# Bleach Dilutions



## Jjl (Feb 2, 2014)

Hi everyone,

A few days ago, I was getting ready to bleach my tank and plant cuttings when I noticed that I didn't have the typical household bleach. I have what seems to be germicidal bleach (8.25% sodium hypochlorite). The bottle says "33% more concentrated". 

I'm sure I can still use this stuff at 10% for tank cleaning due to the drying time and dechlorinating that will follow. However, for my plants, I figure that I'll need to lower the concentration (or severely decrease the soaking time), since the cuttings are pretty small/fragile. 

Does anybody have a guideline for the amount of "super bleach" I can safely use, at least to make it equivalent to a 10% solution? I want to double-check here, since I'm terrible with serial dilutions. 

Thanks for your help!


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## thane (Sep 11, 2014)

I'd be curious to hear the answer to this too, since the last time I got bleach they only had the "super concentrated" versions and I'm almost out of the old bottle. I'm just not good enough with math to figure it out. I was using the calculation in NE Herp's instructions of 1 cup regular bleach to 1 gallon water.

Question though - you don't have frogs in the tank currently, correct? If there's frogs in there, a lot of people use lemon juice or citric acid to clean the glass.


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## chillplants (Jul 14, 2008)

I'm just spit balling here, but if the bleach is 33% more concentrated, then decrease the amount of bleach by 33%. If 1 cup bleach to 1 gallon water is the old recommended rate, use 2/3 cup bleach for each gallon of water for the higher concentrate.


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## Tzunu'un (Apr 15, 2014)

Here ya go.

For more info, dilution changes needed covered in this older thread:

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/pl...entration-plant-disinfection.html#post2304505

The higher concentration of bleach requires an approximately 1:15 dilution to make a solution that is comparable to the 1:10 dilution of the "regular" low concentration bleach. 


For those using cups/gallon (and the label info claiming "33% more concentrated")
33% more concentrated means that it is now 133% instead of 100%. 100 divided by 133 equals 0.75.
So 75% of a cup .....which is 3/4 cup.

Reduce to 3/4 cup per gallon if you were using 1 cup per gallon before (as the high concentration product is 33% more concentrated).


These are both acceptable approximations as regular household bleach concentration varies although it has generally been 5.25% to 6% by weight sodium hypochlorite.


James


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## Jjl (Feb 2, 2014)

thane said:


> I'd be curious to hear the answer to this too, since the last time I got bleach they only had the "super concentrated" versions and I'm almost out of the old bottle. I'm just not good enough with math to figure it out. I was using the calculation in NE Herp's instructions of 1 cup regular bleach to 1 gallon water.
> 
> Question though - you don't have frogs in the tank currently, correct? If there's frogs in there, a lot of people use lemon juice or citric acid to clean the glass.


Nope, no frogs in there yet!

James - Great information! I'm trying to do a 5% soak for 20 minutes. Should be using roughly a 1:20 dilution to make a 5% bleach solution?


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## Tzunu'un (Apr 15, 2014)

Realized I may have confused some with what I wrote above regarding the "33% more" based calculation:



> For those using cups/gallon (and the label info claiming "33% more concentrated")
> 33% more concentrated means that it is now 133% instead of 100%. 100 divided by 133 equals 0.75.
> So 75% of a cup .....which is 3/4 cup.
> 
> Reduce to 3/4 cup per gallon if you were using 1 cup per gallon before (as the high concentration product is 33% more concentrated).



I'll clarify, in case I confused anyone.

For those using cups/gallon (and the label info claiming "33% more concentrated")
33% more concentrated means that it is now 133% *of the regular bleach concentration.*

In order to calculate the ratio of new bleach to use, we will call the regular bleach 100% and the new bleach 133%.
Ratio is 100 divided by 133 which equals 0.75.

To calculate the amount to use we multiply 1 cup by the ratio. 
1 cup multiplied by 0.75 which equals 0.75 cup. So 75% of a cup .....which is 3/4 cup.

Reduce to 3/4 cup per gallon if you were using 1 cup per gallon before (as the high concentration product is 33% more concentrated).


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## Tzunu'un (Apr 15, 2014)

Jjl said:


> Nope, no frogs in there yet!
> 
> James - Great information! I'm trying to do a 5% soak for 20 minutes. Should be using roughly a 1:20 dilution to make a 5% bleach solution?



