Bleach is the cheapest and most-available disinfectant you can use in the galley (or ashore, for that matter). It’s great for keeping your counters, cutting boards and other hard surfaces germ-free.
Before I go into details (below), a couple of notes:
- NEVER use bleach on any aluminum surfaces.
- Be careful: bleach will instantly take the color out of fabrics and, undiluted, can even eat right through fabrics.
- Before using the bleach solution on anything other than a white surface, use a tiny bit on a concealed spot to make sure it won’t remove the color. I haven’t had a problem with the 10% solution described below, but I’m sure there are some materials that it will take color out of.
- If you’re using bleach ashore, try not to put it down the drain if you’re on a septic system. It can kill all the bacteria in the septic tank that are necessary for breaking down the waste.
Using Bleach in a Spray Bottle
Keeping bleach solution in a spray bottle makes it really easy to just grab and use it throughout the day. I use it on counters and cutting boards every time I wipe them down. Just spray a little, then wipe with a rag. It will kill virtually all germs.
The Centers for Disease Control recommend:
4 teaspoons bleach mixed with 1 quart (4 cups) of water
NOTE: This is their current recommendation for disinfecting against COVID-19 as well as general household disinfection.
Don’t use full strength bleach — it’s way too caustic and emits nasty fumes.
You can use any type of liquid bleach for this — the ones with fancy scents will lessen the bleach smell, but the plain bleach is cheaper and you can use it in your water tank as well (NEVER use scented bleaches in the water tank). And the bleach smell goes away in just a few minutes unless you really go overboard on spraying!
Get a small spray bottle for this — the solution is only good 24 hours (thanks, Diane, who corrected me on this!), so you don’t want to mix up a lot at once. If you can’t smell the bleach, it’s time to discard the solution and mix up a fresh batch.
Bleach loses its disinfecting power with exposure to sunlight, heat and evaporation — while you can’t do anything about the heat, you DO want to protect it from sunlight (any type of spray bottle will also stop the evaporation).
If you can’t find an opaque spray bottle, the easiest thing to do is cut the top off a sock and slip it around the spray bottle. You could coordinate the color with your galley, although little drips may make spots . . . so I just use white.
Be careful using a bottle that’s been used for something else — bleach reacts with lots of different things and can put out nasty fumes. If you re-use a bottle from something else (particularly if it had ammonia or vinegar in it) be sure it is VERY WELL rinsed out, including the spray nozzle. Never mix bleach with anything other than water.
The heat and humidity aboard a boat makes it easy for germs to multiply. And while you never want to get sick, it’s even worse if you’re a day (or more) from medical care. A few quick sprays of bleach water can go a long ways towards keeping everyone on board healthy.
And while you’re at it, don’t forget surfaces that pets may come in contact with. They are just as susceptible to many germs as you are. Whenever I refill Paz’s food and water, I give her dish a quick spritz of solution, let it sit a minute in the sink to do its work, then rinse it and wipe it out.
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Bruce Bibee says
On the 1:10 dilution instructions, what is the starting strength of the commercial bleach solution? Is this a standard worldwide? Here in the Philippines it seems that many things are diluted to make better profits for the seller so it would be useful to know what the ‘standard’ is. Note that I am assuming that we are referencing a solution as you mentioned ‘Clorox’ (possibly ‘Zonrox’ here) and not a dry powder that one is converting into a solution. I am sure that my dearly departed wife would have known this, but I never had deal with such things having been well taken care of. One would think that the powder would be better for storage as one would not be storing all the water and it could be made as needed. Is this the same stuff one gets in bulk for swimming pools (never had a pool but friends bought some kind of chlorine powder in bulk for their pools)?
Carolyn Shearlock says
Bruce —
The 1:10 refers to starting with standard liquid laundry bleach, no scent. It’s pretty much the same strength all over the world — I’ve bought it in North, Central and South America and Africa and it’s always been just about the same.
I’ll have to get back to you on what strength it is, and how you’d use powder bleach or bleach tablets (pool chlorine).
UPDATE: Standard liquid laundry bleach is 6% here in the US.
If you want to use chlorine “powder” (the pool company I talked to said that the tablets can be used, but have to be crushed and it’s a pain to do it) to make bleach, you have to start with calcium “hypochlorite” and not “sodium.”
The US EPA then gives the following formula for making standard laundry bleach, which you could then further dilute for a disinfecting spray:
“Add and dissolve one heaping teaspoon of high-test granular calcium hypochlorite (approximately 1/4 ounce) for each two gallons of water.”
