You don’t need chlorine bleach (toxic to absolutely everything) or optical brighteners to whiten clothes and remove stains. Oxygen bleach (a mix of water, salt and chalk that breaks down into hydrogen peroxide and sodium carbonate) works just as well. You just have to activate it by mixing with water at least 40 degrees (it’s only effective for a few hours but you can safely pour unused water down the sink, and it will clean your drains at the same time.
Never mix any bleach with anything, it produces lethal gas. Wear rubber gloves and keep natural bleach away from children and pets (could still irritate and bleach fur). Wrap old bleach bottles securely and bin.
Buy oxygen bleach from:
simple ways to use natural bleach
- Clean/Disinfect (4 tbls in 1 litre of hot water is good for ovens). To clean fridge (1 tbl in cup of warm/hot water, soak for 10 minutes, wipe clean). To clean toilet bowl (pour in 6 tbls, scrub, rinse).
- Mug stains (1/2 tsp to each mug, fill with boiled water, wait 15 minutes, then wash). Also for jars (to disinfect and remove labels).
- Mould (make a warm water spray, apply, wait 15 minutes, rinse, wipe). For shower curtains (soak in solution of 2 tbls with 5 litres hot water). To clean tile grout (mix 3 tbls in 2 gallons hot water, apply, wait 15 mins, rinse with clean water).
- Dustbins (mix cup of bleach with gallon of water, clean & rinse). For mops, brooms, scrub brushes (soak in solution of hot water).
- Stains (pre-soak few tbls in bowl of warm water, then wash). To spot-clean, mix with warm water to a paste, rub and wash. For upholstery stains (mix 1/2 tbl with 250ml of warm water in bottle. Scrub, leave, pour over fresh water and blot (testfirst – not for wool/silk).
- Fences (hose-spray to wet, apply solution with paintbrush, leave 5 to 15 mins, spray again to rinse). For decks & patios (clean with solution, leave 30 minutes, dry and rinse).
