I bout some 6% Clorox bleach at Costco yesterday. It says "with cloromax technology" I think it's just a marketing ploy because it says 6% sodium hypochlorite. Has anyone else seen this? Just want to make sure I'm not putting extra stuff in my pool.
Chloromax Texhnology?
- Thread starter z_stephensrc
- Start date
Huh.
It is only 6%?? The box I just got from Costco says "Performance" and its 8.3% (which is pretty standard these days) so its odd to me that Costco is selling two different strengths in different markets.
Ignore the "with Cloromax technology" comment...right.. its just marketing jargon.
How much was this stuff? 3 near-gallons of 8.3% in a box is around $9 here.
Maddie
It is only 6%?? The box I just got from Costco says "Performance" and its 8.3% (which is pretty standard these days) so its odd to me that Costco is selling two different strengths in different markets.
Ignore the "with Cloromax technology" comment...right.. its just marketing jargon.
How much was this stuff? 3 near-gallons of 8.3% in a box is around $9 here.
Maddie
I've noticed the same thing. Went to Costco recently and all they had was this "new" Clorox with "Cloromax Technology". Sam's is beginning to stock it too. Looks like the warehouse clubs have no choice as it appears to be all Clorox's doing. The Clorox web site no longer lists the Performance bleach. This "Cloromax Technology" is nothing more than marketing gobbledygook designed to divert your attention from the ingredients label where the truth lies...the amount of the active ingredient - sodium hypochlorite - has been reduced from 8.25% to 6%. If that weren't enough, they actually hiked the price! The 8.25% Performance bleach was $9.39 for the warehouse club 3-pack of 121 oz bottles. Now they are selling the lower-strength Cloromax 3-pack of 121 oz bottles for $9.99. What a deal! A corporation with a conscience (not)! When you look at it from a cost per ppm basis, using the warehouse club 3-pack as the basis, this results in a 46% price hike!
Interestingly, a few years back, Clorox went to the 8.25% concentration so they could package it in smaller 121 oz bottles vs the old 6% in 182 oz bottles. Their reasoning was that it would save on transportation costs and reduce the amount of bottle waste. With that change, the cost per ppm was only slightly higher vs. the old 6% / 182 oz packaging, but at least you had a more concentrated package that took up less space. However, the recent "Cloromax" change is nothing more than legalized extortion.
Although the Performance bleach appears to being phased out, their web site still lists the Concentrated Germicidal bleach which appears to be 8.3% sodium hypochlorite in a 121 oz bottle. Home Depot and Lowe's carry this product, but not in a 3-pack. As a result, buying each bottle individually will cost substantially more. Buying 3 bottles of the Concentrated Germicidal bleach will cost $13.17 vs. $9.39 for the 3-pack of the 8.25% performance bleach (when it was available).
Actually, a better response is to give store brands and other companies bleach products a second look. That's what I plan to do. If all of us boycott Clorox bleach products - and perhaps extend it to all of their products - then perhaps they will get the only message that they will understand...a hit to their bottom line. This is what it will take, folks. But enough of us have to do it!
I noticed a similar issue involving the 16.4 oz single-use propane canisters and any product that contains petroleum distillates (e.g., kerosene, mineral spirits, paint thinners). These products spiked overnight when oil shot up back in 2008-09. Since then, oil prices have fallen dramatically but the prices of these products remain at the same high levels they were when oil was around $140 per barrel (today, it's hovering around $46 a barrel for WTI crude). However, propane at the refill stations has dropped in accordance with lower oil prices. Therefore, I no longer use the 16.4 oz canisters and instead invest in standard 20 lb. refillable propane tanks where I can get propane at current market prices. I also will not buy any product that cannot be adapted to use 20 lb. tanks or larger. As for kerosene, I no longer use it to heat the garage and the old farmhouse that I frequent several times a year. Now it's either electric or natural gas for the garage and propane in refillable tanks for the farmhouse.
Interestingly, a few years back, Clorox went to the 8.25% concentration so they could package it in smaller 121 oz bottles vs the old 6% in 182 oz bottles. Their reasoning was that it would save on transportation costs and reduce the amount of bottle waste. With that change, the cost per ppm was only slightly higher vs. the old 6% / 182 oz packaging, but at least you had a more concentrated package that took up less space. However, the recent "Cloromax" change is nothing more than legalized extortion.
