Dishwasher Detergent Has Bleach In It
March 5, 2010 at 12:50 am Chad Upton 3 comments
I learned it the hard way.
A couple weeks ago, I popped the cap off the dishwasher detergent and some splattered on me. I didn’t think much of it, but a couple hours later I noticed one of my favorite t-shirts had pink spots on it.
It surprised me, but I knew immediately what caused it. Just to be sure, I checked the dishwasher detergent ingredients and there it was, “Chlorine Bleach.” I knew we had another brand, so I checked that one too — same thing!
That was news to me and I asked a few other people if they knew dishwasher detergent contained bleach and it was news to them too. The question is why?
The bleach is there for good reason. It is one of the safest and most cost effective ways to sterilize your dishes.
In an earlier post, I talked about hot water from your water heater. It’s great for loosening dirt in clothes and it makes your showers comfortable, but it is a breading ground for bacteria.
Your dishwasher uses hot water and steam to loosen food particles, where bacteria will multiply otherwise, but it uses bleach to kill bacteria, prions and many but not all spores.
Broken Secrets
Written By: Chad Upton
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Sources: Sterilization
Entry filed under: Around The House, Despite Popular Belief, Food and Drink, ProTips. Tags: bleach, chlorine, detergent, dish, dishwasher, kitchen, machine, soap.
Broken Secrets 
1.
jjnelson | July 27, 2011 at 9:32 am
knew, not new
2.
Kim | March 7, 2012 at 8:24 pm
Same thing happened to me, Im still not convinced that it is ok….
3.
Peggy Ringler | March 30, 2020 at 12:31 pm
I am a lady who is 78 years old. I have been putting Clorox bleach in my dish water most all my life or rather since I was about 15 or 16 years old. No one in my family has never gotten sick from it. I raised 3 children using bleach in my dish water and 33 foster children. So I guess I can say I won’t quit now. In a gallon of water I use about 1.5 to 2.0 teaspoon of Clorox.