What are Oxygen Bleaches?
Oxygen bleaches are materials that release oxygen for cleaning and bleaching of stains and dirt upon addition to water. There are three types of oxygen bleaches sold in the consumer market, hydrogen peroxide, sodium percarbonate and sodium perborate. While hydrogen peroxide is a liquid, sodium percarbonate and sodium perborate are powders. Sodium percarbonate is used in deck, carpet, household and laundry cleaning products. Sodium perborate is also a powder and is used mostly in automatic dishwashing and laundry products as a hot water bleaching agent. While sodium perbcarbonate has the highest solubility in water, sodium perborate is more storage stable in detergent formulations. Powdered bleaches are made by treating natural soda ash or natural borax with hydrogen peroxide. These materials can absorb the oxygen while remaining free flowing solids. Upon dissolving in water, they release the oxygen. (One popular infomercial seen on television claims that their oxygen bleach takes the o
