No, you should not compost bleach – or water or products containing bleach.

We use bleach in the home because it destroys pathogens and other dangerous microbes – but in a compost heap, it’ll indiscriminately kill off friendly bacteria and fungal spores that are essential for the composting process.

Household bleach (sodium hypochlorite) is relatively unstable as a chemical, meaning it breaks down (into salts, oxygen and water) quickly compared to other cleaning agents – but it is often adulterated with other synthetic chemicals (such as thickening agents, colours and perfumes) which are more problematic in the environment, and probably not something you want in the compost in your veg bed.

Bleach would add little, other than some moisture, to your compost heap but could cause serious problems — very much better to leave it out.

Share this post