Electrolyzed Water vs. Bleach

So what is electrolyzed water?

It’s a technology that’s been used for years in the industrial space to create a potent cleaner and disinfectant that’s free of the hazards of bleach.  For example, hospitals in the United States and Japan use electrolyzed water for its efficacy & gentleness.  And it’s commonly used in wound healing products because it’s so gentle and effective. The technology uses an electrical current to change the molecular structure of salt, water and vinegar into:

• • Sodium hydroxide – a detergent used in everything from skincare to toothpaste. Force of Nature contains a gentle concentration of just 0.0000003%. In all-purpose cleaners, typical concentration levels are from 1-5%, which is highly dangerous around children or anyone with asthma or allergies (and 3 million to 17 million times the concentration as in Force of Nature).
  • Hypochlorous acid – It’s actually the same substance your white blood cells produce to fight infection and it’s as effective as bleach. Unlike typical cleaners, Force of Nature is gentle enough for cleaning things like baby gear & pet toys without needing to rinse. Given how effective it is at killing microbes without leaving behind harmful residues, hypochlorous acid is also used for preserving fresh produce. It’s even USDA approved for use in organic crop production.

How is electrolyzed water different than bleach?

They are very different! They have different chemical formulas; the formula for sodium hypochlorite is NaOCl & the formula for hypochlorous acid is HOCl.  Hypochlorous acid is the same substance your white blood cells produce to fight infection. And it’s so gentle it’s used in wound healing products. When the pH of bleach is lowered (made acidic) the hypochlorite converts to hypochlorous. Bleach is defined as 1) having a pH of 11+ 2) being at a concentration high enough to remove the color from fabric and 3) 99%+ NaOCl; none of these apply to hypochlorous acid. An interesting fact is that you need a lot more bleach to achieve the same anti-microbial power as hypochlorous acid. The order of magnitude varies by microbe, but overall HOCl is a much more efficient antimicrobial than bleach, so you don’t need nearly as much. That’s why it’s used in so many industrial applications where gentleness (on for example on skin, animals, produce) is critical. Examples of some hypochlorous acid uses are eye, wound healing & veterinary care products.

If electrolyzed water is so great why does anyone use bleach?

Even though electrolyzed water has been around for years, you probably haven’t heard of it because it required  industrial-size equipment costing $10,000+ to make. Another reason is that hypochlorous acid dissipates over time, like carbonation in a soda. That means the shelf life isn’t long enough for electrolyzed water to travel through a typical retail distribution system like conventional cleaners.  That’s why Force of Nature is an appliance – you make electrolyzed water right on your countertop.

How Electrolyzed Water Is Made

Making it is pretty simple chemistry (if you’re a white blood cell or Force of Nature of course!). Watch the video below for a quick description of how it works. When we learned about the electrolyzed water technology, we knew it could be the solution families just like ours were searching for! Force of Nature is the only EPA registered disinfectant you can make on your kitchen countertop. It’s a hospital-grade disinfectant that kills 99.9% of germs, and is even on EPA’s list N, the disinfectants approved for use against SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19. And good news, the EPA expects all products on List N to kill all strains and variants of SARS-CoV-2. More questions? We’ve got the scoop on how to compare electrolyzed water vs bleach, or about how Force of Nature is safe to use on virtually any surface in your home. Or, learn more about how Force of Nature actually works.