We get it – bathrooms are GROSS! There’s a lot of germ action in the bathroom that you do not want to be tracked around the rest of your house, and cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting it is a major household priority. Shockingly, your phone and remote control are probably actually more germ-infested than your toilet, but it still stands that we need to pay attention to bathroom cleanliness to cut down on sickness-causing germs in our homes. Here’s the deal: you do not need bleach to sanitize your bathroom! Bleach can be a super dangerous chemical and is linked to a laundry list of health concerns, injuries, accidental poisonings, and even deaths. Today we’re busting some of the top bleach myths and helping you learn how to keep your bathroom clean, sanitized, and disinfected without the use of this harsh chemical.
Top Bleach Myths BUSTED!
Myth 1: They Wouldn’t Sell Bleach If It Weren’t Safe
FALSE! Cleaning product industry regulation does not require pre-market safety testing and requires no evaluation of long term health impact. Case in point: Sodium Hypochlorite (Bleach) is a serious chemical that can be caustic to the soft tissues in our bodies, particularly our airways. Bleach can be a serious respiratory irritant that can lead to lung damage and the onset of asthma in people who have never had it before. In fact, a recent study showed that chronic exposure to chemicals like bleach can be as harmful to our lungs as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day! Bleach can be so caustic to our delicate respiratory systems that it can trigger asthma and allergy symptoms and lead to complications for those that suffer from these conditions. These effects last well beyond the exposure to bleach, with some asthma sufferers continuing to show reduced lung function the day after exposure. Due to its danger to respiratory systems, the CDC recommends avoiding bleach if the product is to be used around anyone with asthma or allergies (which is about 30% of US adults and 40% of US children!).
Here’s the deal: Disinfectants are regulated by the EPA for germ-kill efficacy, and to confirm that the product label contains the correct usage instructions. The EPA is not assessing the long term health impacts of the products it registers.
Myth 2: Bleach is Safe to Use Without Protective Gear
FALSE! Bleach is a strong and potentially highly caustic solution. If you take a look at the manufacturer’s instructions, you will likely be shocked at how much there is to learn about how to handle this chemical – and, likely, that you haven’t been taking the full precautions.
Check out this 9-page PDF for a common bleach product and all the safety precautions required for using it. You’ll see it’s classified as hazardous by OSHA for serious eye damage and irritation and skin corrosion. It also outlines the precautions needed when handling bleach, such as:
- Wearing gloves, eye protection, and face protection
- Washing hands thoroughly after use
- How to rinse eyes and skin after use
- What to do in the case of ingestion
- Description of the most important symptom and effect of bleach: burning
You do not need to wear safety gear or rinse surfaces after using Force of Nature. It’s gentle enough to use without rinsing – even when disinfecting food prep surfaces. That’s because it starts with just salt, water and vinegar, and uses electricity to change the chemical composition of the solution into a multi-purpose cleaner and EPA registered disinfectant that kills 99.9% of germs. The antimicrobial ingredient it creates is called hypochlorous acid, or HOCl, and it’s so gentle it’s used in wound healing, eye care, and veterinary products.
Force of Nature has earned the highest possible rating by the Mayo Clinic’s allergy rating system. That evaluation is here. We’re also proud to be Green Seal certified for meeting the highest standards in protecting human health, preserving the climate, ensuring clean water, and minimizing waste.
Myth 3: Bleach Lasts Forever
FALSE! It might shock you to learn that bleach has a fairly short shelf-life: bleach begins to lose its efficacy after only six months! With products manufactured and transported all over the world, then sitting in retail distribution systems, that means you may already be well into the product’s life span by the time you start using it. This timeline is accelerated if you decant it into other bottles to use as part of a mixed solution. Even if you keep it in its original bottle, bleach will lose an additional 20% efficacy each year.
Force of Nature can be made on-demand right in your home – no storing or hoarding or worrying about disinfectant shortages!
Myth 4: Only Bleach can give me that clean smell
FALSE! What is it with us and smells? It seems like it’s a universal human truth that we can’t trust something is clean unless it smells like Fresh Laundry & Rain™! Well, not only are fragrances one of the top most toxic class of chemicals, even if the smell you’re smelling is “just” bleach, it’s a really bad sign that you’re breathing in some potentially caustic and dangerous fumes.
Force of Nature has a light swimming pool scent that smells, well, clean! It has no added fragrances whatsoever.
Myth 5: Only Bleach Can Effectively Disinfect Bathrooms:
FALSE! Not only can you use Force of Nature as a replacement for bleach to effectively clean, deodorize, sanitize, and disinfect your bathrooms, you should not use bleach! Bleach needs to be rinsed off of surfaces after using it and before your family comes into contact with surfaces. It can also etch and corrode natural stone and metal surfaces. You should never pour excess bleach down the toilet or tub as it is harmful to aquatic life. Force of Nature does not need to be rinsed and can go into drains without worrying about harming the environment. Once it goes down the drain, it reverts back to salt, water and vinegar.
While Force of Nature is as effective as bleach, and our active ingredient hypochlorous acid is a type of chlorine, it is not the same as bleach; it has a different chemical composition. The formula for bleach (sodium hypochlorite) is NaOCl and the formula for hypochlorous acid is HOCl. 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.
A Family-Friendly Bleach Alternative
Force of Nature is a hospital-grade, EPA-registered disinfectant that kills 99.9% of germs including Staph, MRSA, Norovirus, Influenza A, Salmonella, and Listeria when used as directed. It’s EPA-registered for use in hospitals, daycares, schools, and more. We’re proud to be on the EPA’s List N, the disinfectants approved for use against SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19. It’s free from skin and respiratory irritants and is so gentle it can even be used to disinfect baby toys and pacifiers without rinsing!
Cleaning & Disinfecting Your Bathroom With Force of Nature: Our Quick Tips!
Force of Nature can be used to clean, deodorize, sanitize, and disinfect all your bathroom surfaces including:
- Toilets
- Showers
- Sinks
- Paper towels and soap dispensers
- High touch areas like handles, latches and door handles
- Tile, grout, and ceramic surfaces
For stubborn mildew and other grout stains, leave Force of Nature on for a few minutes before scrubbing with a brush.
For soap scum, which builds up in layers, you can also sprinkle on a mild abrasive like baking soda with a scrub brush to help break down the residue and eliminate it.
For glass and mirrors, we recommend spraying, then wiping until the surface is 100% dry with a soft cloth or paper towel.
For floors, our formula can be used on sealed stones like granite, marble, and quartz as well as finished and unfinished hardwood, laminate, stainless steel, porcelain, plastic, cork, concrete, acrylic, fiberglass, and rubber. For quick cleanups and small spaces, Force of Nature can be used in the canister of a refillable spray mop.
Your All-in-1 Bathroom Cleaning, Deodorizing, Sanitizing, and Disinfecting Solution
Force of Nature is a powerful cleaning, deodorizing, sanitizing, and disinfecting solution that can replace virtually every cleaning product in your home with a highly effective, toxin-free solution. We love that we offer an on-demand disinfecting solution that families can make right on their countertop whenever they need it. Most of us trust that companies have our best interests at heart (they don’t!) and that industry safety regulations are strict (they aren’t). The fact is that products like bleach can be extremely dangerous to use around our families. With Force of Nature, you can take control of the chemicals in your home, eliminating germs and reducing your family’s exposure to toxins. Learn more about Force of Nature, our EPA-registered disinfectant.
