Bleach is a necessity for getting my white solid-surface sink really clean!

I only use bleach in the bathroom, now. I inadvertently discolored my new, white, laminate counter-top with bleach! Now I have a nice yellow spot on it! I found out bleach was the culprit via the web, the manufacturer (IKEA) never had anything written about avoiding bleach! Apperently, the new laminates are a little more delicate and cannot take harsh chemicals!

For the smell, it is not clear from your post if it for hand or machine washing water. Usually, a couple drops of vinegar should take care of it. At first, it will smell a little like vinegar, but as it evaporates and dissipates it takes the egg and any other off smells with it.

There is a food grade bleach that is available. (although I am not sure it's called bleach) for things like stains, as well as smells, and other microbes.

I don't refuse to use bleach but I haven't found a need for it yet.

Bleach is one of the most toxic substances ever created. Only if my kitchen was suddenly covered with salmonella chicken juice would I bust it out. Regular antimicrobial cleaners, baking soda, vinegar, hot scalding water. These are my alternatives.

I worry about bleach from a green point of view and mostly use non-toxic cleansers. My exception is that when someone in the house is sick, I do clean the kitchen and bathrooms with bleach to try to give the rest of us a chance at staying healthy.

I've recently learned that you can use hydrogen peroxide -- which quickly breaks down to oxygen and water -- to sanitize surfaces too, and am planning to try switching!

For your dishes, try using peppermint or lavender castile soap! Not only does it handle all kinds of odors, it also is a pot-saver when it comes to really messy cleanups while containing far fewer scary ingredients than traditional detergent. The only downside is that the soap is fairly thin compared to regular dish soap, so a sponge seems to be the best way to use it.

I NEVER use bleach and don't intend on starting. There's absolutely NOTHING in my kitchen that needs it.

When someone is sick, we do use Lysol spray in the bathroom, and the sick person is responsible for putting their own dishes in the dishwasher and we run it on "sanitize" cycle.

So far we've managed to stay healthy and clean without it for 7 years.

I used to use so much bleach before I thought it through and became aware of the impacts of my use. Now I just use it to sanitize cutting boards and the sink and faucet after handling raw meats.

I work in the nutrition field, and we conducted a test to see just how much bleach is needed to sanitize surfaces (not disinfect; diapering areas should be disinfected!). It is amazing how LITTLE is needed.

For a homemade sanitizer, use this recipe:

Fill any sized spray bottle with cool water (tap is fine). Take the spray nozzle and dip the stem in bleach, up to 3/4 the length of the stem. Place dipped stem in spray bottle of water, swish around to get bleach into the water. Repeat 2 more times. Tada! Your done!

I spray cutting boards, any tongs used to handle meat, and the sink, faucet, and surrounding counter after preparing meat. Every couple of days I spray the drain area of the sink because, well, ew. That's it.

Otherwise, I scrub the sink and any smelly things with baking soda and dish soap, spray with vinegar and rinse.

Oh, if you do use this homemade solution, replace it every 7 days.

I periodically see statements that bleach is harmful to the environment, and I'm perfectly aware of the dangers of chlorine gas, as well as the poisonous fumes when bleach is used together with other cleaning materials. However, I haven't been able to find out why bleach is a problem when used carefully and sparingly. In fact, I thought (correct me if I'm wrong) that it neutralizes by itself when left standing in water. I usually use natural cleaners like baking soda, vinegar and salt, but I do keep a bottle of bleach for occasional use.

I used to use bleach based stuff when I worked in commercial kitchens, but I've never used it at home. There's just need for it, think of the trees, the treeeeeeeeeees.

A few years ago my mother became increasingly paranoid about bacteria and cross-contamination in the kitchen. She uses about 1/3c of bleach in her dishwater whenever she cooks with meat (of any kind) or eggs. The smell would be nauseating!! (and I don't think I'm sensitive to smells) I refused to eat off freshly washed dishes in these cases. We also made her wear a mask when she mixed it with other cleaners.

Now that I'm out on my own I REFUSE to use bleach. I stick to my peroxide, vinegar, backing soda, lemon juice, boiling water etc. Bleach is just SO TOXIC! I don't want anything to do with it.

Vinegar, alone or in combo with baking soda and/or lemon juice, handles most things just fine.

