Household Bleach Review: Generic 101 Bleach Is A Great Buy

by Taylor @ Stain Removal 101

Household bleach, also known as chlorine bleach, is a common name for the generic version of Clorox, which has lots and lots of uses for stain removal, cleaning and laundry around your home.

I have tried lots of different generic versions of this product, since as I explained in more detail in my article on chlorine bleach I don't think there is a reason to pay extra for a brand name version of what is, ultimately, just the chemical sodium hypochlorite.

Normally when I go to Walmart I buy the Great Value brand of bleach (and you can read my review of that below), but one time when I went I saw this generic brand version, 101, and since I like to try new things to report to you guys, I tried it.

I have to say 101 Bleach is basically the same as every other household bleach I've tried, so nothing spectacular to report. However, it was cheaper than buying Clorox brand bleach so using it instead of the name brand is a simple way to save money!

I'd love to hear your reviews of generic and store brands of bleach that you've tried. You can share your chlorine bleach reviews here, and your non chlorine bleach reviews here.

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Great Value Household Bleach From Walmart Works As Well As Name Brands

by Taylor @Stain Removal 101

As I explained before I tend to buy Great Value brand chlorine bleach normally, since I often shop at Walmart.

In general, I have been pleased with many Great Value products, and this is no exception.

Although I tried 101 Bleach (see review above) one time while at the store, I tend to just stick with my tried and true store brand.

I don't use very much household bleach, as a rule, so I also save money by buying a small amount at a time. Normally, buying in higher volumes can save money, but chlorine bleach actually has a short shelf life, so if you don't use it very often don't buy the big jug. It won't save you money to buy a lot and then have to throw it out when it becomes ineffective.

I'd love to hear what other generic or store brands of liquid chlorine bleach you've tried, sharing whether you like it or not, especially compared with the main name brand, Clorox.

You can share your chlorine bleach reviews here and your oxygen and color safe bleach reviews here.

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Half strength
by: Anonymous

If you google "101 Bleach MSDS" you will find out this product is diluted down to 2.7% active ingredient vs. Clorox and some others 6%. It's still ok for use as a milder bleach but by no means is it better value in most circumstances considering it has less active ingredient.

How to compare
by: Paul

When you buy any brand, look at the contents label. Compare the percent of, Sodium Hypochlorite, contained in the product. That is the only thing that matters. The rest is just water.
Clorox has just 6 %. Some other brands such as, Crystal Bleach, contain 8.5 %. The choice is obvious, with Clorox, your paying a higher price for water.

Walmart Great Value Bleach
by: sandy

Hi, just want to let everyone know that Walmart Great Value Bleach is too strong. The bottle I got I put in my laundry room on the floor. Not only did it eat a hole in the bottle but it got all over my clothes. Bleach was everywhere. My skin was also irritated.

Sodium hpochlorite and sodium hydroxide
by: Anonymous

I'm a pool owner who uses sodium hypochlorite for my pool, because bleach adds to no other chemical levels in one's pool except for chlorine and salt. The other forms of chlorine, which are all solid forms build up some other levels that can get to high, such as calcium hardness and cyanuric acid levels. So us so-called "bleachers" for pool care have extensively studied this product and know a lot about bleach and its stronger cousin called liquid chlorine or LC, since chlorine is our largest chemical expense for pools, as it is constantly broken down by sunlight and needs constant replacement during the season. The stronger product called liquid chlorine is the exact same thing as bleach, just at a higher percentage of sodium hypochlorite in the jug; usually 10-12 percent; whereas laundry bleach is generally 6%-7.5% as of the time of this writing, but is just as good for pools; you just have to use more product to add the same amount of chlorine. For pool owners who use sodium hypochlorite, there are three main factors to consider. Firstly, with pool care, it is only the sodium hypochlorite concentration that matters in so far as adding chlorine to one's pool, however, there are other considerations. Unlike what has been stated, some more concentrated bleach products have another chemical in them besides sodium hypochlorite and that is sodium hydroxide. Another name for sodium hydroxide is lye. Lye is added to help keep the product stable, so it will be safe to transport and store. So some stronger bleach products may have up to .9% sodium hydroxide added to the product, which makes the product an alkaline, and that pH level of stronger bleach or LC can affect pool chemistry in large doses, as it can be as high as pH 13. Secondly, for pool users, purity is important. We don't want impurities and we don't want special formulas if we use laundry bleach, such as easy pour or fragrance. If we use laundry bleach, we want regular bleach. We also want and need the sodium hypochlorite concentration printed on the label so that we can determine dosing. We also need to know the date it was manufactured, because bleach will lose strength over time. So when pool owners buy laundry bleach to use in pools, we need a brand that has the date code and the percentage and we must find only plain, regular bleach.

Off brand bleach
by: Anonymous

One has to assume that the purpose of laundry bleach for users is to use the chemical "chlorine" to sanitize or disinfect something, and so, while the off-brands may be manufactured to a certain percentage of sodium hypochlorite, if they don't list that percentage, and if they don't list the date code on the jug, it is most likely that the amount of "available chlorine" in those products such as "Sun" or "101" will vary in strength and is likely lower strength than store brands or Clorox who do list the percentage of sodium hypochlorite and date codes on their jugs. As a user of sodium hypochlorite, aka bleach for a swimming pool, I would highly recommend the store brands, as they mostly adhere to the same labeling standards as Clorox, but a better value, and use them often in my pool with expected results. Also, if you see another chemical listed on the jug, sodium hydroxide, that usually indicates that it is a stronger variety, because sodium hydroxide, aka lye, is used to help stabilize the product to make it safer, and the higher the concentration of sodium hypochlorite, the more sodium hydroxide that is necessary to keep it stable.

Great Value brand - no suds in my fountain
by: Anonymous

I use Great Value bleach in my fountain to keep the water clear. I tried Clorox but it causes lots of suds. Therefore, I figure if you are going to use it on clothes, the Clorox brand must be better since the Great Value brand does not cause suds at all.

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