Rant: Liquid Bleach non-disclosure

[WoundedWolf]

Brief (ok, not so brief - so sue me) rant against the machine: I’ve typically used chlorine granules as my go-to shock product. However, the recent price increases (or “gouging” as it is sometimes known) have moved me to look for more economical options. Now, I’m trying to find the best liquid bleach deal taking into account the differing strengths between products and I‘d really rather not spend a lot of time going store to store. So, on line I’ve looked at Kroger, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Ace Hardware, Big Lots, etc., and the story is always the same. No matter how many pictures they show of the bottles, the one thing they don‘t show is the concentration. The pics may dance all around the jug but the strength is carefully hidden away. Or the ad gives non-helpful information such as “Contains a 33% more compact dose”. -Big Lots- More compact than what? And how do you “compact” bleach anyway? Then there is “Pure Bright Germicidal Ultra Bleach”. -Lowe’s- Maybe I’m missing something but I thought the whole point of bleach was that it was germicidal. Is non-germicidal bleach even a thing? And what makes a bleach “ultra”? And just in case we missed the point, Lowe’s also has a bottle with a label that says only “Germicidal Bleach”. Then to further muck things up Lowe’s also offers their “Outdoor Bleach”. I guess it has that label because it doesn’t work if you try to use it inside. And if there is a difference between any of them Lowe’s is keeping mum. Ace Hardware carries only Chlorox brand products, none of which are suitable for pool use. My wife just pulled a bottle of Kroger brand bleach out of the laundry room. The label clearly states that this product is better because it is “concentratred”. Really? REALLY? The label discloses (in rather fuzzy print) that the sodium hypochlorite content is a whopping, wait for it, 6 percent. The one exception to the hide-the-percentage game is Worldwide Janitor. They advertise a five gallon bucket chock full of 10% chlorine. The price is $46.95 or $9.39 per gallon. I haven’t run the numbers but that seems like a bit of a premium price. And lest you think that I am unfairly biased in my research against chlorine granules let me point out that granules are also part of this bait-and-switch chlorine scheme. Leslies has Power Powder Pro, Power Powder Granular 70, Power Powder Pro 73 all shown proudly on their website. None of which shows the amount of chlorine in the details and no explanation as why these products differ from one another. OK, rant over. Suggestions and comments welcome.

 

[Pv2]

good rant!

probably better off with regular liquid chlorine "shock" from the box stores, if you can't get refilable HASA type deals. they will be mostly 10%. then you get to play decipher the date codes to see how old it is.

 

[HermanTX]

I only purchase LC that is at 10% or higher. I stay away from 6% bleach because many of them - as you may find - contain other stuff not suitable for pool use. Home Depot and Lowe's are known for carrying proper LC for pool use - namely at 10%. See picture.
Also, to help you sort out the best effective cost - use the Bleach $ Calculator on Pool Math app. You put in the volume of bleach, ie. 4 gals, the percentage ie. 10% and the total prices for those 4 gals. It provides a $/oz. Then put in same data for different product, maybe at 6% or 12.5% (which can be purchased at Leslies). The one with the lower unit cost is the best bang for the buck considering the % and volume you are purchasing.

 

[setsailsoon]

Wolf,

Welcome to TFP! And yes nice rant.ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry. May I also recommend you consider the only real permanent relief from jug lugging? Convert to salt... the pain will be over forever!

Chris

 

[an1vrsy]

Salt water chlorine generator?

 

[jseyfert3]

In general no product sold as “bleach” will be cheaper for the amount of actual sodium hypochlorite than product sold for pool chlorination, as the pool chlorine is nearly always 10% or 12.5%. Menards, my go to in the Midwest sells 12.5% for $3.99/gallon. Most bleach around here is that or more for around 6% and it’s not even an entire gallon! Let alone all the other stuff they add to bleach now that makes it unsuitable for pools in many cases. Also the pool stuff I’ve seen usually has percentage in a fairly obvious location, see an example of the stuff I buy attached.

 

[Newdude]

Then to further muck things up Lowe’s also offers their “Outdoor Bleach”. I guess it has that label because it doesn’t work if you try to use it inside

Thankfully you didn't fall for the outdoor cleaner scam. Which is the same 5% or 6% bleach as the outdoor bleach, but $10 a gallon for a fancier label.

 

[Nikilyn]

Salt water chlorine generator?

Yes

 

[willygee]

Check ACE...1.59 10%/gal in bulk here in fla.

 

[jimim]

I end up at Leslie’s for thier 12.5 percent or wal mart for the 10.0 percent or ace for thier 10 percent. I never look online. I hop in the Jeep, drive to one place, and grab it. Never had an issue even this year like others were saying.

 

[Rocket J Squirrel]

A while ago, I opined that we should stop using the word "bleach" when we mean "liquid chlorine". I still think so.

 

[kimkats]

I have been careful to use liquid chlorine just for that very reason.