The Wonder of Bleach

Since at least 5000 BC, probably longer, mankind has engaged in a process that is pure vanity.

Bleaching.

The earliest forms of bleaching were simply to lay a garment in the sun. Later on, say 3000 BC a mixture of wood ash and water produced lye which was used in tandem with sun bleaching. A little farther down the road, around 1000 AD, the Dutch started adding sour milk to the mixture to make the solution less harsh enabling people to use it more frequently without damaging the fabric.

Somewhere in the 1700's the idea of adding chlorine gas to potash was invented and a bit later in the same century, another inventor used limestone. Although effective, this solution was extremely expensive and could not be manufactured with any practicality.

Fast forward to 1913 when the Electro-Akaline Company, which later became The Clorox Chemical company created a sodium hypochlorite solution enabled with cheaper electricity to make an inexpensive household product we now call Clorox or chorine bleach.

While this product was created to whiten things, it has become one of the miracle products of modern times. It not only whitens and brightens but sanitizes anything it comes in contact with.

I got to thinking about bleach when our basement became contaminated with shit due to a clogged sewer main outside our home. In the end, our homeowners insurance covered remediation and the products they used were superior to bleach but had we not had that option. Mike and I would have donned rubber gloves and clothespins for our noses and about 15 gallons of bleach and sanitized it ourselves.

I wonder what ancient egyptians would have done if their dwelling had become contamiated with sewage......oh, that's right, they didn't have sewers.