I don't use bleach in my house ever really....and not because it's toxic. I'm scared of getting it on my clothes. I do use products that contain bleach alternative for hand-washing dishes, the dishwasher, and cleaning. Never had any problems with that, and I also have no funky odors.

I never use bleach. if I want to disinfect something, I wipe it down with rubbing alcohol. Completely disinfected. Other than that, I really think that baking soda, vinegar, and lemon juice can clean anything as well, if not better, than all those corrosive, scary products out there.

There are non-chlorine bleaches out there if you are really set on using it, but I rarely ever do. Between tea-tree oil and vinegar I can sanitize and get the smell out of anything.
(I saw one ad say to wash out your baby bottles with it. I mean... REALLY?!?!? ugh)

When used properly, and according to to guidelines, bleach is actually one of the more environmentally-friendly commercial cleaners. Granted, nothing compares to pure lemon juice and vinegar for safe cleaning. But it's fine when used in moderation. We use it when someone has been sick and we want to give everything a good scrub-down (my partner has a weak immune system and whenever I get sick or she gets sick we have to deep clean the house).

Bleach gets a bad rep, but compared to most other commercial cleaners actually has a LOWER concentration of hypochlorites. Even ones that claim to be "green" generally have some sort of pesticide in them. When they say they're "EPA this or that" mostly it is a load of crap. If it kills microorganisms it has to be registered with the EPA as a pesticide.

It's mostly water, and breaks down into mostly salt and water. It also, from what I've read and understand, is completely broken down into safe compounds during water treatment.

I would never use it in the dishwasher, but I feel completely comfortable using a couple of tablespoons per gallon of hot water. Cups and cups? Goodness no! The fumes would drive us out of the house before we could even start to clean.

Granted, would I feel safe drinking a big glug of the stuff? Absolutely not. But when used sparingly and correctly, it's fine for our household.

Household bleach breaks down to salt and water after being washed down the drain. It is not the same thing as industrial bleaching of paper products, etc. I use a little bleach in the sink and bathroom.

I'm strangely facinated by this post, because I eat eggs fairly often and I've never had a problem with any lingering eggy odor on my pans or dishes. In fact, I've never even heard of such a thing. I just handwash with run-of-the-mill dish soap and that's that. So now I'm wondering...are my dishes smelling eggy behind my back?

Bleach is awesome. I use it with zero problem.

Onebravegirl: I'm also confused by this mysterious eggy smell! I love eggs and cook them all the time, and this isn't something I've ever noticed on any of my pots, pans, or dishes.

I also don't quite understand the bleach thing. I've never used it in my kitchen - I use scalding water and dish soap and never had an issue; my mom and grandmother do the same. Regarding the environmental impact of bleach, you also have to keep in mind that it encompasses more than the end-use. I don't think that manufacturing chlorine-based products is exactly benign.

The eggy smell will disappear if you rinse your eggy plates with cold water. Hot water seems to intensify the smell.
Works for me!

ditto Onebravegirl on the eggy smell--never heard of it.

I don't use bleach in my kitchen (well, I used to when we had a dog that was having a lot of accidents on the floor, but that isn't a problem anymore). The only place I really use it is on my cloth diapers. They had been getting a funky smell even when "clean", and giving my daughter rashes. I tried all of the things that are supposed to fix that problem more gently--sun, vinegar, lemon juice, boiling hot water, different detergents, etc., and had no luck. Now, I just put a dash of bleach in the first rinse (before a full wash cycle with detergent), and we haven't had a problem with smells OR rashes since then.

I've never had an egg-y smell from dishes I've used for cooking eggs. Our dishwasher doesn't work, though, so we use it as a drying rack for the dishes we've washed by hand and the water that collects at the bottom starts smelling egg-y after a few days. My husband blames this on sulfur. I don't know... But it seems that regular dish washing soap gets rid of the smell.

I use bleach only to wash the toilets. The water where I live is very hard and I find that bleach is the only way to get gross stains out of the bowl.

Soft Scrub with bleach is the only thing I've found that will really get our cream colored solid surface countertop and sink looking CLEAN. I don't use it for anything else, although I don't have a problem with it... just don't have a need.

Many dish soap labels warn that they are not to be mixed with bleach. Apparently the combination of the two creates something noxious.