Although the Performance bleach appears to being phased out, their web site still lists the Concentrated Germicidal bleach which appears to be 8.3% sodium hypochlorite in a 121 oz bottle. Home Depot and Lowe's carry this product, but not in a 3-pack. As a result, buying each bottle individually will cost substantially more. Buying 3 bottles of the Concentrated Germicidal bleach will cost $13.17 vs. $9.39 for the 3-pack of the 8.25% performance bleach (when it was available).
Actually, a better response is to give store brands and other companies bleach products a second look. That's what I plan to do. If all of us boycott Clorox bleach products - and perhaps extend it to all of their products - then perhaps they will get the only message that they will understand...a hit to their bottom line. This is what it will take, folks. But enough of us have to do it!
I noticed a similar issue involving the 16.4 oz single-use propane canisters and any product that contains petroleum distillates (e.g., kerosene, mineral spirits, paint thinners). These products spiked overnight when oil shot up back in 2008-09. Since then, oil prices have fallen dramatically but the prices of these products remain at the same high levels they were when oil was around $140 per barrel (today, it's hovering around $46 a barrel for WTI crude). However, propane at the refill stations has dropped in accordance with lower oil prices. Therefore, I no longer use the 16.4 oz canisters and instead invest in standard 20 lb. refillable propane tanks where I can get propane at current market prices. I also will not buy any product that cannot be adapted to use 20 lb. tanks or larger. As for kerosene, I no longer use it to heat the garage and the old farmhouse that I frequent several times a year. Now it's either electric or natural gas for the garage and propane in refillable tanks for the farmhouse.
I just got screwed with this too! I searched all over Sams Club for a bleach without the Chloromax Technology label and could not find it. I wasn't sure about grabbing one of them but I have an algae bloom and had to have it ASAP. My wife only days earlier bought the 8% performance blend.
The price at Lowes or Home Depot isn't that much more when you consider you're losing around 28% of product, it's not that much more for a protest. The listing on the Chloromax bottle shows Sodium Hypochlorite at 6.05 and everything else is under other ingredients, so there is no chloromax. I think it means maximizing Clorox profits technology.
The price at Lowes or Home Depot isn't that much more when you consider you're losing around 28% of product, it's not that much more for a protest. The listing on the Chloromax bottle shows Sodium Hypochlorite at 6.05 and everything else is under other ingredients, so there is no chloromax. I think it means maximizing Clorox profits technology.
LOL. I have a SWG. I haven't installed it yet, the old one broke and piping is different for new one. And I'm just getting things settled this summer. Those TF-100 kits are essential. Can't read the free chlorine high enough to know if you have enough, and using liquid is scary so you tend not to pour as much as you should. I've been fighting green tint and cloud. I thought I'd put the new SWG in right after I settled this battle, but it keeps going on. TF-100 came in today, I have the intelligence necessary gathered to end this war. I'll be glad to say goodbye to chlorine bottles. Who knows what neighbors think with so many bottles in the recycling bin. Still, a good SLAM every now and then in this climate is necessary.
ranger_ric
LifeTime Supporter
I have found that WalMart is now carrying a 10% bleach product for only $6.44 for 2 gallons... However one walmart only had 2 of the boxes on the shelf and BOTH boxes were damaged and some product missing from each gallon in the box, and the other local walmart was sold out of the product. I was hopeful that this walmart product would help me out this summer as I have been buying the 121oz 8.25% germicidal bleach from home depot for $2.99 a bottle. Perhaps this payday WalMart will have stock.
Lowe's and Home Depot also carry liquid chlorine (bleach with at least 10% concentration of sodium hypochlorite). Will check next time I go there. My concern with buying this product at either store is that it usually sits outside in the garden and patio area. While it is usually kept out of direct sunlight, it is still exposed to the Texas heat and is more likely to degrade faster than products in a climate-controlled facility like a supermarket or warehouse club. Nevertheless, I may still give it a try. I will also look for a date stamp. If there is one, it will likely be in Julian format. Likely to give it a try if I can find one with a reasonably recent date.
Up until recently, I'd been buying the three-packs of Clorox's concentrated 8.25% bleach at eaither Sam's or Costco, depending on whichever one happened to be closest at the time.
Then last week when I was in Sam's I decided to pick up some more. That's when I noticed the "Now with CLOROMAX Technology!!!" emblazoned across the box. Being naturally suspicious and also being of the opinion that "new and improved" rarely is, I finally found the analysis on the carton and saw they'd gone back to 6%. Blast!
