Hey there, fellow preppers and survival enthusiasts! Ever found yourself wondering, “What can bleach do for me besides making my whites whiter than a politician’s promises?” Well, you’re in luck. We’re going learn why bleach is the liquid gold of the apocalypse. Grab your gas masks and rubber gloves, and let’s get to it!
First, let’s talk a little bit about bleach and what it is, and why it’s so valuable, especially in a post-apocalyptic situation. There are just so many survival uses for bleach!
Sunlight was the original bleach – it was used to whiten paper and fabric. In 1774, a Swedish scientist named Carl Wilhelm Scheele discovered chlorine, but it was not until some time later that its disinfectant and other properties became widely known and used. The first medical use of bleach as a disinfectant was in 1847, when it was used as a hand-wash at the Vienna Medical center, to reduce post-partum infection.
One of its earliest uses to disinfect water was in 1897, in Maidstone, England, after a typhoid outbreak.
How Does Bleach Work?
For a long time it wasn’t know how exactly bleach killed bacteria. It turns out that bleach causes the proteins in bacteria to unfold, causing them to clump together, and destroying them.
Bleach is effective in killing bacteria, spores, fungi and viruses. It does not kill immediately; according to the University of Florida, bleach takes at least 10 minutes to completely disinfect.
Safety Precautions For Bleach
Bleach is extremely corrosive. Read all safety precautions on the label. Do not get in eyes, nose, mouth, or any mucous membranes, and if you get it on your skin, wash it off immediately.
Bleach will ruin fabric and furnishings by leaching out the color.
The ingredients in chlorine are so deadly that they are used to make chlorine gas. Do not breath in bleach fumes. Use bleach in well-ventilated rooms. Do not mix bleach with household cleaners; you can produce a toxic gas.
Again, read and follow ALL safety precautions when using bleach.
So what is bleach made of? Household bleach, and chlorine, both contain the chemical calcium hypochlorite, in different concentrations. Household bleach generally has about 5 percent calcium hypochlorite. Pool chlorine generally has 10 to 12.5 percent.
Now that we’ve got the science and the safety out of the way… here are some very important survival uses for bleach, which will become incredibly valuable after SHTF!
1. Water Purification
When the tap runs dry and your only water source is that murky pond out back, bleach is your best friend. Always strain water first, to remove particulate matter. Bring water to a rolling boil if possible, and then let cool. Whether or not you can boil the water – add 8 drops of regular household bleach per gallon of water, wait 30 minutes, and voila – potable water! It’s like magic, but with chemicals.
2. Disinfecting Kitchen and Food Prep Surfaces
Germs are tiny, invisible assassins. Keep your kitchen surfaces germ-free by mixing 1 part bleach to 9 parts water. Spray, wipe, and take that, you microscopic menaces!
3. Sanitizing Utensils
Eating off dirty utensils increases the risk of food poisoning. Food poisoning isn’t fun under the best of circumstances; in a post-apocalyptic situation where you can’t seek medical attention, it could be deadly. Soak utensils in a bleach solution (1 tablespoon per gallon of water) for a few minutes, then rinse with clean water. Bon appétit, minus the bacteria!
4. Dealing with Mold and Mildew
Mold: nature’s way of saying, “This place is gross.” Bleach is nature’s way of saying, “Not today, mold!” Spray a bleach solution on the offending fungi, scrub, and let it dry. Mold won’t know what hit it.
5. Laundry Savior
Mud, blood, and mystery stains – the apocalypse is messy. Add bleach to your wash (but only on whites or colorfast items) to keep your clothes looking less like you crawled out of a zombie pit.
6. Emergency Toilet Cleaner
When your makeshift toilet starts to smell worse than a rotting corpse, bleach is your go-to. Pour some in, let it sit, and flush (if you can).
7. Keeping Pests Away
Critters hate the smell of bleach. If you are bugging out, you can spray a diluted solution around your camp to keep ants, roaches, and other unwanted guests at bay.
8. Preserving Cut Flowers
Okay, so flowers might not be top of your list, but if you find yourself in need of a morale boost, a pinch of bleach in water keeps your bouquet fresher, longer. Because even in the end times, it’s nice to stop and smell the roses.
9. Deodorizing Trash Cans
Trash: unavoidable and stinky. Rinse your cans with a bleach solution to keep the odor (and the critters) away. Consider it a breath of fresh apocalypse air.
10. Cleaning Up After Pets
Pets are great, but their messes are not. Use a bleach solution to disinfect areas in the house where your furry friends have had accidents.
11. First Aid Kit Sterilizer
Sterilize your tweezers, scissors, and other first aid tools with a bleach solution. Just be sure to rinse thoroughly. Nobody wants bleach in their boo-boo.
12. Disinfecting Garden Tools
Your post-apocalyptic garden needs care. It’s easy to spread plant diseases throughout your whole garden if you are digging in soil with fungus or other diseases, or pruning a diseases plant and then moving on to a healthy plant. Clean your tools with bleach to prevent spreading disease.
13. DIY Weed Killer
Bleach can be your garden’s tough-love coach. Spray it on unwanted weeds, and they’ll shrivel up faster than you can say, “Lawnmower.” Use sparingly though, it’s potent stuff.
14. Cleaning Coolers
When your cooler smells like the fish you caught last week, bleach comes to the rescue. Wipe it down with a bleach solution and let it air out.
15. Eliminating Mildew from Camping Gear
Your tent and gear are bound to get damp and funky. Wipe them down with bleach to keep them fresh and mildew-free.
16. Decontaminating Gloves and Masks
When the grid goes down and society collapses, we can’t go on grocery store runs to buy more gloves and masks. Reuse those precious protective items by disinfecting them with bleach. Just make sure they’re thoroughly dried before you wear them again.
17. Removing Algae from Water Containers
Water containers can get slimy fast. Clean them with bleach to keep your drinking water algae-free. Green water is only good for frogs, not humans.
18. Maintaining Emergency Showers
A good scrub with bleach keeps your emergency shower clean and kills fungus and mold. Hygiene is important in the apocalypse.
19. Hand sanitizer
If you don’t have any other kind of hand sanitizer, you can use one teaspoon of bleach per quart of water to wash your hands. Wash them for at least 20 seconds, and then rinse them off afterwards. You need to be able to sanitize your hands after going to the bathroom and before cooking, gathering food from your survival gardening, or food prep.
20. Disaster Cleanup
After a flood or storm, sanitize your living space with a bleach solution to prevent mold and bacteria. It’s the reset button your home needs.
There you have it – 20 ways bleach can be a shining star in your survival kit. Just remember, bleach is powerful stuff. Use it wisely and keep it out of reach of kids and pets. Stay safe, stay prepared, and may your whites always be whiter than snow in the apocalypse!