I fell in love with Clorox Anywhere a couple of years ago when I was part of a year-long test panel for it. I received free product coupons every month so that I could test it out and review it. It’s since become an indispensable part of my cleaning process, yet I just can’t bring myself to shell out $3.29 a bottle for something that is 99.9905% water!!!
I just used up the last bottle from my stockpile the other day, and I’ve really been missing it for all the little things I use it for. It occurred to me that I should just try to make my own, so after a little fancy math to convert the percentages of water and bleach to useful quantities, I came up with this simple recipe.
1 1/2 teaspoons of bleach
22 oz. water
How easy is that? I saved my pretty little Clorox Anywhere bottle to mix it in, but you could pick up any inexpensive spray bottle that holds just over 22 ounces to put it in.
My favorite use for it is to spray down the kitchen table and high chair after dinner. I let it sit to sanitize it while I clean up and load the dishwasher, and then I wipe it down with a dishrag. Letting it sit also helps “unstick” any sticky messes and makes for an easy cleanup all around!
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Sadly I didn’t grow up in a household that taught me how to use bleach without fear of disasterous results so I’ve never used bleach. I saw your post today and do not want to be fearful anymore so I’m going to buy a bottle of bleach and do my best to use it and not get it on my clothes or carpet or anything else that would produce sad results.
THIS IS GREAT!! Thanks for putting your math skills to use for this numbers challenged mommy.. we’ll be trying this for sure!!
I’ve never even heard of Clorox Anywhere! Am I living under a rock or something? :)
You mean I could have sold this idea and made oodles of cash years ago, but Clorox beat me to it?
Clorox & water works for me, too!
Ha! I meant to link to the product description on the Clorox website for those who’ve never heard of it. They claim that it’s as “gentle as water.” Well, duh, it is mostly water!
I think it’s a brilliant marketing move on their part. After all, how many people never read the labels on products? They must be raking it in at $3.29 a pop!
GREAT tip!! I love Clorox Anywhere too, but you’re right, it’s kind of ridiculous to pay so much for it. Thanks for figuring this out!
I went to church with a man who has a PhD in chemistry. He read the ingredients of the Clorox Anywhere bottle, took one whiff of it, and knew immediately that it was nothing but all water with a tiny bit of bleach. Since then I buy the Anywhere spray once in a while, and then when I run out, I just refill the container with water and a little bleach. The only time I buy a new bottle from the store is when my bottle’s sprayer doesn’t work anymore.
That is a great idea…now where were you 10 years ago when I had an all white kitchen? LOL
Gonna have to try this one. It’s amazing all the things you can do with bleach!
Thank you, thank you. I love Clorox Anywhere!! Yeah.
I love your blog because I love the deals as well.
LOL. I had no idea there was a product called Clorax Anywhere. I am not sure it is sold in NYC.
Anyway, I have been making Clorax anywhere for years. I made a stronger solution 1/4 bottle Clorax with the rest water to spray down the tiles in the bathroom with. I spray them and leave it for awhile and then I come back and spray and wipe. It’s awesome.
Thanks for the portions. I knew there had to be a way to make it yourself, I knew it was just a touch of bleach in water, but was afraid of trying out the portions. Thanks
Thanks so much for this idea! I’m going to make my own, too!
Thank you so much! I love Clorox Anywhere (actually I have a strange obsession with bleach in general!), and now I can make my own!
I too am freaked out by bleach, but I will have to give this a try.
Great Idea! I had no idea that the Anywhere variety was just diluted bleach?????
I am bleach freaker outer too, but this looks good. I am stunned that it is 99 percent water. Stunned!
So GREAT! Thanks! I’m trying this out TODAY.
Thanks for the breakdown! Now we can make our own! Bleach makes everything smell so clean!
Hint – spray a little in the kitchen sink and/or bathroom and the toilet before hubby comes home. He’ll think you spent so much time cleaning! Heehee!
Thanks so much for the formula! I always wanted to make my own but was afraid of having too much bleach. I love this stuff!
As a bartender for ten years, I thought everyone knew about this.
Dang. I coulda been a millionaire!
I wonder if they finally figured out that day care centers have been making it for years, haha! I always had bleach spots on my clothes when I worked there.
Great way to crack the code on that! I have scheduled a post for tomorrow for making a disinfectant spray out of vinegar, lavender oil, and water. I used it to disinfect my sink after I cleaned out the fridge. Worked like a charm!
Way to be inventive!!!
Hey, thanks! Now I feel silly for buying Anywhere Spray. I use it ALL THE TIME. Is that really all it is? Boy, they suckered me in.
Oh WOW!! I’m so excited I will be saving money! Thanks for sharing :)
I had no idea – thanks for that tip!
I just sharpied those amounts on my bottle so that when I run out I know how much to put in.
Thanks!
Ooh, FAB idea, Kendra!!! Off to find my Sharpie…
i was totally ready to make this spray, but found this quote on the net
“how long will diluted bleach continue to be effective? The minimum standards for daycare in the state of Texas require the use of a sanitation solution on a daily basis. If you use diluted bleach, you have to mix a fresh bottle of it every day because it breaks down in just 24 hours to salts which will no longer kill germs.”
so do i have to make a fresh one every time i use? mmmmm
i wonder how clorox’s ‘anywhere spray’ holds its effectiveness after 24hrs? i want to know their secret! :D
That’s an interesting quote. I go through mine pretty quickly but definitely not in one day. It always still has the faint scent of bleach right up to the last of it. I’ll have to do some more digging and see what I come up with. Thanks for sharing!