For those not from the US, one teaspoon is equal to 5 ml.
But be careful with the powder — the fumes are quite caustic and you have to be careful to avoid inhaling them.
Diane Dashevsky says
Just a small correction to your article…we used to use bleach/water (same mix ratio) as a disinfectant when I had my exotic bird store…according to the manufacturers, the bleach/water solution will only “be good” for 24 hrs – so we mixed it daily as needed. I realize that means you usually have quite a bit of waste when you empty a nearly full spray bottle…but bleach generally is inexpensive and you use so little in the mixture. I’d rather toss it when done rather than have it not do the “disinfecting” job!
Carolyn Shearlock says
Thanks for adding that — I’ll correct it in the article! (UPDATE: It’s been changed in the article above).
Karl Riemer says
I looked in vain for corroboration of a 24-hour standard. Instead, I found that dilute NaClO is stable essentially forever, as long as the pH is high, temperature low, sunlight and CO₂ excluded, and no contact with metal. It may lose 5% efficacy per year, and if you’re counting on it for surgical sterility perhaps that matters after a few years. Note, though, that anything can call itself “bleach”. Clorox today sells several products for several applications, counting on the Clorox name to = “bleach” when in fact they rely on a variety of chemistries. Perhaps Diane is using an H₂O₂-based solution. (I think anything with a subscript ₂ in the Clorox name contains H₂O₂ rather than NaClO.)
Brittany and Scott says
Amen on the bleach!! I am also a big fan of a bleach solution in a spray bottle and use it to clean everything!! Also have a vinegar mixture in a different spray bottle to clean as well. Good stuff Carolyn! 🙂
MaryJo Boyle says
Hi Carolyn,
I have gunk in my galley drain and I suspect there’s more of it farther down where I can’t see, possibly building up in the pipes.
Do you have any suggestions as to how to clean that out?
Thanks!
Carolyn Shearlock says
Got a bunch of ideas for you — see Slow or Stopped Galley Drain for the full article — but the number one thing to do is pour boiling water down the drain. It’s amazing how much gunk that will take care of!
If there’s still gunk, the soda/vinegar trick will usually clean it out. Be sure to press down on rags over the top so that all that great foaming action goes DOWN the drain where it will clean the gunk out.
Good luck!
-Carolyn
Candy Ann Williams on Facebook says
I love Clorox. To me nothing smells better than putting on a freshly laundered white t-shirt that has been cloroxed or crawling between fresh clean and bleached sheets. 🙂 If I could I would beach everything-LOL!
Candy Ann Williams on Facebook says
My husband just got the coolest plant mister (green that goes with our boat) and he was asking me how much Clorox he should put in the water so he could mist the drain board, cutting boards, etc. ….again Carolyn to the rescue! Thanks for your tips!
The Boat Galley on Facebook says
Great minds . . .
Candy Ann Williams on Facebook says
🙂
David and Alex says
great info, thanks for posting. I always wondered how to use it, diluted, on a “daily” basis without accidentally harming either the fabric or my lungs.
Jan Bogart says
i was surprised when we got our new Raritan elegance toilets, instructions said to never put bleach in them. guess it could eat the rubber seals or something.
Helen says
Bleach is highly corrosive. Vinegar is a great cleaner and safer for the environment.
Carolyn Shearlock says
Vinegar is wonderful for cleaning and I use it all the time. However, anything that I’ve read says that it does not disinfect — that is, kill germs that cause food-borne illness nearly as well as a bleach solution. Yes, it will kill some germs, but not nearly as many as bleach. So when it comes to things like a cutting board that’s been used to cut meat or chicken, I’ll spray and wipe it down with a bleach solution.
Helen says
https://www.rd.com/article/how-to-clean-a-wooden-cutting-board/. Here is a site with alternatives
Behan Gifford says
Bleach is cheap, and it does disinfect, but it is also a terrible thing to put overboard. It would be nice if the article mentioned that a responsible boater could look into a lot of alternatives for the job first (alternatives that will probably work fine, if requiring a touch more elbow grease or maybe not being quite as cheap?) before reaching for the bleach. The only “downside” mentioned is damage from overspray, but really there’s a much bigger problem!
Mike Little says
I would check out a product called StarSan. It’s a food grade sanitizer (safe for consuming and great for fresh water holding tanks and toilets) and completely natural and eco-safe!
Becky says
I’m confused….if bleach comes at 6%, and we dilute it 10%….do we dilute it 4%?
–and, if adding it to water makes it last only 24 hrs….. if it comes diluted already, why doesn’t THAT last only 34 hours?
