Pictures of people in chemical suits spraying roads to kill COVID-19 abound. Great public relations when politicians want to make out they are doing something useful. I guess it helps people who crawl along the ground, but I do wonder whether the inhaled spray is harmful. After all, when Joseph Lister developed carbolic acid (phenol) sprays for antiseptic surgery, he was appalled when he found it was damaging people’s health.
Acidified bleach is simply diluted household bleach with vinegar added. It should be very effective against COVID-19 on surfaces. Besides being cheap and very effective against a lot of microorganisms (like almost-impossible-to-kill anthrax spores), is is near pH neutral so is far gentler on skin than household bleach which is very alkaline. It is around 200 time more effective than ordinary bleach on many microorganisms. Here is my earlier blog on the topic with more technical details.
While household bleach is stable for a long times, acidified bleach is only stable for 24 hours. I suggest you do your own research to determine how effective acidified bleach will be for your application.
How to make it
- Fill a 10L (2 gallon) bucket with water. Add a cup of household bleach. STIR
- Add a cup of household vinegar whilst stirring.
- (optional) Add a couple of drops of washing up detergent to act a surfactant
Though little chlorine gas should be released, prepare it in a well ventilated space (outside).
If the solution is used on plasterboard, then some chlorine may be produced. Don’t mix the solution with other things like ammonia based cleaners.
