I have to be honest that this doesn't surprise me all that much. As powerful as the odor of bleach is, the most effective way to make bleach not smell like bleach is to add less bleach.

Also... 45% weaker? Isn't it more like 45% as strong as? I realize that doesn't make for such a good headline, but 45% weaker just doesn't make sense to my fragile intellect.

I thought they were obligated to list the ingredients on stuff like that.

Also, wasn't Clorex the one touting that their bleach was stronger than the "no name" competitors a while back?

I wonder how much bleach Clorox Ultimate Care, the "gentle" product that costs more than regular bleach, contains.

While trying to find the answer to that on the web, I discovered that Clorox has a flog: www.drlaundry.com.

Sorry, that's www.drlaundryblog.com.

TedSez, the URL is http://www.drlaundryblog.com/ and I don't consider it a flog because there's a Clorox identifier in the bottom left-hand corner.

Okay, then, I'm confused -- what exactly constitutes a flog? An item above refers to "retail fashion flogs" that are actually part of the retailers' own websites... And it seems to me that a column that runs under neimanmarcus.com is even more identifiable as a corporate shill that one that runs under drlaundryblog.com, even if there is a small logo at the bottom.

Who uses chlorine bleach anymore? There's far better products available today, most of which are far less toxic to humans and the environment, not to mention that they do a better job.

Like what, FLConsumer? I still use chlorine bleach (although rarely, since I hardly ever have enough white stuff for a full load of laundry). I was only vaguely aware that there were alternatives, and I just assumed none of them worked worth a damn.

On another note, all scented products should be banned. God, I hate them so very much. They never do anything but induce allergic reactions in me.

Bleach is bleach, why even buy Clorox in the first place?

I dunno. They taste the same to me.

Ahhh, I love the smell of chlorine in the morning....

You actually can't use chlorine bleach in most European washers. They almost always have stainless steel inner tubs (not a huge problem here) AND stainless steel outer tubs (huge problem here). The chlorine causes pits in the stainless steel outer tub and eventually causes leaks.

As far as alternatives, there's quite a few. For whites, you can't beat heat. Literally. Truly hot water makes all the difference. For my nastiest stuff (labcoats,towels), I set the washer's heater to 200F. I toss 1 tbsp of TideHE and 1 tbsp of sodium percarbonate in the main wash slot of the dispenser, just 1 tbsp of TideHE in the pre-wash slot, and a splash of distilled white vinegar into the fabric softener slot and walk away. 90 minutes later I have fresh clean clothes with no chemical or perfume odors to them. For items with elastic in them (or others which can't take quite that bit of heat, like my socks & sheets), I use the same as above but only set the washer's heater to ~140F. Most European washers have their own water heaters because they use so little water that the home's hot water may not actually reach the washer by the time it's full. Most Euro washers are front-loaders, which clean a heck of a lot better than the traditional American-style.

The sodium perchlorate definitely helps remove stains and keep things clean. Unless you royally abuse it (ie: black T-shirt, full cup of sodium perchlorate, ultra-hot water) colors will stay the same color. Something else to avoid, especially with darker colors, are detergents which use optical brighteners. These are dyes which are added to the detergents to make the whites seem brighter under ultraviolet light. Daylight, halogens lights, and fluorescent lights all put out bits of UV light. While this may make your whites LOOK whiter, it'll make your colors look faded. Try to find a detergent which doesn't use these, especially for your darks. The aforementioned TideHE DOES contain brighteners, which is why I only use it on whites/light colors.

I always wear socks. Even wear them outside to the mailbox at times. No visible color difference between the ones I'm about to throw out with holes in them and the brand new packages I bought.

Good article on sodium perchlorate (a.k.a. powdered oxygen bleaches) here: http://www.laundry-alternative.com/Oxygen_bleach_research....

They're far more useful than just doing laundry.