Can You Mix Lysol and Bleach?

Lysol and bleach: which Lysol matters

Do not mix Lysol and bleach. Lysol is a brand with many different products, and you cannot treat them all the same. We could not load a Lysol FAQ page on this question, so the brand evidence here is a safety data sheet for one product rather than a brand-wide statement. Confirm the wording on your own bottle. Bleach is sodium hypochlorite, and health agencies say it makes toxic gas with acids and ammonia.

Take toilet bowl cleaners as an example. The Lysol Disinfectant Toilet Bowl Cleaner Power data sheet we read lists hydrochloric acid at 7 to 13 percent and states "DO NOT MIX WITH BLEACH or use in conjunction with other household products," and acid plus bleach makes chlorine gas. For Lysol sprays and wipes we did not verify the ingredients, so we cannot say what a mix with bleach would produce. Because the ingredient list is different for each product, there is no version of this mix a reader can count on to be harmless.

If your goal is to disinfect, choose one product and follow its label. Clean the surface with soap and water, apply the disinfectant, keep the surface wet for the full contact time, and let it dry or rinse as the label directs. Do not add bleach for extra strength. Using one after the other with a complete rinse and airing out is different from mixing, but one product per cleaning job is the safest rule.

Disinfectant labels also give contact times during which the surface must stay wet. Wiping bleach over that surface midway means the two products meet on the surface, so wait, rinse, and dry first. Pick the disinfectant that suits the job, follow its time, and then rinse where the label says to, particularly on food-contact surfaces and kids' toys.

If they are already mixed, leave the area, get fresh air and open windows from a distance. Do not add other products to try to fix the mixture. Call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222, and call 911 for trouble breathing, chest pain, or collapse. Have the bottles ready so you can read the ingredients to the poison specialist.

Where these numbers come from

The formulas and default values in this calculator are based on:

• Reckitt Benckiser (Canada), safety data sheet for LYSOL Disinfectant Toilet Bowl Cleaner Power - Complete Clean (2013, as posted by a distributor)
• Poison Control (National Capital Poison Center), Chlorine gas: Get the facts
• CDC, Cleaning and Disinfecting with Bleach
• Poison Control (National Capital Poison Center), Need immediate assistance?
• America's Poison Centers, Get Poison Help
• HHS/HRSA Poison Help, What You Can Do. The Lysol website FAQ could not be loaded
• confirm wording on your product

This is general household-cleaning guidance and planning math, not medical or professional advice. Product formulas change, so the label on your bottle always wins: follow its directions and warnings, test a hidden spot first, and never mix cleaning products. For a poisoning emergency call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222 (US), or 911 if someone has trouble breathing.