What Is Sodium Hypochlorite, and What Does It Do?

The chemical compound sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) can be found in different densities. It has antibacterial, antiseptic, and hygienic properties. It is better known as bleach, chlorine, or bleach when it is mixed with water (2% to 2.5%).

We can get it in stores like grocery stores or even pharmacies. There are salt, tablet, and liquid solutions that can be used. We have to be careful about the type of sodium hypochlorite we buy and use because there are professional solutions with a higher concentration that could hurt our health if we don't use them right.

Many different things can be done with this compound. It is used in the hotel business, agriculture, the chemical industry, the paper, glass, pharmaceutical, and waste industries, and so on. It is seen as a good choice because it has a lot of antiseptics, deodorizing, bleaching, and purifying properties.

What sodium hypochlorite is used for

It is a compound that is used a lot because it has many useful properties. Here are the main ways it is used in different fields:

Food Sector: it is used as an antiseptic, a sanitizer, and an odor remover. This makes it very useful for hotel and restaurant equipment. It is used on surfaces and machines in places like bakeries, catering companies, chicken shops, restaurants, steak houses, and cafeterias.

Household use: household hypochlorite better known as bleach, is used as a powerful disinfectant of shopping containers, reusable containers, and take away. It is also used as a detergent in swimming pools. This type of hypochlorite solution is usually diluted in water and is marketed in different concentrations. It is a perfect cleaner, bactericide, bleach, and stain remover.

Textile industry: It works very well as a bleaching agent for fabrics and textiles in the textile industry.

Water: It is used to make water safe for people to drink. It works to get rid of bad smells and kill germs in industrial wastewater. And finally, using cooling towers keeps algae from growing in the water.

In farming, it is used to clean and sterilize tools for pruning. This will stop the spread of viruses and bacteria if you have touched infected trees or crops.

Sodium hypochlorite safety measures and the right way to use it

If we want to use it, we must remember that its base is very unstable, flammable, and reacts with other compounds that can catch fire. It could be harmful and can eat away at things. When sodium hypochlorite is used in high concentrations (10% to 15%), it is important to follow strict safety rules to protect the people using it and the environment.

So, it's very important to take the right precautions and learn how to use them in the right way.

Before you can use it, we'll make sure you have it:

Health registration right now.
Current expiration date.
A certificate that the concentration is safe.

If there is a lot of it, we need to protect ourselves with things like:

gloves are very important because the substance is corrosive and can burn your skin and eyes if you touch it directly.

Glasses: to keep things from getting in your eyes or irritating them.

To keep from getting burned, wear a robe.

Masks: to keep people from getting in direct contact with the mouth and lungs.

We should never mix sodium hypochlorite with:

Ammonia
Vinegar can be used normally or to clean.
Citric acid.
Alcohol.
Oxygenated water.
Carbonate.
Bicarbonate.
Percarbonate.

So, to be sure that the product is safe, it should be used outside or in a very well-ventilated room, and you should never breathe in its vapors. Also, it must be kept in its original packaging, and you must check to see if the solution needs to be rinsed or not.

In short, it is a disinfectant that kills bacteria, viruses, and fungi very well. It is an excellent choice for cleaning surfaces, rooms, water, and machines. We must take precautions, though, if we want to use it safely.