Today, I was in Costco, and was doubly dismayed to find the same stuff in place of my former 8.25% formula. Way to go, Clorox. Guess I'm going to have to go back to my store-branded bleach at my local grocery chain, but I'm worried that they may pull the same trick since the competition got away with it.
WRT to the 10% liquid pool chlorine at HD and Lowes, they are in fact date coded, and the ones I find in stock are always WAY old. No point in buying concentrated chlorine that's 9 months old...
Then last week when I was in Sam's I decided to pick up some more. That's when I noticed the "Now with CLOROMAX Technology!!!" emblazoned across the box. Being naturally suspicious and also being of the opinion that "new and improved" rarely is, I finally found the analysis on the carton and saw they'd gone back to 6%. Blast!
Today, I was in Costco, and was doubly dismayed to find the same stuff in place of my former 8.25% formula. Way to go, Clorox. Guess I'm going to have to go back to my store-branded bleach at my local grocery chain, but I'm worried that they may pull the same trick since the competition got away with it.
WRT to the 10% liquid pool chlorine at HD and Lowes, they are in fact date coded, and the ones I find in stock are always WAY old. No point in buying concentrated chlorine that's 9 months old...
You and I must have went to the same school because whenever I see some new marketing jargon emblazoned on a product or a change in the packaging, I go straight for the label. Marketing jargon such as "Now with CLOROMAX Technology" is designed to catch and divert your attention.Pflugerpool said:
I'm beginning to think that the initial move from 6% in a 182 oz bottle to 8.25% in a smaller 121 oz bottle a few years back was part of a broader plan. Initially, the move made sense as you got roughly comparable disinfecting power in a smaller package. Since it was more concentrated, you could use less of it, plus the cost for the 3-pack was about the same. It also allowed Clorox to transport more product in the same space thus saving on transport costs. Really makes me wonder if the plan all along was that "We'll get 'em hooked on the 8.25% in the 121 oz bottle for a couple of years and then we will come up with some catchy marketing terminology (Cloromax) to divert attention from the fact that we went back to a 6% strength in the 121 oz bottle." Sad thing is that it'll probably work on most of the population who habitually purchases the same product without ever looking at the label, especially whenever the packaging changes. So the takeaway here from Marketing 101 is, whenever the packaging changes on a product, that is your cue to look at the label. Odds are good that the formulation and/or amount of product has changed (usually to the consumer's detriment) and the packaging is designed to divert your attention away from that fact.
My past experience with the liquid chlorine at HD and Lowe's mirrored yours - the product was, in fact, old. I last dabbled in that experiment 4-5 years ago. Nevertheless, I will give it a second look now. I'm betting on the fact that more people are catching on to using liquid chlorine for pool chlorination that the product turnover may be higher than it was back then - we'll see if that hunch turns out to be a true around here. It also still mystifies me that liquid chlorine is not available at the Texas locations of that big national pool store chain with the initials LPS and yet it is available at this chain's stores in several other states.
A few ways you can fight back against the now (much) higher cost of Clorox bleach:
- Purchase store brands or other private label bleach products, especially if it is available in a concentrated formula. If you can find liquid chlorine (>= 10% concentration of sodium hypochlorite) that was packaged recently, this is another option.
- Use trichlor pucks temporarily whenever you need to bump up your pool's CYA level. This is not a long-term option, but it can be temporarily used in pools where the CYA has dropped below the target levels by no more than 5-10 ppm or so, depending on your target level. Use either an automatic chlorinator designed for trichlor pucks or use floaters. Do not put pucks in the skimmers! To anyone still new at managing a pool, just be aware that using pucks impacts four parameters: chlorine (a.k.a, FC), CYA, pH, and to a lesser extent TA. You will need to monitor all of these parameters if you use this approach. If you are not comfortable doing this, then do not use this option. Pucks are acidic, so you may need to add borax or soda ash if pH drops below the recommended range of 7.2 - 7.8 and/or baking soda if TA drops below the target level (see https://www.troublefreepool.com/content/134-recommended-levels). You will also need to ensure that the pucks are maintaining the desired FC target. As long as you are aware of the need to monitor these parameters, this approach will work until you have hit your target CYA level. At that point, you need to discontinue using the pucks. Although not a recommended long-term solution, it provides a temporary break from using bleach. I have actually used this approach as described above on a temporary basis to increase CYA levels and it has worked well for me but the pH in my pool tends to increase due to aeration resulting from the waterfall from my spill-over spa. However, it may not work well for every pool. NOTE: On a new pool or refill or in cases where the CYA has dropped considerably below target, you should use CYA granules using the sock-in-the-skimmer method instead of pucks to get the initial dose of CYA added to your pool more quickly.
