Bleach Bath

Instructions:

When recommended by your doctor, take one bleach bath per week.

1.  Fill the bathtub half-full of lukewarm water.
2. Add ¼ cup bleach to bathwater.
3. Soak five minutes.
4. After soaking, rinse off with fresh water.

General Information:

Bleach baths can be effective for killing bacteria as well as helping to clear atopic dermatitis. We recommend ¼ cup bleach in a half-filled tub and ½ cup bleach in a bathtub full of water.

The active component of bleach is sodium hypochlorite. This is the same as Dakin’s solution, which many doctors have used for years. Dakin’s solution is a 0.5 percent sodium hypochlorite and house bleach is 4-6 percent sodium hypochlorite. When the bleach is diluted in a bathtub full of water, the bleach solution is weaker than Dakin’s solution, but still effective.