Pool Shock over Bleach

szap

Member
May 10, 2017
19
Rolla, MO
I see the most common chlorine addition recommendation on here is liquid bleach. At Walmart the price for 81 ounces of 7.5% bleach is $4.52 . Also at Walmart a gallon of 10% pool shock is $5.67 and in my area, Menards has a gallon of 12.5% at $4.99. This is a significant price difference. My question, is there an advantage of bleach over the pool shock to justify the price difference?
 
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Check that the bleach is pure chlorine with no additives.


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.
 
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A gallon of 12% for 4.99 gives you much more chlorine ppm then 81 ounces of 7.5% bleach for $4.52.

So does a gallon of 10% pool shock for $5.67 versus 81 oz of 7.5%.

You need to look at the amount of chlorine you are getting for the price.

A gallon is 128 oz with more chlorine then the 81 oz with less chlorine.
 
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