Percentages are confusing as you need to know what it is a percentage of.
The percentage solutions of bleach are refering to percentages of regular bleach.

As mentioned in the link I gave above, what people call a "10% bleach solution" generally means that you are diluting regular bleach 1:10.

To make an equivalent "10% bleach solution" with the new higher concentration bleach you would need to make approximately a 1:15 dilution.

For a "5% bleach solution:
This is a 1:20 dilution of regular bleach
This is a 1:30 dilution of the new high concentration bleach.

So if you are using the new higher concentration bleach and want what people would traditionally call a "5% bleach solution" then you need to be diluting the new bleach 1:30.


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## thane (Sep 11, 2014)

Roger that - Thanks James - I've always found your posts very informative and helpful.

Jjl - why were you wanting to go 20 mins? That seems like a really long time. I processed all my plants, including the more delicate ones, per NE Herp's recommendations (instructions mailed with all my plants) and have not had any issues thus far. I used the 1 cup bleach per 1 gallon water (or 3/4 of concentrated bleach). 

First I bare rooted the plants, then soaked in regular water for 5-15 min, soaking the fragile ones longer. Then put in the bleach solution for 2-3 min. Then rinsed off the bleach solution thoroughly. Then soaked in some purified water for another 15ish minutes. Some others on here may soak in bleach longer, I'm not sure, those were just the instructions I read and they've worked for me. Have done this about 5X so far. Good luck.


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## Jjl (Feb 2, 2014)

thane said:


> Roger that - Thanks James - I've always found your posts very informative and helpful.
> 
> Jjl - why were you wanting to go 20 mins? That seems like a really long time. I processed all my plants, including the more delicate ones, per NE Herp's recommendations (instructions mailed with all my plants) and have not had any issues thus far. I used the 1 cup bleach per 1 gallon water (or 3/4 of concentrated bleach).
> 
> First I bare rooted the plants, then soaked in regular water for 5-15 min, soaking the fragile ones longer. Then put in the bleach solution for 2-3 min. Then rinsed off the bleach solution thoroughly. Then soaked in some purified water for another 15ish minutes. Some others on here may soak in bleach longer, I'm not sure, those were just the instructions I read and they've worked for me. Have done this about 5X so far. Good luck.


I've seen NE Herp's instructions--it's just that I've also read some posts here by tenured members who seem to prefer 20 minutes at a 5% concentration (or 10 minutes at 10%).


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## Tzunu'un (Apr 15, 2014)

Thanks

I try to be helpful....especially when it's something I had to figure out as well. 

I've taught soooo many lab interns and students to make dilutions.


I just PM'd NE Herp and suggested that they update the information they have on their site and send out with plants to include info regarding the differences of the"regular" household bleach and the new higher concentration bleach.

It would be great if other retailers also update / add as well since the new bleach is more frequently found these days.


James


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## RyanD (Jul 18, 2006)

A super handy calculator can be found here: Chlorine Dilution Calculator 

We recently made changes to our lab in the way we label our bleach disinfectants. Used to be called "50%" because it was 1 part bleach: 1 part DI water. Since all the bleach is now concentrated, calling it by those named is not really accurate

We use the 0.5-0.7% sodium hypochlorite for general disinfectant. 

Example:
To make 0.5-0.7%: Add 40mL bleach + 460mL DI water. 
What we called "50%" bleach is 2.5-3.5% sodium hypochlorite.
What we called "10%" bleach is 0.5-0.7% sodium hypochlorite. 

Also to note, the "splashless" and "flavored" bleaches may not be desirable. Once we(our lab) had made the mistake of using the splash-less variety and it affected the control values on our instruments. I'm guessing there was some residue from the splashless that affected the chemistry.


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## Froggle (Jul 28, 2014)

Ok so I'm going to embarrass myself here asking this question!

my bleach is sodium hypochloride 42g/L
does that make it 42% sodium hypochloride?

Thanks!


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

This should help g/L to per Converter, Chart -- EndMemo 

Ed


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## Tzunu'un (Apr 15, 2014)

These calculations are based upon the weight of water:
1g of water = 1ml of water

1g per 1ml = 100%

there are 1000ml in a L

so:

42g (ml) / 1000 ml = 0.042 or 4.2%


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## Froggle (Jul 28, 2014)

Thanks guys!
Hopefully my question saves some one else some embarrassment in the future!


