Make-Your-Own Cleaning Products: Cleaning with Bleach

I got the following tips from HGTV, and then I added a few of my own!

~Never pour bleach directly into the washing machine. Dilute it first in at least three cups of water per one cup of bleach. Use an old milk carton that has been cleaned thoroughly for the diluting process.

~For the brightest results when using bleach, add the detergent first, add the clothes, then start the machine. Wait until the washing machine begins the agitation process to add the bleach. If you add the bleach right away, you may destroy the enzymes and whiteners that make the detergent effective.

~Make glasses sparkle by adding a capful of bleach to the dishwater when washing dishes.

~Sanitize countertops and cutting boards by filling a quart-size squirt bottle with water and about three tablespoons bleach, then spraying down the surfaces.

~Deodorize coolers and insulated beverage containers by mixing 1/2 cup bleach and one gallon water. Pour mixture in a spray bottle to distribute.

~Never soak items in bleach for longer than 15 minutes. After this amount of time, the bleach will be ineffective and may begin damaging fibers.

~To clean bathrooms, tile, and vinyl floors, make a bleach solution combining 3/4 cup bleach to one gallon of water.

~Disinfect a garbage can by adding one cup of bleach to one gallon of water.
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I have always made a bleach solution in my spray bottle of one part bleach to three parts water, but that's sounding like a bit much (oops). At any rate, I use my bleach solution every single day. Every time I'm cooking with raw meat, I quickly spray any surface that the meat might have touched, being careful to follow with a good swipe from my wet non-bleach washcloth so that I don't leave bleach residue around food.

I also scrub my kitchen sink every morning and then follow with a good spritz of bleach solution (let it sit for a few minutes, then rinse off). My step-daughter once told me that there are more germs in a kitchen sink than a toilet, so I'm a lot more diligent now!

On that note, I also use bleach solution instead of a disinfectant spray in the bathroom, or anywhere else a disinfectant is needed. Just be careful not to use on wood or other porous surfaces that might be discolored or broken down by bleach.

And last but not least--once every summer, I dump an entire gallon of bleach into my big outdoor garbage can and fill it with water from the hose. I let it sit for the first half of the day, then pour it out (we have a field next to our house, so we can do that pretty easily). I then blast anything that's left in the can with the high-pressure setting on our hose's spray nozzle attachment. Then I let it sit open in the hot sun until it's completely dry!