Sold commercially in Australia for over 100 years, the cleaning chemical bleach is a product that is most often associated with laundry. While it works very well for making clothes brighter and whiter, it can be used in many other areas of the home to disinfect, clean, and generally make life a little less dingy. Here are a few ways to use this hard-working product to make your own home easier to manage:
The Kitchen
The arch-nemesis of food contaminants everywhere, bleach is a mainstay in commercial kitchens for a very good reason. A solution of one teaspoon of bleach to one gallon of water can be used to saturate the scrub brush used to clean your cutting boards. This will ensure that no food particles remain to make you or your family sick the next time the board is used. Adding a teaspoon of bleach to a sink full of soapy dishwater will also help combat spots and streaks on glassware.
The Bathroom
Get more use out of your shower curtain by cleaning off mold and mildew with bleach. Use a warm water setting on your washing machine and add a quarter cup of laundry detergent and a half cup of chlorine bleach, letting the machine run for a few minutes to mix the two before adding your shower curtain and a few white towels to prevent crinkling. Hang the curtain back up to dry once the cycle is completed. If your shower mat isn’t exactly April fresh due to mildew, add 1/8 cup of chlorine bleach to a gallon of warm water and allow the mat to soak for 3 hours before rinsing and air-drying.
The Living Room
Fresh flowers are a lovely way to brighten up the living room, but bouquets can quickly wilt. To keep your flowers looking fresh, add 3 drops of bleach and a teaspoon of sugar to a quart of water, stirring well before pouring into a vase. This concoction not only keeps floral water from becoming cloudy, it inhibits the growth of bacteria that can shorten the lifespan of your blooms.
The Garden
Don’t hesitate to put bleach to good use outside. Undiluted bleach can be poured sparingly in walkway cracks to banish weeds, as long as you’re careful not to get any on the grass or nearby flowers. Sanitize your garden tools by pouring a half cup of bleach in a gallon of water and rinsing them well – dry your tools in the sun and add a few drops of lubricating oil to prevent rust after they dry. Reserve a little of this tool-cleaning solution and add some dishwashing soap – a wipe down with this new mix is an excellent way to perk up your plastic mesh patio furniture.