- Convert to SWG. This is perhaps the best long-term option for ongoing chlorination of your pool. The increased price of bleach is making this option more attractive.
I was at Lowe's today and decided to check on their pool chlorine in the garden section - I found they had 10% that wasn't terribly old - date code was 143, which makes it 60 days old. Most of the stock was 123 though, which would be 80 days old.
It was $3.74, and it was a full 128 oz instead of 121 oz like the Clorox. Running the chlorine comparison calculator, it works out slightly cheaper than the Clorox. Problem is, Clorox is a year-round commodity and they have enough stock turnover to keep it fresh. I don't know how often Lowe's gets pool chlorine in, but it might be just one shipment a year.
It was $3.74, and it was a full 128 oz instead of 121 oz like the Clorox. Running the chlorine comparison calculator, it works out slightly cheaper than the Clorox. Problem is, Clorox is a year-round commodity and they have enough stock turnover to keep it fresh. I don't know how often Lowe's gets pool chlorine in, but it might be just one shipment a year.
Our local WalMart was carrying the 10% bleach reliably until this past week. They had maybe 20 bottles left on the shelf (versus well over 100 a month ago) and the dates were 40+ days older than the fresh ones I bought in late June. :|
I bought some of their Great Value 8.25% bleach to get me by for now, but I am disappointed. Will check our local Lowe's next.
This reminds me of Intel's "tick-tock" method for milestoning the improvements in their chips. First they make the die smaller, then they improve it's function, then they make it smaller, then they improve it's function, etc... Each time it gets better. Each time they rename the chip, but you actually get something new. With Clorox, first they "concentrate" and shrink the bottle size, make you pay more, then they dilute it, remarket it, make you pay more, next they'll concentrate it... etc. Basically to obfuscate their increase in price.
It definitely does seem that way. But there is hope! Another company, unrelated to bleach, tried a similar approach and it finally caught up with them: Gillette, Bleeding Market Share, Cuts Prices of Razors. The same thing could happen to Clorox if enough of us fight back by considering other private label bleach products and liquid chlorine (provided it hasn't been sitting on the shelf too long).
I also was disappointed to see the more expensive, less potent, 6% Clorox bleach at Sam's and was concerned what the "other" ingredients might do to my pool. I could not find the specific ingredients, but did find this on the Clorox web site:
"CLOROMAX™ is our patented technology of polymers that:
• Helps reduce soil adhesion to surfaces..."
Has anyone used this stuff with no bad effects to their pool?
"CLOROMAX™ is our patented technology of polymers that:
• Helps reduce soil adhesion to surfaces..."
Has anyone used this stuff with no bad effects to their pool?
I bought some of this 6% Clorox with Cloromax technology at Sam's, disappointed they did not have the usual 8.3% that I have been using. After researching the product, I took it back to Sam's the next day. I received the following email when I inquired directly at the company:
"Amir (07/31/2017 03:53 PM)Hello Mark,
Thank you for reaching out to us at Clorox, we always appreciate hearing from our consumers. Clorox Regular Concentrated Bleach should be the only type of bleach you put in your swimming pool. Although Clorox Performance Bleach with Cloromax Technology is an excellent product, it is not intended for swimming pools."
I am not sure how it would affect the pool and do not plan to experiment with it to find out.
"Amir (07/31/2017 03:53 PM)Hello Mark,
Thank you for reaching out to us at Clorox, we always appreciate hearing from our consumers. Clorox Regular Concentrated Bleach should be the only type of bleach you put in your swimming pool. Although Clorox Performance Bleach with Cloromax Technology is an excellent product, it is not intended for swimming pools."
I am not sure how it would affect the pool and do not plan to experiment with it to find out.
I'm still buying HDX store brand at Home Depot. Two full 128 oz gallons of 10% for $6.86 in Phoenix. I just bought on Tuesday and the date code showed it was under 2 weeks old. Usually it is around 30 days. You do have to check the codes carefully because some old stuff certainly can be found sometimes. The old stuff they need to move is usually up by the checkout area.