Is bleach dangerous?

[mm]

How dangerous is bleach to fabrics or leather?

A friend is recommending spraying a 50/50 solution of bleach and water
on auto carpet to get rid of mouse urine smell, etc.

He says he thinks it will only fade cotton. Is that true?

What about polyester carpet,

and the cloth or leather seat covers? Do you think the seat covers
might bet oversray, or the vinyl border of seats?

Won't bleach put holes in fabric, especially if it's not rinsed well.


His second suggestion was to start with a 25/75 weak solution, and
move up to a 50/50 solution.

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.

[Phisherman]

On Wed, 10 May 2006 20:19:15 -0400, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com>
wrote:

>How dangerous is bleach to fabrics or leather?

Household bleach can weaken and/or damage fabrics or leather. Leather
treatments or cleaning is best left to a professional.

>
>A friend is recommending spraying a 50/50 solution of bleach and water
>on auto carpet to get rid of mouse urine smell, etc.
>
>He says he thinks it will only fade cotton. Is that true?
>

No. Bleach can fade many fabrics, even colorfast. As a general rule
household bleach should not be used on color fabrics.

>What about polyester carpet,
>
>and the cloth or leather seat covers? Do you think the seat covers
>might bet oversray, or the vinyl border of seats?
>

Perhaps.

>Won't bleach put holes in fabric, especially if it's not rinsed well.
>

It could.

>
>His second suggestion was to start with a 25/75 weak solution, and
>move up to a 50/50 solution.

Both of these are rather strong, considering the typical application
is 1 cup household bleach to an entire laundry load. Personally, I
would not use a bleach spray on carpet or leather goods. To rid urine
odor you can use an enzyme cleaner available in the pet
store/department.

>
>Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
>me know if you have posted also.

[Nan]

On Thu, 11 May 2006 01:49:49 GMT, Phisherman <noone@nobody.com> wrote:

>On Wed, 10 May 2006 20:19:15 -0400, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com>
>wrote:
>

>>His second suggestion was to start with a 25/75 weak solution, and
>>move up to a 50/50 solution.
>
>Both of these are rather strong, considering the typical application
>is 1 cup household bleach to an entire laundry load. Personally, I
>would not use a bleach spray on carpet or leather goods. To rid urine
>odor you can use an enzyme cleaner available in the pet
>store/department.

I'm in agreement with Phisherman. What your friend is suggesting has
great potential to damage your car's interior. You'd be better served
having it professionally detailed by someone trained in leather
cleaning.

Nan

[mm]

On Thu, 11 May 2006 11:13:31 GMT, Nan <nobodys@home.com> wrote:

>On Thu, 11 May 2006 01:49:49 GMT, Phisherman <noone@nobody.com> wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 10 May 2006 20:19:15 -0400, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com>
>>wrote:
>>
>
>>>His second suggestion was to start with a 25/75 weak solution, and
>>>move up to a 50/50 solution.
>>
>>Both of these are rather strong, considering the typical application
>>is 1 cup household bleach to an entire laundry load. Personally, I
>>would not use a bleach spray on carpet or leather goods. To rid urine
>>odor you can use an enzyme cleaner available in the pet
>>store/department.
>
>I'm in agreement with Phisherman. What your friend is suggesting has
>great potential to damage your car's interior. You'd be better served
>having it professionally detailed by someone trained in leather
>cleaning.
>
>Nan

I posted your warnings, about what not to do for mouse urine. Today
he replied:

>I tried Nature's Miracle, and Febreze, and neither appeared to work-
>so I thought. I went out today, and not a smell to be smelled in the
>hood pad. So, either, or both, I don't know. I went over the
>interior with Prestone interior cleaner which claims to have a odor
>nuetralizer. The interior was slightly smelly because of air going
>into the car thru the HVAC, not from critters inside. I think I'll
>have to spray some of the Nature's Miracle (put into a spray bottle)
>and/or Febreze into the air intake where the washer bottle is. Some
>prob got down there, too. It looks curable though. YEAH! Thanks for
>all the input.

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.