Carolyn Shearlock says
Maybe I wasn’t clear — you use 10% of the 6% bleach solution, to make a solution that is 0.6%. And at that lower concentration, it dissipates much more quickly. Plus the bleach from the store is in a lightproof and air-proof container, whereas the very act of spraying some of the diluted bleach solution puts fresh air into the bottle, which makes it dissipate just that much faster.
Kim Zimmer says
does the vinegar cleaning solution degrade over time like the bleach solution?
Carolyn Shearlock says
Nope, not that I’ve noticed. Although I don’t dilute vinegar as much — maybe 50/50 with water (I don’t measure, just guesstimate).
CherylAnn Falconer says
My cleaning cupboard only has 3 Natural products, 1. Tea Tree Oil= disinfectant, cleaner, Super Mold killer. 2. Citra Solve= powerful cleaner. 3.Marine Digest It = for the heads. All are natural cleaners, kind to your environment and smell amazing. They are cost effective as they can be diluted to what ever strength you like.
Sonny Dyle says
Check out “pool shock” for long term emergency use. One small bag will purify thousands of gallons of water and will store indefinitely .
Sharon says
I’m concerned about putting bleach in the river. Wouldn’t peroxide be safer for marine life?
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Barbara Lowell says
Its a known fact that bleach kills algae, burns marine life animals and poisons the water, albeit very light concentrations, if everyone is dumping bleach into the ocean know that it blinds aquatic life and is very toxic to the animals, and then the birds eat the aquatic life and who knows what. I feel for helpless nature when in some instances it would just take a little elbow grease.
Barbara Lowell says
oh god, spell checker changed bleach to black!!! 🙁
Carolyn Shearlock says
I fixed it. No prob — I have a love/hate relationship with autocorrect 🙂
Alison Nichols says
Thanks for this. Had no idea the bleach solution was only good for 24 hrs. I ad a bit of dish soap to my solution. It’s the formula for Clorox Clean up.
Lisa Layfield says
Carolyn, What do you do with the leftover bleach solution? I’m new to cruising and want to keep me and my husband safe, but I also want to be as eco-friendly as possible. Do you know the effects to the seas if leftover – or used (say from a bucket and rag cleaning job) – bleach solution is dumped overboard? I haven’t been able to find an answer to this question online.
Carolyn Shearlock says
The chlorine dissipates within 24 hours, so leaving it out before dumping overboard is good. I’ve also been told by scientists that the solution is dilute enough — and the chlorine will dissipate even after mixing with sea water — that the typical amounts that go overboard are not a problem.
Wendylynn says
Hi!
I’m confused on how to mix the 1:10 ratio.
If I mix it in a gallon pitcher, would I fill the pitcher with 10 cups of water and then add 1 cup of bleach to make the 1:10 ratio/solution?
Once I mix the h2o and bleach, can I pour it into a big spray bottle?
I’m trying to kill the c-diff spore that may have been introduced in my home.
I’m so confused…….
Carolyn Shearlock says
Yes, and yes. It’s not rocket science. As long as it’s close to a 1:10 ratio, you’re fine.
Wendylynn says
Carolyn,
At the risk of sounding really dumb
(I am,naturally blonde ☺️)
when you say 1-1/8 cups it mean 1 cup + 1/8 cup right?
Ps: I want your dog! Cutest dog ever!!
Carolyn Shearlock says
Yes, 1 cup plus 1/8 cup.
Jonathan Woytek says
Hi! Super-late comment here, but regarding the discussion of bleach solution potency and degradation, I found this article that explains what is going on in pretty easy to understand terms. The issue at hand is that bleach becomes more unstable the more it is diluted. In fact, even the solution in commercial bottles will degrade over time. I’ve read several sources that claim about six months for the commercial solution to degrade to about 3%, after that having a more logarithmic slower decomposition. This particular article states that commercial solutions begin to degrade after about six months, and then lose 20% effectiveness per year.
I think the important take-aways are:
* If you are mixing a solution for disinfecting purposes and intend to keep it for up to a week, use a 1:4 ratio (this particular article recommends a 1:9 ratio for one-day solutions). After a week with a 1:4 solution, its effectiveness is seriously reduced.
* Be sure to wipe-down metal surfaces with water after contact with bleach. It is corrosive and will damage metal over time.
* Don’t use salt water to mix the bleach solution. Bleach is made from salt water and degrades into salt water, so using salt water in the solution will seriously degrade the effectiveness of the bleach and rapidly decrease its stability.
Article: https://www.scripps.edu/newsandviews/e_20060213/bleach.html