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Is Bleach a Great Choice As a Cleaner?

By Sarah Aguirre, About.com

Question: Is Bleach a Great Choice As a Cleaner?

The heavy scent of bleach in the air must mean that something is really clean. After all bleach is the ultimate cleaner...right? Not so fast. Bleach may be great at a lot of things, but cleaning isn't really one of them.

Answer: Bleach is a disinfectant and not a cleaner. Bleach does a fantastic job of killing germs. It removes tough stains. But bleach doesn't really clean dirt and residue from surfaces. To do that, you'd need to scrub and rinse surfaces.

For many household cleaning jobs, bleach just isn't the right cleaning solution. It has heavy fumes that can make you sick. Contact with bleach on your skin is irritating and can be very harmful. Mixing it with many other cleaners can give you toxic results. Bleach can also damage surfaces and remove color.

Bottom Line:

Bleach is a good disinfectant and stain remover but not a great general cleanser.

More Bleach Resources

Bleach Tips For Laundry
Bleach Definitions

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