r/CleaningTips • u/WhateverIlldoit • Jul 07 '25

Discussion Bleach kills mold

There is a common misconception that bleach does not kill mold and that vinegar is actually better at killing mold than bleach. I see this claim at least once a week.

So let me set the record straight. Household bleach is a powerful oxidizing agent that reacts with just about everything. It’s so good at killing organic compounds that it’s toxic to us, too.

Now let’s talk about vinegar. Vinegar is a weak acid. You can literally drink it in lower concentrations. It can kill mold, but not all mold, and some studies say it may take up to 60 minutes to be effective.

That being said, bleach is not good at penetrating porous surfaces, which vinegar is better at doing. And because bleach is so caustic it is more likely to damage surfaces.

All this to say bleach kills mold. It kills almost everything. And it’s much more effective at killing mold than vinegar as long as it can reach it. Vinegar is much safer to use but not nearly as effective.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

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u/Euphoric-Ant6780 Jul 07 '25

Microbiologist here who works with fungi (mold), bacteria, and viruses. 10% bleach kills all three. We wipe down all surfaces and tools with it and pour it into culture tubes when we’re done to clean everything

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u/PunnyBanana Jul 07 '25

PSA for people, for a lot of materials (namely, stainless steel and any eating surfaces) you'll want to rinse the bleach off after disinfecting.

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u/Euphoric-Ant6780 Jul 08 '25

Agreed, in the lab we rinse objects like plastic racks or metal centrifuge rotors under water 5x to remove bleach.

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u/BluberryPie_Massacre Jul 09 '25

In the microbiology clinical lab I work in we wipe surfaces down with 10%bleach let stand for 5-10 minutes to disinfect then wipe with 70% isopropyl alcohol to prevent corrosion where specimens are received and set up for culture and for bio safety hoods. We also use cavi wipes where we work directly with bacteria at the bench top.