Is Using House Hold Bleach In a Bath Bad For You?

Question

I was talking to a friend and they are concerned putting house hold bleach in a bath is bad for you... Im unsure as i think it would only kill the germs on your body... I have been doing it near on 13 years... Is it bad for you?

I'm adding bits to reply to answers...

I did this due to the feeling of germs on my body I don't like... Bleach i believe to be a good sorce of killing it... I also use sanitiser all over my body that kills 99.9% of germs...

I use about 6 caps per bath and I bathe at least twice daily if I dont go out and i don't often i have 3-4...

Answer 1

Bleach is a mildly corrosive acid.It is a very good disinfectant,but high concentrations release chlorine gas which will suffocate you.You are simply increasing the chlorine residual that is already in your tap water.Don't ever mix it with ammonia based cleaners,as they combine to form chlorine gas.Your tap water utility is required by federal law to maintain enough chlorine in the water for disinfection,anymore is overkill.You need to test the chlorine remaining after oxidation(CL2 Residual) using a swimming pool test kit,a safe range is .5 to 1.0 mg/l. Tap water usually has a .1-.5 residual depending on distance from application.Tap water is tested for bacteria and acidity every 24 hours or less.

Answer 2

Bleach removes grease, so it won't do your skin a lot of good. If you use it strong enough it takes the glaze off baths and drinking mugs, so that should tell you something.

Answer 3

A cap full of bleach or a cap full of concentrated lysol never hurt anyone in a bath tub. Folks we use to use lye soap to bathe with and that was all we had. Grandma made it in a black wash pot put over fire.

You cringe at things like this but you take every over-the-counter drug you can get to put inside your body. Something is wrong with this picture.

Answer 4

Washing your bath with it is fine, as long as you give it a good rinse afterwards... If you mean washing yourself with it then... YES it is bad! Besides the awful damage it will be doing to your skin... most of the germs living on your skin are harmless bacteria called commensals, and they don't need killing... without them there, you're leaving yourself open to much nastier bacteria which will colonise and make you ill.

Answer 5

Why on earth did you ever choose to do this in the first place. Not only is it potentially dangerous, as it will say on the pack, but it will destroy normal ' good bacteria ' that make up the skin surface flora!

Answer 6

Depends on how much you use. A cap full would do no harm. Most public water supplies have chlorine in them already. But it is unnecessary to kill germs on the body--just washing them away is enough. Too much would burn your eyes and dry out your skin.

Answer 7

ive used bleach a few times to clean my bath but always make sure i clean it afterwards with a normal soapy rinse

Answer 8

I wouldn't do it, is that not dangerous?

Your supposed to wash your hands after using bleach, so i'd say yes it probably is dangerous!!!

Answer 9

You also have good bacteria on your skin-you dont want to disturb your healthy skin , or you could end up with a problem.
Are you sure you dont have an anxiety related issue about hygeine? You could talk to your doctor about it.

Answer 10

Now this situaton reminds me of that movie "The Machinist" when he would use nothing but bleach to clean his body, but if that person really wants to be as white as him go ahead.