the highly reactive ion.

[Windy in Kansas]

Originally Posted by littlebitfarm

Chlorine bleach degrades. At the water treatment plant where I work it is what we used to chlorinate the water. A semi load lasts about a month but by the end of the month we are feeding about 40% more liquid to get the same level of chlorine in the water.

Would converting to chlorine gas be cheaper in the long run?

As to the original question unless you are doing a lot of whites or sanitizing every load it seems that it wouldn't be unreasonable to continue with regular bleach but perhaps a generic brand. $2+ a few cents per gallon for generic at Sam's Club.

[littlebitfarm]

Originally Posted by Windy in Kansas

Would converting to chlorine gas be cheaper in the long run? .

Would be a whole lot cheaper! But not nearly as safe. We used to use 1 ton cylinders. If there had been a problem we would have had to evacuate about a mile and a half of subdivision. Not to mention the corrosion of metal in the plant.

I think the gas chlorine cost us about $.01 per 1,000 gallons. The bleach is about $.03 per 1,000 gallons. Well worth the price difference!

Kathie

[Whisperwindkat]

I am with Jeff, these are some seriously dangerous chemicals that you are experimenting with. Buy bleach from the store or better yet, use white vinegar or hydrogen peroxide to whiten whites. Both work wonders without all the risk. Blessings, Kat

[arabian knight]

Originally Posted by Whisperwindkat

I am with Jeff, these are some seriously dangerous chemicals that you are experimenting with. Buy bleach from the store or better yet, use white vinegar or hydrogen peroxide to whiten whites. Both work wonders without all the risk. Blessings, Kat

+1,000.

Forget trying to make something that is high risk without proper knowledge and training.

[tamsam]

One thing to remember with pool shock. NEVER PUT WATER IN IT. PUT IT IN THE WATER. PUTTING WATER IN IT IS LIKE DROPPING WATER INTO BOILING WAX. I am with everyone else about getting bleach at the store but if you insist please keep any unused shock in and out building sealed in some kind of container.
Now for the good news. I was told by pool peeps that one tbs of good shock to one gallon of water makes a gallon of bleach. The strength of the shock is great as we used one pound of it to shock a pool with 24,500 gallons of water. Pleas be careful. Sam

[Sarabeth]

So if liquid bleach breaks down over time, couldn't you keep the powdered shock on hand? To avoid the danger, could you just add a tsp or so to a load of laundry in the powder form if that's what you wanted it for?

I have never really thought much about this, except that I don't keep extra bleach on hand because I heard that it does start to degrade after a fairly short period of time.

[Debbie in Wa]

Thank you all for giving your input. I made up a small batch the other day in a five gallon bucket using the one tsp. shock to two gallons of water. So far I have not noticed anything different in the whites but have noticed that it doesn't smell the same as the store bought. Mine doesn't have the bleach smell and it does have some sediment at the bottom of the bucket. At first I was thinking it didn't work but am too afraid to mess with it any too much more. I learned my lesson years ago as a kid not to mix to many chemicals together to get something clean. ( I was cleaning the bathroom toilet with what my Mom told me to and the fumes started!).
I think I am going to stick with my Vinegar for the laundry and hope that in an emergency I wont' have to treat any water.

[7thswan]

If it's ok I'm going to jump in here. Chemicals kina freek me... In my hot tub I've tryed all kinds of bromides and ph balancers ect. It was a nightmare. Emptyed it. Fresh water, and a big glug (bleach)once a week. It has been perfect for years now. 2 mons ago I got some shock- empty water and am nowing using 1/2 a lid full of granuals once a week. Has been working fine but, now I have little grits on the bottem. Is there something in the shock that is binding to the minerals in the water? Haven't had any issues with my skin. Noone at the store could tell me exactly what is all in the hth chlorine chrystals.

[Wolf mom]

I buy Clorox "Germacidal Bleach" at Home Depot. It's meant to be diluted - anywhere form 1 Tbsp for 1 Gal of water for dishes, refrigerators etc. to 2/3 C to a gallon of water for trash cans.

Much cheaper than any place else.

[Harry Chickpea]

The "grits" (love that term and idea ) are undoubtedly excess calcium from the continued use of the powdered type of chlorine. Used to sometimes have this happen in our inground pool in FL. The solution is generally to remove and replace about 1/4th of the water, which means more pH balancing and stuff.

Liquid pool chlorine is pretty potent stuff. I used to dilute it into regular bleach by taking old jugs and diluting it 1 to 1 with water. I never much cared for the tabs or powdered chlorine because of the continuing calcium buildup.