Can I bleach a plastic chopping board?

They're very difficult to get completely clean, Bags Bleach won't harm it but might not remove all the stain. Steradent or Milton tablets sometimes work.

I'm sure it would - I speak as a bleach queen!

I use it for everything, including removing turmeric stains from a white plastic chopping board.

I agree, bleach is the best thing. If the surface is scratched of course it'll never look completely clean!

I am a very reluctant bleach user, it comes from years of having a septic tank, but yes, it should remove carrot stains.

Plastic isn't very good to use as a chopping board as plastic holds germs [unless it's one of those somethingorotherbiological ones]. Wood is supposed to be better. She says as someone who owns two very old plastic plates that we used to use in our camping days and are now used as chopping boards all the time [along with several other uses]. Dread to think how germified they are; think I'm going to Milton them tonight for the first time in their lives.

Bags cleaning my plastic chopping board is one of the few things I do use bleach for. It works.
“Usually there are about 200 times more faecal bacteria on the average cutting board than on a toilet seat,” (Dr. Chuck Gerba, professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona.) More info here.

I use neat thick bleach on my veg-stained plastic board. I flood it and leave for 30 minutes or so, and it completely removes all colour.
I once had a glass chopping board. It did not stain, but blunted my knives!

Red onion stains on mine right now and bleach will take them off though I do find that the dishwasher does a pretty good job too.

Yes - germs hate bleach! And it does decompose into oxygen and hydrogen when it goes down the drain, so unless you are pouring many bottles of it down the plughole i doubt it could sterilise a whole septic tank!!!!

Of course, on the subject of staining does anyone have any tips on how to chop the red cabbage for the Christmas dinner without spending the rest of the day/week looking like a serial killer?

JessM , it's not to do with sterilising a septic tank, remember the Domestos adverts, "Kills 99% of all known germs"? For septic tanks to work properly you need the "good" bacteria to break down the other stuff! hence no bleach.

I now live in a house with mains drainage, so not so much of a problem but I'm still somewhat sparing with the bleach, and only use it when all else fails. (having said that I do give the lavatory brushes a soak in cheap thin bleach)

Thanks, peeps! I've squirted thick bleach onto the board and it has come up lovely! Gransnet is turning me into a bleacher!

I'm not worried about the germs. Hot, soapy water deals with those. I just wanted to get rid of the carrot staining.

I don't think basic hygiene is a problem here really, is it? I mean, how common are typhoid and cholera nowadays? Different in some places, I agree.

Can't remember the last time any of us had the slightest bit of tummy upset, either, so my basic cleaning must be OK.

I also have to be very sparing with bleach owing to it upsetting the balance of our septic tank. I put my plastic chopping boards in the dishwasher - no tummy bugs here. (Also avoid coloured loo paper - it affects septic tank badly.)

specki we used to check the writing on toilet cleaner bottles too, as some were ok for use with septic tanks while others weren't.

Bags , I think some people go a bit OTT with cleaning, disinfecting etc, although I am possibly borderline OCD about hand washing when handling food!

I have wooden chopping boards that are sort of segregated, in that there is one that onions & garlic are chopped on (you can chop other things on them, but I tend to throw a bit of a fit if onions or garlic are chopped on the other boards , if you know what I mean). I also have a granite slab permanently on the worktop, yes, it does blunt knives but they are easily sharpened.

A chef friend of mine was so paranoid about raw poultry that he would only handle it wearing plastic gloves!

I think my worries over germs and bacteria began when we had cats that climbed everywhere so I always had to be careful about work surfaces in the kitchen. Then, when my daughter was pregnant each time I worried about food poisoning; the hand washing started when swine flu started [again when she was pregnant and we were concerned about her having the vaccine at the time]. We tend to eat a lot of supermarket chilled food as well. I never used to worry so much about hygiene. I work at a medical centre so I'm always worried about passing things on to the grandchildren [the swine flu winter was a nightmare as I was constantly coming into contact with sufferers, including the people I worked with]. I do think pet owners have to be extra vigilant because of worms and suchlike.

I keep bar keeper's friend in the kitchen, sprinkled on the stains and rubbed well removes most stains.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Ours go in the dishwasher.

I agree GandTea. I have never used bleach in my life- hot soapy water for me and the dishwasher appears to remove any food stains.

Why am I wondering about simranpatel's post?

Yes, bleach it!

I was also wondering why this 2012 thread has been resurrected. Didn't look at the link, may be advertising or just a new poster who didn't notice the date.

I like a drop of bleach myself. I cling to my wooden chopping board- the plastic ones are so cheap they can be renewed often.