I have been trying to figure out a way to make my own DIY bleach pen for MONTHS, but to no avail. So when I saw this idea from Debbie at Me And My DIY I couldn’t wait to give it a try!
I don’t regularly purchase bleach pens because, quite frankly, I don’t think they are worth the price. But there are occasions when would one would come in handy. For stains on clothing, for ring around the collar, for cleaning grout, even for CRAFTING! So being able to make a do-it-yourself version that costs literally PENNIES is pretty exciting. :-)
Here is how it’s done:
In a saucepan, add 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch to a cup of water. Stir until completely dissolved. Place mixture on stove and continue stirring until it comes to a boil and then turn the stove off. The mixture will become quite thick.
Allow mixture to COOL COMPLETELY…then add 5 to 6 Tablespoons of bleach. It should result in a nice gel, like the one you can see in this picture below.
If yours is thicker or thinner…just adjust water and/or cornstarch until you achieve the result you are looking for.
Pour mixture into an empty squeeze bottle for dispensing.
I haven’t actually added up the savings from this….but I’m betting someone far better at math than I will clue us in. :-)
I love all your ideas. I have been saving all your homemade cleaner ideas for our move. We just moved back from overseas, so needless to say, my cleaners all stayed behind. I made up my mind instead of replacing them all with expensive store brands, I was going to find the containers and start making my own…what better time to start! The apartment we are living in desperately needs grout cleaner, so this will be a great addition to the rest. Thanks!
Hey Jillee…Would this work with your bleach alternative that uses lemon juice instead of bleach?
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I didn’t notice if anyone else did the math on this but I couldn’t resist. Based on a 2oz bleach pen selling for $6.56 on amazon and the cost of the ingredients in my own home I figured that buying the bleach pen works out to $3.28 an oz and making it cost me 5 cents an oz. Off to clean the grout!!
Made the gel pen today. Had issues with the gel clumping when I added the bleach. So I poured my mixture into a tall cup and used my hand mixer to smooth it. Worked great BUT after I funneled it into my squeeze bottle, it got warm and then liquefied. Any thoughts?