I personally never use bleach for any reason. Vinegar, baking soda (as mentioned by others) and hydrogen peroxide are all natural alternatives. I even use peroxide in my laundry as a bleach alternative and it works wonderfully.

For all of you writing about keeping your white surfaces clean --- BAKING SODA!

It is miraculous. My apartment (rental) has a white porcelain kitchen sink & white laminate countertops, and I thought the sink's scratches & stains were permanent until I sprinkled some baking soda over the wet surface and sort of rubbed it in with my fingers. It has amazing abrasive powers, and a little goes a long way. It sort of picks up the discoloration as you rub.
I also use it on my smooth-top electric range, and it takes away the burn rings.

I cannot suggest it enough!

The Japanese bleach *everything*. I never saw such a bleach-happy group of people. They're so obsessed with keeping everything whiter than white. I really do worry about the effect on the environment as well as the amount of it that must get into the recycled city water supply.

http://1000thingsaboutjapan.blogspot.com/2010/06/wont-miss-186-bleaching-everything.html

I use antibacterial cleaner to clean after prepping raw meats. I keep the bleach out of the kitchen so it won't get accidentally mixed with antibacterial cleaner.

I also can't stand the eggy smell. In our kitchen, anything that has touched egg has to be quarantined to prevent contaminating other dishes with the awful smell. The only thing I found that works is to scrub the dishes and pans with soap and the hottest water possible. Then scrub everything again with soap and the coldest water possible.

I don't use bleach, except to occasionally (three times a year?) whiten my work shirts. A squirt of vinegar really kills almost everything!

Well, the overflow drain on my bathroom sink smells really awful after some months. Tried vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice, dishwasher and nothing did it except for bleach. The bathroom smells like a swimming pool for one or two days, but then "no smell".

Ruhlman also recommends a bleaching solution in the kitchen, to disinfect cutting boards and worktops.

No bleach - germs build up your immunity

I love to purify things but dislike the acrid, nose burning air that bleach leaves lingering.
Dislike the bleach spots from splashing or dribbling bleach.
Use alcohol, peroxide, vinegar and baking soda for virtuous cleaning.

I have never smelled "eggy" dishes but the smell of bleach makes me want to vomit.

No meat in my house so I'm not that worried about contamination.

I've never used bleach in my life. Haven't killed anyone in my kitchen yet.

I love bleach, I know it is a chemical and all the bad stuff about it, but I use it none the less. I keep a small squeeze bottle of approx 10% solution of bleach and water next to my kitchen sink along with my dish soap and sponge. My kids say I'm a germiphobe, but I feel there is nothing cleaner than a surface that has been wiped down with my bleach solution. Before I had a dishwasher I used it to sanitize my sponge daily. I also find the smell to be clean. I haven't killed anyone yet either.

My eco dishwashing detergent contains bleach. I think most dishwashing detergent does contain bleach. I can't help but wonder if some people are not quite as bleach free as they think!

Just stop buying it and you'll find out that you really don't need it.

Yeah, undiluted bleach is very toxic, but if you follow the directions, a capful for a gallon of water, or something like that, then you're safe. And if you want to, you can even rinse afterwards. It's better to sanitize, and rinse than contaminate and spread salmonella and other bacteria. Then again, I don't eat meat, so I guess I just clean to much.

I don't even keep bleach in my house. I'd never use it--especially not around food.

People say that bleach smells like "clean" to them. To me it just smells like poison.

I'm not advocating for the use of bleach here, because I use (and would recommended) less harsh chemicals like vinegar; however, bleach is perfectly safe if you have just that - bleach, with no additives. Bleach (sodium hypochlorite, chemical formula NaOCl), essentially donates an atom of oxygen to whatever bacteria/volatile oil/etc. might be stuck to your utensils or cutting boards. When NaOCl loses oxygen, it becomes NaCl - sodium chloride, or table salt. So don't fear bleach!

Bleach in the kitchen is a new concept to me. I'm vegan, so I don't have bacteria-ridden raw animal flesh in my kitchen, and if bleaching is seen as an appropriate solution for dealing with said bacterium I am only too happy to add this to the list of reasons why I don't eat animals. *Shudders* I don't know how you guys can live like that! =P