THANKS for posting this! I did a google search for “make your own clorox anywhere” and found your post. Just what I was looking for.
First, the bad news: The recipe is too concentrated.* A former chemistry professor in college myself, when my wife asked me to buy it, I balked. As it happens you need 1.0 mL standard (6.0% sodium hypochlorite) laundry bleach solution per 650 mL (22 oz) bottle. This is of course assuming that you are not measuring by mass (which is not stated on the bottle but is likely the case as sodium hypochlorite is a solid). FYI there are approx. 5 mL per teaspoon.
Now for the good news: more bleach is more effective at killing germs.
*: the fancy math, for a 650mL (22 oz) bottle of anywhere
(650mL Anywhere)(0.0095mL NaClo/100mL Anywhere)(100mL bleach/6.0mL NaClO) = 1.0mL bleach
Thanks for stopping by! I think I understand where I went wrong. I converted it by using percentages of water and bleach, but I didn’t consider the concentration of NaClO in the bleach. I appreciate the help, and you’re right, more effective is good news in my book. I haven’t had any issues with discoloration or anything, so I’ll stick with the recipe I’ve been using.
If you should happen to see my reply, do you have any information on comment #27 about how long it will retain its effectiveness?
Deal Seeking Mom: The way that NaClO in solution works is that it spontaneously liberates chlorine as a gas when it is dissolved in solution. As it turns out, the not all of chlorine bubbles out of solution. Some stays dissolved for a long time. When you apply the bleach solution to a surface the whole mess evaporates; the water and the chlorine eventually go their separate ways but, in the meantime, the chlorine (a potent oxidizer and nasty poison) does a number on the bacteria. The remaining solid would be a salt in the chemical sense (but not table salt, NaCl as you might expect) but sodium hydroxide.
For the really nerdy among you, here is the dissociation reaction:
NaCl + NaClO + H2O ? 2NaOH + Cl2
Ordinary laundry bleach is constantly releasing chlorine gas from solution by the way. If you have a bottle of bleach that is 5 years old, it is not going to be a strong as one you have that is one year old. The same goes for the Clorox Anywhere; it may get somewhat weaker over time. Though, this very well could be the equilibrium quantity of NaClO that is destined to remain in solution at room temperature and pressure. The Clorox guys have likely thought about this. Do you need to make it every day? No.
Oh…thinking about response 27 for a second: there is a big difference equilibrium-wise between an open container of bleach water and a well-sealed one. The chlorine will remain in solution in a closed container much, much longer. (Think about the carbon dioxide in solution in bottle of soda pop if this is hard to imagine and it should become intuitively obvious.)
The special thing about Anywhere is that scientists figured out how to stablize such a small amount of bleach in water and keeping it from breaking down to salt. If you mix your own solution it will work if you use it immediately, but it won’t continue to disenfect for much longer. If I were you I would go ahead and spend the $3 to buy the product. Also, did you know Clorox just came out with a new Anywhere Anti-Allergen spray? It’s one of my favorites!
Thanks for your perspective, Anon; however, I think I’ll stick with Former Chemistry Professor’s take on it. Of course for any readers that may be concerned, even if you make a new batch every day, the amount of solution that you can make from a single bottle of bleach would be far more cost effective than purchasing the ready-made solution.
Does it have to be “Clorox” brand or can it be any generic bleach?
NCJill, I’m no expert of course, but I’d say bleach is bleach and a generic could easily be substituted for even more savings.
After working in food service for about 3 yrs., when it came to wiping down and sanitizing counters and other surfaces as required by the regulations of our state health department, we kept small containers of a diluted bleach solution to clean our areas. I started using this method at home as well. But realistically, who keeps a bucket of bleach water just hanging out in your kitchen? So transferring it into a spray bottle was the next logical solution. Then the Clorox Anywhere came out. But you’re right, who wants to spend that amount of money for the same thing you can make at home? Thanks for spreading the word!
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Love this! Thanks for sharing.
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My question is if it won’t damage your clothes because the Clorox Anywhere guarantees that it won’t. I just don’t want to take the risk.
here’s an idea for anyone afraid of ruining clothes with bleach solution. wear white clothes or old clothes that you don’t care about ruining the first few times you use it. i’ve never had problems every using bleach for anything. i’m just careful not to splash it all around or wipe my hands on my clothes or get my sleeves in it, etc. it really isn’t that big a deal.
I used to work for Clorox. The Anywhere Spray is not just water with a small amount of bleach in it. If you really want to have something that is safe and sanitizes, stick with the real stuff.
I would have to agree with the naysayers. The recipe you created while it can be an effective sanitizer is the not same as the Clorox product by one critical criteria – shelf stability. Bleach when mixed with water will rapidly begin to degrade and lose efficacy, even quicker in the presence of heat and light. The solution recipe would need to be mixed on a daily basis to ensure efficacy. The clorox product is stable for 1 year through careful manipulation of the pH of the solution.
If you look at the clorox website, it gives you the recipe for a watered down version for sanitizing baby bottles and sippy cups. About the same thing except it says to soak the item 2-5 mins. I’m just going to make 8 ozs and add 5/8 clorox or a little more in a bottle, for wiping of counters and high chairs and such.