Can I store bleach in my car?
July 16, 2010 2:22 PM Subscribe
Is there a good reason I shouldn't store bleach in the trunk of my car?
I usually do my laundry at the laundromat, and I've gotten into the habit of storing my bleach and detergent in the trunk of my car. I really hate trying to balance it, a backpack, and a basket of clothes up and down three flights of stairs.
Is there a good reason I shouldn't do this? I'm not worried about the bleach spontaneously igniting, considering that the liquid is only 5% NaClO and 95% water. But maybe it degrades in the heat...
Pertinent details:
- silver sedan, enclosed trunk
- car sits in the sun all day
- central IL temperatures (usually less than 95 °F all summer, but humid)
I usually do my laundry at the laundromat, and I've gotten into the habit of storing my bleach and detergent in the trunk of my car. I really hate trying to balance it, a backpack, and a basket of clothes up and down three flights of stairs.
Is there a good reason I shouldn't do this? I'm not worried about the bleach spontaneously igniting, considering that the liquid is only 5% NaClO and 95% water. But maybe it degrades in the heat...
Pertinent details:
- silver sedan, enclosed trunk
- car sits in the sun all day
- central IL temperatures (usually less than 95 °F all summer, but humid)
Here's the MSDS for Clorox Bleach. Doesn't seem like there is a risk of ignition. The only thing I might worry about is the bottle breaking down and spilling bleach in my car, more of a damage to the trunk than the bleach itself.
posted by msbutah at 2:29 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by msbutah at 2:29 PM on July 16, 2010
When it inevitably spills, it will leave stains on your trunk floor.
posted by smackfu at 2:40 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by smackfu at 2:40 PM on July 16, 2010
Don't do this.
I had left some cleaning supplies in the trunk of my car for a few months, including a bottle of bleach. The plastic bottle split and leaked all over the place. Luckily, the bottle of bleach was sitting in a bucket. Which thankfully never tipped over, a small miracle unto itself.
posted by Wossname at 2:45 PM on July 16, 2010
I had left some cleaning supplies in the trunk of my car for a few months, including a bottle of bleach. The plastic bottle split and leaked all over the place. Luckily, the bottle of bleach was sitting in a bucket. Which thankfully never tipped over, a small miracle unto itself.
posted by Wossname at 2:45 PM on July 16, 2010
It'll make your car smell of bleach, it's not really the most pleasent odor. I wouldn't fo it for this reason.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 2:47 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by Confess, Fletch at 2:47 PM on July 16, 2010
I did this once when I was managing a pool and the bottle tipped over, the bleach eating a hole through about three layers of car construction, including metal.
posted by tangram1 at 2:48 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by tangram1 at 2:48 PM on July 16, 2010
Don't keep it in the same bin with ammonia. If it spills, the smell of your car will cause flash backs to the swimming pools of your youth (If you are about my age.). Other than that, (and keeping it off anything dyed), I don't think it will be a problem.
posted by Some1 at 2:50 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by Some1 at 2:50 PM on July 16, 2010
Don't keep it in the same bin with ammonia. If it spills, the smell of your car will cause flash backs to the swimming pools of your youth
More importantly, the smell will come from chlorine gas, otherwise known as Mustard Gas.
posted by InsanePenguin at 2:52 PM on July 16, 2010
More importantly, the smell will come from chlorine gas, otherwise known as Mustard Gas.
posted by InsanePenguin at 2:52 PM on July 16, 2010
InsanePenguin, Oh, I meant just the chlorine will smell like a pool, not great, but I think survivable with the windows open. Yeah, if you spill bleach and ammonia together, or just open containers next to each other - get the hell out of there!
posted by Some1 at 3:01 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by Some1 at 3:01 PM on July 16, 2010
Best answer: I would take it out in the winter. I don't know about bleach but I've frozen my laundry detergent before. It seemed to permanently change the structure of it.
posted by thylacine at 3:08 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by thylacine at 3:08 PM on July 16, 2010
Best answer: If you're ever accused of a bloody crime, it might make things awkward for you.
posted by charmcityblues at 3:13 PM on July 16, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by charmcityblues at 3:13 PM on July 16, 2010 [3 favorites]
If you get in an accident and the bleach gets to some transmission fluid, you will get very hot very fast.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 3:39 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by Mr. Yuck at 3:39 PM on July 16, 2010
Yeah I did this and it made a huge, smelly mess. Stuff has a way of getting knocked about in a trunk and the cheap plastic bottles aren't all that sturdy. I don't think it's particularly dangerous, but it will damage stuff.
