How to Make Bleach And Oven Cleaner
This process described will make two very useful products, bleach (sodium chlorate) and oven cleaner (sodium hydroxide aka lye).
To make bleach you will need two inert containers such as glass or porcelain, a battery homemade or commercial, salt, rag or cloth and water. If salt is in short supply I doubt you will want to waste it on making bleach. This will primarily be applicable to those that live near saltwater.
To make bleach from scratch place a wire from the battery's positive side into one of the containers and another wire or other conductor into the other container. Fill each container with saltwater.
At this point nothing should be happening as current can't yet pass through the saltwater in one container to the other container.
This is where the cloth comes into the picture. The soaked rag should be draped over the side of each container and will provide a pathway for the electricity to flow.
This should only be done in a well ventilated area as the gasses given off are poisonous. Never mix bleach with other chemicals as it could produce a toxic gas that can kill. You probably will not produce enough mustard gas... yes mustard gas to die but you won't be happy breathing it that is for sure.
The cathode (negative side) will bubble hydrogen gas and form pure sodium hydroxide.
When the reaction is complete no more bubbles will form and you'll have a jar of homemade bleach (sodium chlorate) and homemade oven cleaner (sodium hydroxide, or commonly called lye) in the other.
Notes:
The higher the voltage your battery is the faster and better this process will work.
The more salt in the water the higher the potential strength of the solutions will be.
The chemical formula for bleach varies. Just like there is more than one form of Jelly there are also many chemicals that classify as bleach.
Chlorine gas can be collected from the anode side and Hydrogen gas can be collected from the Cathode side.
Chlorine gas mixed with water can be used as bleach.
Chlorine gas is heavier than air so it will settle in a container if the air is still.
Chlorine gas produced in a container that is inside another container can be used to collect chlorine gas in the method above.
A bit about how this works.
Salt dissolves in H2O to form Na+ ions and Cl- ions. The voltage difference between the cathode and the anode sets up an electric field in the solution. This attracts the positive Na+ ions to the negative anode, and the positive cathode attracts the negative Cl- ions.
This is why two containers are needed. So the accumulation of ions can be maintained after the electrical current has stopped. Actually even before then, as the mixing will always occur if only one container was used.
