KerryIrons

Diluted household bleach does NOT react with the PVC tube to any significant extent. Please provide a citation for your claim of dangerous byproducts from a bleach/PVC reaction. Note that any byproducts would need to be present in meaningful quantities, not just detectable in the PPT range. Using bleach as described here will NOT result in irritation and unless someone is mixing bleach and ammonia, no issues there. As someone who has worked extensively with chlorine and chlorine containing compounds, I can tell you that in the usage described here, bleach represents essentially no hazard.

rumrunn6

fwiw - Wifey uses Vinegar on her CPAP components ... just googled this:

Vinegar is safe to clean your CPAP supplies with, but won't remove any buildup. It actually helps to use a vinegar solution of 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water once a month to really disinfect your equipment like your mask and tubing. Allow each part to soak in the vinegar solution for about 30 minutes.

cyccommute 

Again, the bleach isn’t needed. You could use dish washing liquid and a tube brush to remove the mold. That’s all that is really needed. If you have to soak, peroxide is just as effective and, again, safer to use.


Yada, yada, stupid Californians, yada. Given the amount of times that people have said that stupid Californians have done something dumb when it hasn’t, I’m going to need a citation to believe that one.

Something isn’t a “phobia” or “irrational fear” if you have knowledge and evidence that a material can cause harm. Bleach solutions shouldn’t be used without gloves because the bleach can damage your skin. Your internal parts are far more sensitive to chlorine and chlorine bleach than your outsides are. The wise person chooses the least toxic (or dangerous) option that is still effective. If the least toxic option isn’t toxic at all and still as effective, why choose the option with a higher risk?

MoAlpha

Sterilization is pointless. Molds, if that's what's in that tube, are ubiquitous in the environment, will regrow on hospitable surfaces as soon as the the sterilizing agent is gone, and are generally harmless. Mechanical removal should be sufficient.

cyccommute 

Are you sure that tubing is PVC? From what I can find, it’s likely polyethylene or some copolymer. I wouldn’t be so quick to say that it can’t react with bleach because the exact composition isn’t that clear.

PPT or parts per thousand would be considered “meaningful” for many compounds. That only 0.1%. That’s easily detectable.

Finally, as a chemical student long ago, we were taught to choose compounds and methods that has the least possibility of risk. As a practicing chemist that was reinforced over nearly 40 years of work. If you there is no other substitute, of course you use the more toxic chemical but take extra precautions to avoid exposure. However, if the alternative is safer to use and just as effective, you use the alternative.

cyccommute 

Completely agree.

MoAlpha

And, not that it matters for present purposes, but a lot of the black stuff growing in wet places is algae.

streetsurfer

I’ve used the standard bleach tablets made for cleaning bladders for years…no problems.

KerryIrons

If the tube is a polyolefin instead of PVC then it would be even less reactive to bleach. PPT in my reference (should have been more clear) was to parts per trillion. Many reports of contamination reference vanishingly small concentration. Parts per thousand of reactive byproducts from bleach chemistry are simply not going to happen in this situation. As a chemical engineer with decades of experience in chemical research, there is zero risk of health issues from using bleach in this application.

pdlamb

Back of the envelope calculation:

For a 2 liter bladder, there's 2,000 ml of water in it. To get 1 part per thousand, you'd need 2 g of chlorine (Cl). IIRC from my chemistry courses, ordinary household bleach is about 5% Cl by weight, so you'd need 40 ml of bleach to get to 1 part per thousand -- about a tablespoon and a half of pure bleach in the tube.

Rinse the tube when you're done. Problem solved.

pdlamb

It was cause for some jocularity in the chemistry department when I was an undergraduate, and Chemical and Engineering News (the weekly put out by the American Chemical Society) had a note about it. I've let my ACS membership lapse, so I'm not going to bother to look it up. I don't expect you to look for the citation -- I don't care if you believe me or not.

Gym123456

In case anyone actually wants to find that material, doing an online search will show 'chenille'- not being a grammer dork, just commenting about what I saw when I searched.

dedhed

I think millions of miles of PVC, HDPE, and now PEX tubing in public and private water systems that require a PPM chlorine residual to the tap, will agree with you.

autonomy

Homebrewer here. We deal with plastic hoses all the time

• To get rid of mold, soak in hot water and fragrance-free Oxyclean. If that doesn't do it, use a brush or a piece of string with a paper towel on the end. This may not be super-helpful advice as you may not want to buy OxyClean just for this purpose.
• Avoid mold by always drying your hoses! Spin them like helicopter blades to get rid of excess moisture then hang down to dry so that both ends are hanging down
• Do not blow into your hoses, that introduces moisture and bacteria
• Avoid putting anything with sugar in your bladders

indyfabz

See link in post #6. The brush is also good for washing your cat box.

Pratt

Or store it with a couple of ounces of the booze of your choice in it. Draining before the next ride, optional.
I used to use cheap rum to winterize the fresh water tanks on the boat, never had a problem with mold over years of layups.