posted by cj_ at 3:57 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by cj_ at 3:57 PM on July 16, 2010
More importantly, the smell will come from chlorine gas
That's one possibility:
There are all kinds of fun, terrible ways to get yourself killed with cars & chemicals. Here's one you might not know: always clean off any brake cleaner with acetone if you plan on welding. Why? Well, turns out brake cleaners use tetrachloroethylene, which, when mixed with heat and argon gas (like the kind used in TIG and MIG welders), produces phosgene, the same stuff used in WWI. Mustard gas just irritates the lungs. Phosgene kills your stupid ass. More info.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:12 PM on July 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
That's one possibility:
2 NaOCl + 2NH3 --> 2NaONH3 + Cl2Another possibility is that it might also form nitrogen trichloride, which is similarly-bad for your lungs, but has the additional bad of being explosive:
3NaOCl + NH3 --> 3NaOH + NCl3Still another possibility is that it decomposes to hydrazine, a highly toxic chemical sometimes used in rocket fuel.
There are all kinds of fun, terrible ways to get yourself killed with cars & chemicals. Here's one you might not know: always clean off any brake cleaner with acetone if you plan on welding. Why? Well, turns out brake cleaners use tetrachloroethylene, which, when mixed with heat and argon gas (like the kind used in TIG and MIG welders), produces phosgene, the same stuff used in WWI. Mustard gas just irritates the lungs. Phosgene kills your stupid ass. More info.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:12 PM on July 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Aside from all the poisonous-directly-to-you gasses it can produce, Chlorine is very reactive, and will make the inside of your trunk/car rust much more quickly than moisture alone. I work in a building with a lab that handles Cl and EVERYTHING is covered in rust within 50 feet of the places where Cl has been released. Bleach is more stable than pure Cl but it does still release a small amount of gas. Don't do it.
posted by wzcx at 6:41 PM on July 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by wzcx at 6:41 PM on July 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
Bleach will rust the shit out of metal. I've had this experience. If that bottle leaks and you don't flush your trunk with baking soda solution you'll have rust holes before you know it.
If you want, just switch to oxyclean style bleach. It's a dry powder. The only downside is it probably won't have the sterilizing action of chlorine bleach.
posted by chairface at 8:25 PM on July 16, 2010
If you want, just switch to oxyclean style bleach. It's a dry powder. The only downside is it probably won't have the sterilizing action of chlorine bleach.
posted by chairface at 8:25 PM on July 16, 2010
Chlorine is not the same as mustard gas (mustard gas is 1,5-dichloro-3-thiapentane), although neither is exactly healthy and both were used as chemical warfare agents in World War 1. I wouldn't store bleach in the car either.
posted by Logophiliac at 11:50 PM on July 16, 2010
posted by Logophiliac at 11:50 PM on July 16, 2010
If the problem you're trying to solve is carrying big bottles of bleach and detergent up and down the stairs, just get a couple of small plastic food containers (I clean and keep 8-ouncers with lids from the grocery store for this) and pour/carry just the amount of detergent you'll need. Works for liquid or powder.
posted by mediareport at 6:18 AM on July 17, 2010
posted by mediareport at 6:18 AM on July 17, 2010
Chlorine is not the same as mustard gas
Ah! Sorry, I was under the impression that they were. Of course, this was from middle school. In any case, chlorine gas will still really fuck with your mucus membranes.
posted by InsanePenguin at 6:36 AM on July 17, 2010
Ah! Sorry, I was under the impression that they were. Of course, this was from middle school. In any case, chlorine gas will still really fuck with your mucus membranes.
posted by InsanePenguin at 6:36 AM on July 17, 2010
Not to state the obvious, but when I lived in a walk-up I would just put the bottles of detergent and bleach in the laundry basket. Viola, carrying two things at once!
posted by Confess, Fletch at 7:03 AM on July 17, 2010
posted by Confess, Fletch at 7:03 AM on July 17, 2010
I did this once, mind you in Florida heat, and the bleach ate through the bottle and damaged the trunk carpet, flooring, and almost ate through to the spare tire. I'm not sure if the Florida heat mattered in any way, in terms of making the bleach eat through the bottle more quickly.
posted by lillygog at 7:10 AM on July 17, 2010
posted by lillygog at 7:10 AM on July 17, 2010
Response by poster: Alright, I will accept the wisdom of the tribe. No bleach in the car trunk then.
(Marked some answers I particularly liked)
posted by sbutler at 9:27 PM on October 18, 2010
(Marked some answers I particularly liked)
posted by sbutler at 9:27 PM on October 18, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by sbutler at 2:24 PM on July 16, 2010