[Nan]

On Thu, 11 May 2006 21:44:19 -0400, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com>
wrote:

>I posted your warnings, about what not to do for mouse urine. Today
>he replied:
>
>>I tried Nature's Miracle, and Febreze, and neither appeared to work-
>>so I thought. I went out today, and not a smell to be smelled in the
>>hood pad. So, either, or both, I don't know. I went over the
>>interior with Prestone interior cleaner which claims to have a odor
>>nuetralizer. The interior was slightly smelly because of air going
>>into the car thru the HVAC, not from critters inside. I think I'll
>>have to spray some of the Nature's Miracle (put into a spray bottle)
>>and/or Febreze into the air intake where the washer bottle is. Some
>>prob got down there, too. It looks curable though. YEAH! Thanks for
>>all the input.

Thanks for posting his response. I'm glad he found a solution :-)

Nan

[Muvin Gruvin]

transferred bleach solution from one bottle to another. The bottle from
Costco is so huge and heavy. Not much room to store in my narrow
laundry room. So I poured some of it into a smaller bleach bottle (same
brand bottle too) I can fit that smaller bottle in the space next to
the dryer. Had not used it for many months. To my dismay when picking up
that bottle it left a yellowed stain on the vinyl floor.
Don't think there is anything that can save the vinyl. Luckily it is out
of sight.

My daughter also had an experience with liquid soap stored on top of her
dryer or washing machine.....it caused the paint to peel. Luckily the
machine was new and under warranty and they replaced it.
She now has something under the soap bottle like a folded bath towel or
glass pyrex baking dish.

[Phisherman]

On Mon, 15 May 2006 04:52:06 -0700, QTQTQT@webtv.net (Muvin Gruvin)
wrote:

>transferred bleach solution from one bottle to another. The bottle from
>Costco is so huge and heavy. Not much room to store in my narrow
>laundry room. So I poured some of it into a smaller bleach bottle (same
>brand bottle too) I can fit that smaller bottle in the space next to
>the dryer. Had not used it for many months. To my dismay when picking up
>that bottle it left a yellowed stain on the vinyl floor.
>Don't think there is anything that can save the vinyl. Luckily it is out
>of sight.
>
>My daughter also had an experience with liquid soap stored on top of her
>dryer or washing machine.....it caused the paint to peel. Luckily the
>machine was new and under warranty and they replaced it.
>She now has something under the soap bottle like a folded bath towel or
>glass pyrex baking dish.

I just bought a new gallon of household bleach and I noticed that the
plastic container is much thinner than containers in the past. I
recommend storing bleach in a cool dark location, preferably on a
tray. Bleach is highly reactive and decomposes fairly quickly, so it
is better to buy in quantities that can be used in a month or two.

[sawney beane]

Phisherman wrote:
> On Mon, 15 May 2006 04:52:06 -0700, QTQTQT@webtv.net (Muvin Gruvin)
> wrote:
>
>> transferred bleach solution from one bottle to another. The bottle from
>> Costco is so huge and heavy. Not much room to store in my narrow
>> laundry room. So I poured some of it into a smaller bleach bottle (same
>> brand bottle too) I can fit that smaller bottle in the space next to
>> the dryer. Had not used it for many months. To my dismay when picking up
>> that bottle it left a yellowed stain on the vinyl floor.
>> Don't think there is anything that can save the vinyl. Luckily it is out
>> of sight.
>>
>> My daughter also had an experience with liquid soap stored on top of her
>> dryer or washing machine.....it caused the paint to peel. Luckily the
>> machine was new and under warranty and they replaced it.
>> She now has something under the soap bottle like a folded bath towel or
>> glass pyrex baking dish.
>
> I just bought a new gallon of household bleach and I noticed that the
> plastic container is much thinner than containers in the past. I
> recommend storing bleach in a cool dark location, preferably on a
> tray. Bleach is highly reactive and decomposes fairly quickly, so it
> is better to buy in quantities that can be used in a month or two.

Vinyl flooring doesn't stand up to a pH above 9. Bleach is about 12.6.

According to Clorox, the shelf life of their 6% bleach is six months.
Their 5.25% bleach lasts three months. The last three digits of the
code tell what day of the year the bottle was produced. The digit
before that is the year.