"Pool" chemicals

[Uhhello]

Holy Crud. Through lots of reading here I've seen it mentioned to never buy chemicals with "pool" labels. Had to drain and fill and went to walmart to get some bleach. While in the pool aisle I see pool bleach. It's $16.22 for 120 ounces at 6.5%. Wandered over to cleaning aisle and they had 7.5% for $6.22 121 ounces.

 

[Newdude]

This is our go-to brand (10%) available at Walmart and Lowes. 2 Walmart's by you have it today, but the rest are out of stock.




We also like HDX chlorinating liquid at Home Depot which is also 10%, although it has gotten pricey the last couple months.

 

[jmastron]

I don't think it's as hard and fast as never buying a "pool" label, just that it's worth comparing products that are available for other uses (like liquid chlorine, muriatic acid, baking soda, etc). Cyanuric Acid, for example, is probably not easily found other than as a "pool" chemical (aka Stabilizer).

I'd double check what you were looking at in the pool aisle; the sizes and concentration don't sound normal. Do you have a picture? I'm looking at Walmart's website (which isn't always accurate as to what's in the store). When I search near Tucson, they have the 2-pack (i.e. 256 oz total) of 10.0% concentration for $10.54, which is going to be quite a bit less normalized against the cleaning aisle one.

Also beware that cleaning bleach often has additives these days that you don't want, and sometimes they're not well disclosed. Clorox in particular used to be good "plain" bleach, but I believe most/all of their products have "Cloromax" and other stuff in them now.

 

[Uhhello]

I don't think it's as hard and fast as never buying a "pool" label, just that it's worth comparing products that are available for other uses (like liquid chlorine, muriatic acid, baking soda, etc). Cyanuric Acid, for example, is probably not easily found other than as a "pool" chemical (aka Stabilizer).

I'd double check what you were looking at in the pool aisle; the sizes and concentration don't sound normal. Do you have a picture? I'm looking at Walmart's website (which isn't always accurate as to what's in the store). When I search near Tucson, they have the 2-pack (i.e. 256 oz total) of 10.0% concentration for $10.54, which is going to be quite a bit less normalized against the cleaning aisle one.

Also beware that cleaning bleach often has additives these days that you don't want, and sometimes they're not well disclosed. Clorox in particular used to be good "plain" bleach, but I believe most/all of their products have "Cloromax" and other stuff in them now.

This is the product that was in the pool aisle but it wa 16.22

Robot or human?

Great Value Bleach, 81 fl oz - Walmart.com

Today Buy Great Value Bleach, 81 fl oz at Walmart.com

www.walmart.com

 

[Newdude]

This is the product that was in the pool aisle but it wa 16.22

That's not bleach it's algecide.

You want straight 'Sodium Hyperchlorite' and nothing else. Pretty much all Chlorox products have harmful additives. I believe the CYA/stabilizer is the only one that's 100% pure. Avoid any other chlorox products, including it's bleach.

 

[ajw22]

Liquid Chlorine - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

If you buy household bleach, you want pure liquid chlorine with no additives. Additives such as fragrances, thickeners (splashless), or surfactants (outdoor bleach) may cause foaming. Bleach with fabric protectors (Cloromax Technology) may also cause foaming.

Most Clorox bleach today says it has Cloromax Technology. They are polymers that create foaming and are not suitable for pools. Clorox Germicidal Bleach did not have additives but the December 2019 label on their website now shows Cloromax Technology. So look carefully at the label and ingredients on any Clorox bleach products you intend to use in your pool.

CloroMax is the addition of a alkaline and oxidizer stable poly ionic surfactant chemical. It’s added to the bleach to leave behind a residue in clothing and on surfaces that resists staining and microbial contamination. It supposedly reduces the need for higher concentrations of bleach to do the same cleaning job.

Most retail bleach is manufactured by a few chemical suppliers. KIK corp is probably the biggest. They all use the "CloroMax" technology that Clorox patented and then licensed out. So even the store brands like Target or Walmart will say their bleach is regular unscented, etc and somewhere on the bottle will be the phrase "Fabric Protection Technology" (or some combination of words like that). Read bleach labels carefully and look for code words that may imply it has additives other then chlorine.

 

[YippeeSkippy]