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## A13 (4 mo ago)

Hi, 
I realize proportions have been covered, however, it's been now 8 yrs (plus Covid) and I am not sure the bleach solutions you were discussing are even on the market. I realize we cannot promote a particular brand here, but can someone give a concise answer of which exactly Clorox (I see about 4-5 different kinds on Amazon and am very confused as to which one is more concentrated) they use and at what proportions to get the 1:10 ratio solution? Much appreciated!


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## Lpst (Aug 2, 2014)

A13 said:


> Hi,
> I realize proportions have been covered, however, it's been now 8 yrs (plus Covid) and I am not sure the bleach solutions you were discussing are even on the market. I realize we cannot promote a particular brand here, but can someone give a concise answer of which exactly Clorox (I see about 4-5 different kinds on Amazon and am very confused as to which one is more concentrated) they use and at what proportions to get the 1:10 ratio solution? Much appreciated!


I believe Clorox brand markets their original undiluted, unscented, commercial grade bleach as "disinfecting bleach". This started after the Covid hoax... made good money on that stock.


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## A13 (4 mo ago)

Lpst said:


> I believe Clorox brand markets their original undiluted, unscented, commercial grade bleach as "disinfecting bleach". This started after the Covid hoax... made good money on that stock.


Thank you for the info on Clorox brands, Lpst. Regarding Covid, I don't mean to turn this into a back and forth, just sharing that I personally know people who have died because of it, and someone in my family caught it when she was 40 and healthy and had to be hospitalized 3 times and now over a year later has to be on regular medication for her heart, so most definitely not a hoax to me.


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## Lpst (Aug 2, 2014)

A13 said:


> Thank you for the info on Clorox brands, Lpst. Regarding Covid, I don't mean to turn this into a back and forth, just sharing that I personally know people who have died because of it, and someone in my family caught it when she was 40 and healthy and had to be hospitalized 3 times and now over a year later has to be on regular medication for her heart, so most definitely not a hoax to me.


I hear you; I don't want to get into it either, I apologize. I just never bought into it, and the only people I know that ever got it or had issues with it, were those that got the "vaccine", my wife's grandmother practically turned into a drooling zombie who now needs 24/7 home care within 24 hours of getting her second booster shot. One of my brothers died from issues that were caused directly from the vaccine. my wife's entire family took the "vaccine" and aside from her grandmother had no ill effects other than getting "covid" multiple times and were hospitalized due to how severe it was. My household refused to get it and have yet to get sick besides the flu I got in Nov of 2018 that some claimed was Covid. Everyone has different stories and went through different situations. I apologize if I offended you or anyone else on here on my thoughts of the issue. I guess to be clearer on what I think; the sickness and effects it had on the world wasn't a hoax, the political agendas being pushed and the gov-to-civ gaslighting using Covid as the basis for "making people safe" was mostly the hoax part. What I did buy into though, was all the stocks that were being traded by our congress during the beginning of it. Boy what killing they made... follow the money, find the truth. But that is enough about that, I don't want to get into trouble or upset anyone on here by stepping into the political and conspiracy theory zone.


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## A13 (4 mo ago)

Lpst said:


> I hear you; I don't want to get into it either, I apologize. I just never bought into it, and the only people I know that ever got it or had issues with it, were those that got the "vaccine", my wife's grandmother practically turned into a drooling zombie who now needs 24/7 home care within 24 hours of getting her second booster shot. One of my brothers died from issues that were caused directly from the vaccine. my wife's entire family took the "vaccine" and aside from her grandmother had no ill effects other than getting "covid" multiple times and were hospitalized due to how severe it was. My household refused to get it and have yet to get sick besides the flu I got in Nov of 2018 that some claimed was Covid. Everyone has different stories and went through different situations. I apologize if I offended you or anyone else on here on my thoughts of the issue. I guess to be clearer on what I think; the sickness and effects it had on the world wasn't a hoax, the political agendas being pushed and the gov-to-civ gaslighting using Covid as the basis for "making people safe" was mostly the hoax part. What I did buy into though, was all the stocks that were being traded by our congress during the beginning of it. Boy what killing they made... follow the money, find the truth. But that is enough about that, I don't want to get into trouble or upset anyone on here by stepping into the political and conspiracy theory zone.


I am sorry to hear your family members suffered. With my connections the people who seemed to suffer were the unvaccinated, but I acknowledge that some vaccinated people also have had to be hospitalized, etc. Hopefully we all as humankind have reached a level of this virus when it would affect us less and less.


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