Thread: Adding Bleach to Soaking water.

I have read on here where a few of us will continuously soak our Nortons in water. But when I looked around I did not see a "recipe" with how much bleach to add to the water. So I thought this might help.

Most good water disinfection concentrations run around 2.0 mg/L or 2.0 parts per million. (Don't worry about the lingo, I'll make this simple). In concentrations above double this (which I think that a lot do) you will be wasting bleach, possibly irritating your skin, and adding so much bleach that it could (depending on concentration) react adversely with the stones over time.

To achieve this add the following amount of Bleach to any distilled water.

Using Clorox (6% Bleach)
1/4 tsp of Bleach per 1 gallon distilled water

Using Cheap Brand Bleach (2%)
3/4 tsp per 1 Gallon Distilled water

After immersing your stone in the water let it sit for about an hour to overnight, and change to a fresh batch of bleach water. This is because the stone will absorb all of the bleach from the first batch very quickly. And in order for the water to maintain that concentration so that critters will not start to grow in your water or stone just change out the water. After the first change just keep it out of direct sunlight and change the water every week or two.

This should keep any algae or critters from starting to make your norton stone a home and keep any odor down.

For those using the metric it comes to:

Clorox (6% bleach)
1.3 mL bleach in 4 L of Distilled water

Cheap bleach (2%)
3.9 (or just add 4) mL bleach in 4 L of distilled water

My Norton water is treated the same as my drinking water would be treated,,, 8 to 16 drops of regular strength bleach per gallon,,,a recognized standard,,,,,since the water is probably coming from your tap & not a cloudy outdoor source,,, then stick to the lower end 8 drops. Give the water about 30 minutes to disperse the bleach & then add the stones. This practice has kept my hone water good for 2 weeks without adding another drop. A lid is kept on the container.

It also help if you can keep your tub in the dark. I change mine often because it is so easy and don't add anything.

When I do add bleach I was the old cooking method. " That looks like enough " :<0)

It is nice that you posted the figures though. I may start adding bleach because of it.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

My Norton water is treated the same as my drinking water would be treated,,, 8 to 16 drops of regular strength bleach per gallon,,,a recognized standard,,,,,since the water is probably coming from your tap & not a cloudy outdoor source,,, then stick to the lower end 8 drops. Give the water about 30 minutes to disperse the bleach & then add the stones. This practice has kept my hone water good for 2 weeks without adding another drop. A lid is kept on the container.

+1. Yep. If you want to think of it like this, it normally is 20 drops per mL. So take the mLs times 20 and that's also a good start. It will give you tap water strength.

I add a capful (cheap stuff) to my tupperware where my 4/8 lives . I suppose there is about a gallon of water in it. Keeps the sides of the stone from turning green! Too much would definitely be a bad thing, IMO.

I use 1 tsp of (Clorox) bleach per 1 quart of water.
I have yet to see anything form in the water after many months of use.

I change out the water once a year, only because I feel that I am diluting the solution with the water left on a freshly rinsed stone, after honing various times a year and placing the stone back in the solution.