A Missouri consumer is fed up with Clorox brand bleach. She has been waging a three-year long campaign against one of the company’s most popular products that she thinks is being packaged and marketed in a deceptive way. We think she has a point.
There are two primary types of Clorox bleach:
The one on the left is regular Clorox and the one on the right is their “splashless” version. Note how similar the labels are.
According to the company, they came out with a thicker splashless variety because customers complained about the regular type which could inadvertently splatter where it was not intended.
As it turns, that is not the only difference between the two products. Only on the back of the label does the company disclose the following about the splashless product:
*MOUSE PRINT:
That’s right, surprise, the splashless version does not disinfect or sanitize. And while certainly many use bleach merely to whiten their laundry others do expect it to sanitize also.
A check of the ingredients statements also reveals a surprise.
*MOUSE PRINT:
While the exact amount of the disinfectant, sodium hypochlorite, is stated on the regular product, it is conspicuously missing on the splashless variety. One might reasonably conclude that there is not enough of the active ingredient in the splashless product to sanitize or disinfect properly.
We asked The Clorox Company why they don’t more conspicuously disclose that the splashless variety does not sanitize or disinfect and why the amount of the primary active ingredient is not disclosed. The company did not respond to our questions by publication time.
I guess Clorox here is going to claim that regular Clorox is going to be the do it all Clorox product while the Splash-less version that is thicker is not going to do that.
Clorox would never put the not for sanitization or disinfection on the front of the bottle as that would certainly kill off sales.
I always knew all bleach is not created equal. However I would expect better from the leading brand of bleach. Thanks for bringing this to our attention, as I always thought these two products, except for viscosity, were equals. But they are not.
If you look very close, why is the “regular” 121 fl. oz. while the “splashless” is 116 fl. oz.?
I teach home child care providers about disinfecting and sanitizing toys and dishes, etc. I always recommended bleach and didn’t realize there was a difference in these products. This can cause a major problem because proper sanitation is critical to keep children safe and healthy. They need to put this information on the front. I guarantee I will share this information in my teaching.
Well, the ultimate rip-off! I’ve been using the splashless for a couple years now as bleach and I don’t get along very well (it likes to splash on me, my clothes, rugs, hampers, husband’s T-shirts, floor) but I never realized there was a difference. It’s funny that it seems to SMELL the same, but you show that it doesn’t have the properties of real bleach.
I guess Clorox gets props for consumer deception.
Man, that really ticks me off! I just bought a bottle of Clorox and guess which one I bought, yup, splash-less. I used it to clean off the counter area where I had prepared the turkey for Thanksgiving dinner because that is what is recommended to kill any possible bacteria from the bird. Heck, I might as well used hot water for all the good it did me using Clorox Splash-less. Gezzzz, wonder if this a class-actionable, hmmm.
Thanks for the information. Who would have guessed we now must read the ingredients on Clorox. This is shameful for the Clorox company. I have always depended on bleach to disinfect.
Somewhere between 1 an 5% sodium hypochlorite, the exact amount a trade secret, according to to safety data sheet (https://www.thecloroxcompany.com/wp-content/uploads/cloroxsplashlessregularbleach.pdf). So the not for sanitation/disinfection might be because it’s hard to dilute to desired strength (since you’re starting from an unknown strength), and using the normal bleach ratios will produce a too-weak mix; it’s also possible it’s because the lye in it will cause the pH to be too high (>8) for sanitation use (see, e.g., http://ucfoodsafety.ucdavis.edu/files/26437.pdf)