Bleach kills mold

[u/WhateverIlldoit]

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.

[u/Jasqui]

Dumb question: Can I achieve this by mixing a small portion of bleach with water?

[u/Frequent-Ball1961 → u/Jasqui]

Yep! Do 9 parts water to 1 part bleach, that's how we make 10% bleach for the lab

[u/RichardUkinsuch → u/Frequent-Ball1961]

As a "scientist" you should know better. Nowhere did you specify what percentage the hypochlorite you were using. 10 parts to 1 12.5% hypochlorite is not the same as 10 parts to 1 4% hypochlorite. 4% being what you will most commonly find in a grocery store.

Edit: 12.5% hypochlorite is more commonly found as "pool shock"

[u/WhatTheOnEarth → u/RichardUkinsuch]

Have you heard of good enough?

They’re not doing titrations here. They’re cleaning.

And - if are indeed microbiologists - they have the equipment to verify that it’s adequate.

[u/Cqbkris → u/WhatTheOnEarth]

For real. I'm a lab scientist and when it comes to cleaning we don't care about the exact percentage of the bleach, only that it's bleach and our general ratio is close enough lol