Is bleach flammable? Bleach is a regular chemical substance an average person possesses, and it is essential to know if it is flammable or not.
Is Bleach Flammable?
No. Bleach is not a flammable substance. It won’t catch fire if there is contact with open fire or heat. Bleach cannot ignite or cause a fire. It can be explosive when mixed with a flammable chemical substance. Though, it should be handled carefully while using it.
We classify things as flammable when they catch fire or react awfully to fire. Flammable substances can be liquids, solids, gases, or aerosols. It is impossible to create fire without heat and oxygen. So substances that do not react with oxygen find it difficult to burn.
What is Bleach?
Bleach is not directly a chemical name or substance but the generic name of chemical compounds used to remove and clean tough stains or remove colors from fabrics. You can remove the color of a blue shirt by washing it with bleach. You can also remove tough stains on your white fabrics.
There are two different bleach and they are chlorine bleach and non-chlorine bleach. Chlorine bleach is the most used in the world. It is a mixture of chlorine and water. It is used in almost every bathroom and also for laundry.
The non-chlorine bleach is less commonly used. It is a mixture of a chemical compound named hydrogen peroxide with water and other basic ingredients.
The ingredients of bleach combat protein in microorganisms like fungi and bacteria. It completely cleans any germ lurking in your white fabrics, home surfaces, bathroom, or at the bottom of your toilet seat.
What Happens When Bleach is Heated?
Bleach is naturally not flammable. When you heat bleach, it won’t explode or cause a fire, but trying to heat bleach can be dangerous. It increases in fumes and is highly dangerous when inhaled.
When chlorine bleach is heated, it may release chlorine gas, which is injurious to human health. It can cause nose, eyes, and throat irritation. It doesn’t mean non-chlorine-based bleach will not release toxic gases when heated.
Non-chlorine-based bleaches can pose severe health issues and air pollution. If it is heated, it releases a poisonous gas that can damage the human system.
It is not advisable to heat bleach, if you are trying to do so, you might have to think twice. Ingested bleach can also cause severe throat, stomach and mouth chemical burn.
What is Bleach Used For?
Bleaching.
One of its most essential uses is bleaching. The chemical can change or remove the color of the fabric. You can easily remove the color of a red fabric by adding bleach. It peels off the color and reverses it into white or something close to white.
It is commonly used in different households to remove the color of fabrics when it is receding or to dye it into another color. This is the particular use that explains why the chemical is called bleach.
Washing.
Washing is one of the basic uses of bleach. Most detergents contain a percentage of bleach. However, bleach isn’t used to wash all fabrics because it will end up bleaching them rather than washing them.
When bleach is applied to white fabrics, it washes them super clean and removes tough stains on the fabrics. It can also wash toilets and bathrooms.
Cleaning.
Apart from washing and bleaching fabrics, bleach can also be used for basic house cleaning. It can be added to a cleaning agent to clean the floor, windows, dirty furniture or other unclean surfaces. Bleach has active ingredients that combat bacteria and fungi and this makes it suitable for basic home or public cleaning.
Disinfection.
Bleach can also be used as a disinfectant. It can wipe infected surfaces clean. Bleach is used in many hospitals for disinfecting surfaces and washable appliances. Fungi and bacteria are agents that cause infections and, since bleach kills these microorganisms, it makes it perfect for disinfection.
Conclusion.
If you work at any cleaning or laundry company, bleach producing factory, or you use bleach for basic home cleaning, it is better to avoid heating bleach not because it will escalate into a fire, but to prevent the release of toxins that are injurious to human health. Since it is dangerous, we should conform to ethical precautions, to annul air pollution and damage to human health.
What captivates you the most about bleach? You must have used it for any basic cleaning at any point, right? Have you seen it react to fire before? It is likely to be No, but you can comment below to share your insights.
