7 ms·

Bleach wasn’t commonly used for bathroom cleaning in the US ore-covid? It’s quite common in Europe and much of the rest of the world…

pixl97 4y ago
Either bleach or some other powerful cleaner was. Quite often you hear about some some younger adult working at a low paying job using bleach to clean, and they decide to mix some other cleaner in because it's not working well enough, and there is a reaction that hospitalized them or kills them.
- MisterBastahrd 4y ago
  Bleach + ammonia? Chloramine. Bad. Bleach + peroxide? Exothermic reaction that produces oxygen. Bad. Bleach + an acid like vinegar? Chlorine gas. Bad. Bleach + alcohol? Chloroform. Bad.
  - cratermoon 4y ago
    In short, that chlorine atom really wants to be somewhere else, and nearly anything, even water, will break the bond. So now there's chlorine ions floating around, and chlorine has the 2nd highest electronegativity after fluorine. It's so reactive it will even form compounds with many of the noble gases.
- 123pie123 4y ago
  I've worked in a few cleaning jobs as a student in the UK and I've always had to a have a mini induction on how to use cleaning fluids, which is v basic - don't mix certain types of cleaning fluids
JohnFen 4y ago
I'm in the US, and myself and most people I know well enough to know this about them have been using bleach for bathroom cleaning for my entire life.
- malfist 4y ago
  I was raised using primarily bathroom cleaners like scrubbing bubbles and 409. Both of which are QATs instead of bleach. As an adult I've experimented with using bleach for cleaning, and prefer it most of the time, it's just better.
  - chordalkeyboard 4y ago
    Scrubbing Bubbles contains microplastic abrasives.
  - kube-system 4y ago
    Most of the stuff in the bathroom cleaning aisle has a "with bleach" version https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/3189aa67-fa2c-4ad1-ae01-7b63300a5d8a.dd3fdf307e2fbe8b1807608cc1533026.jpeg https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/3189aa67-fa2c-4ad1-ae01-7b6...
ben7799 4y ago
Yes, it was always common for cleaning in the US.
amalcon 4y ago
It absolutely was and is. The "potential to produce toxic gases" thing the article mentions is very well known, though the usual advice to avoid it (never mix two different cleaners) was briefly a little more difficult to practice due to shortages.
- realworldperson 4y ago
  [dead]
- hinkley 4y ago
  Honestly I've known about the ammonia thing since college or right after, but I just learned about vinegar and bleach a year ago. If you put vinegar in your laundry you probably shouldn't use the bleach dispenser to do it.
giantg2 4y ago
I think it was pretty common. What wasn't common is they many people starting using lots of bleach or bleach containing products all over the place due to covid being though to be spread via fromites in the early days/months of the pandemic.
eric-hu 4y ago
I worked in a restaurant kitchen in 2008. Every food station had to prepare a sani-bucket with about a teaspoon of bleach in a gallon of water. We used those to wipe down our food stations between preparations. I believe they’re required by US health code law. The dish washing sink also had 3 basins. Wash, rinse and sanitize. The third had water and a small amount of bleach. Again, required by restaurant health code law. (I realize after writing this comment you specified bathroom cleaning, but these stories still stand. Food prep environments are held to a higher standard than bathrooms.)
werdnapk 4y ago
Ammonia is a common cleaner as well in parts of the world as well.

pixl97 4y ago

Either bleach or some other powerful cleaner was. Quite often you hear about some some younger adult working at a low paying job using bleach to clean, and they decide to mix some other cleaner in because it's not working well enough, and there is a reaction that hospitalized them or kills them.

MisterBastahrd 4y ago
Bleach + ammonia? Chloramine. Bad. Bleach + peroxide? Exothermic reaction that produces oxygen. Bad. Bleach + an acid like vinegar? Chlorine gas. Bad. Bleach + alcohol? Chloroform. Bad.
- cratermoon 4y ago
  In short, that chlorine atom really wants to be somewhere else, and nearly anything, even water, will break the bond. So now there's chlorine ions floating around, and chlorine has the 2nd highest electronegativity after fluorine. It's so reactive it will even form compounds with many of the noble gases.
123pie123 4y ago
I've worked in a few cleaning jobs as a student in the UK and I've always had to a have a mini induction on how to use cleaning fluids, which is v basic - don't mix certain types of cleaning fluids

JohnFen 4y ago

I'm in the US, and myself and most people I know well enough to know this about them have been using bleach for bathroom cleaning for my entire life.

malfist 4y ago
I was raised using primarily bathroom cleaners like scrubbing bubbles and 409. Both of which are QATs instead of bleach. As an adult I've experimented with using bleach for cleaning, and prefer it most of the time, it's just better.
- chordalkeyboard 4y ago
  Scrubbing Bubbles contains microplastic abrasives.
- kube-system 4y ago
  Most of the stuff in the bathroom cleaning aisle has a "with bleach" version https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/3189aa67-fa2c-4ad1-ae01-7b63300a5d8a.dd3fdf307e2fbe8b1807608cc1533026.jpeg https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/3189aa67-fa2c-4ad1-ae01-7b6...

ben7799 4y ago

Yes, it was always common for cleaning in the US.

amalcon 4y ago

It absolutely was and is. The "potential to produce toxic gases" thing the article mentions is very well known, though the usual advice to avoid it (never mix two different cleaners) was briefly a little more difficult to practice due to shortages.

realworldperson 4y ago
[dead]
hinkley 4y ago
Honestly I've known about the ammonia thing since college or right after, but I just learned about vinegar and bleach a year ago. If you put vinegar in your laundry you probably shouldn't use the bleach dispenser to do it.

giantg2 4y ago

I think it was pretty common. What wasn't common is they many people starting using lots of bleach or bleach containing products all over the place due to covid being though to be spread via fromites in the early days/months of the pandemic.

eric-hu 4y ago

I worked in a restaurant kitchen in 2008. Every food station had to prepare a sani-bucket with about a teaspoon of bleach in a gallon of water. We used those to wipe down our food stations between preparations. I believe they’re required by US health code law. The dish washing sink also had 3 basins. Wash, rinse and sanitize. The third had water and a small amount of bleach. Again, required by restaurant health code law. (I realize after writing this comment you specified bathroom cleaning, but these stories still stand. Food prep environments are held to a higher standard than bathrooms.)

werdnapk 4y ago

Ammonia is a common cleaner as well in parts of the world as well.