We’re all looking for ways to make our environments a little cleaner these days, and popular cleaning and disinfecting products can be hard to find on store shelves. Aldi has stepped up its game by introducing some new cleaners, and after seeing some buzz online about Cloralen cleaning products, I decided to give them a try.
What Cloralen products are available at your local Aldi may vary, but at my store I found three different products:
- Cloralen Multipurpose Cleaner with Bleach at $1.59 for a 22-oz. spray bottle
- Cloralen Bathroom Cleaner with Bleach at $1.59 for a 22-oz. spray bottle
- Cloralen Bleach at $0.49 for a 32.12-oz. bottle
Based on the price signs on store shelves, the multipurpose and bathroom cleaners appear to be Regular Buys available year round at Aldi, while the bleach was marked as a limited-time Aldi Find (Special Buy) that will only be in stores for a short period. If there’s one thing I’ve learned this past year, though, it’s that I can’t always predict what kinds of cleaning products will be on the shelves at a variety of retailers on any given day because of high demand, so things can always change.
Cloralen is not a brand that is exclusive to Aldi. Various Cloralen products are also sold at Walmart, Target, Home Depot, and more. Aldi generally seems to offer the lowest price, with some of the Cloralen spray cleaners priced at $1.62 (Walmart), $1.99 (Home Depot), and $2.99 (Menards) at the time of publication, but whether the price difference is negligible or significant depends on where you shop.
The Cloralen brand is produced under AlEn USA, which is a subsidiary of Industrias AlEn, a chemical products company based in Monterrey, Mexico. The sales office for the U.S. and the Caribbean is in Houston, Texas. Besides Cloralen, other cleaning brands the company produces include Pinol, Pinalen, Flash, and Ensueño.
All three of the Cloralen products I purchased at Aldi state that they are made in Mexico. The bleach bottle states that in Mexico, Cloralen goes by the brand name Cloralex.
Because these contain bleach and other chemicals, if you’re looking for natural or gentle cleansers, that’s not what these are. If you want some real workhorses that will sanitize and disinfect, though, these will do the job.
Read on for more details about each product.
Cloralen Multipurpose Cleaner with Bleach
As mentioned above, Cloralen Multipurpose Cleaner with Bleach cost $1.59 for a 22-oz. spray bottle at the time of publication. At this time, it appears to be a Regular Buy that is available at Aldi all year.
It claims to have 3-in-1 action to deep clean, eliminate stains, and remove grease. It advertises a fresh scent, and it does have a zippy, slightly piney smell that mingles with the traditional scent of bleach. The bottle states it can be used to clean the stove, range hood, countertops, tile walls, sink, toilet, bathtub, shower, windows, tables, garbage cans, and chairs.
Ingredients are: water, sodium hypochlorite, dimethyl cocamine, sodium hydroxide, and fragrance.
Instructions and precautions. (Click to enlarge.)
To use:
- Turn nozzle to STREAM or SPRAY position.
- Spray 6-8 inches from surface to be cleaned.
- Let stand a few minutes.
- Wipe clean or rinse with a cloth or sponge. (Be sure to rinse well with clean water all food contact surfaces.)
Cloralen Bathroom Cleaner with Bleach
As mentioned above, Cloralen Bathroom Cleaner with Bleach cost $1.59 for a 22-oz. spray bottle at the time of publication. At this time, it appears to be a Regular Buy that is available at Aldi all year.
It claims to eliminate mold and mildew stains while also deep cleaning. It advertises a fresh scent, and I think this cleaner has more pine notes in it than the multipurpose cleaner, and overall it has a good smell for a product that contains bleach. The bottle states it can be used to clean toilets, tile, sinks, tubs, and ceramic surfaces.
Ingredients are: water, sodium hypochlorite, fragrance, dimethyl cocamine, and sodium hydroxide.
Instructions and precautions. (Click to enlarge.)
To use:
- Turn nozzle to STREAM or SPRAY position.
- Spray 6-8 inches from the surface to be cleaned.
- Let stand a few minutes.
- Wipe with a sponge or brush.
- Rinse well.
Cloralen Bleach
As mentioned above, Cloralen Bleach cost $0.49 for a 32.12-fluid oz. bottle at the time of publication. At this time, it appears to be an Aldi Find (Special Buy) that is only in stores for a short time, and once it sells out, it’s gone.
This is a small bottle of bleach, so it may not be as good of a deal as the larger Tandil jugs of bleach also sold at Aldi, but if you only need a small bottle of bleach, this will do the job.
This bleach bottle states it is compatible with high-efficiency washers and works to deodorize, whiten, and deep clean.
Directions for use are:
- Floors (cleaning) — Add 1/2 cup of Cloralen Bleach to one gallon of water. Apply and let it stand for five minutes. Then rinse with water.
- Bathrooms (cleaning and deodorizing) — Add 1/2 cup of Cloralen Bleach to one gallon of water. Apply and let stand for five minutes. Then rinse with water.
- Laundry (whitening and deodorizing) — For standard laundry machines, dilute 1/2 cup of Cloralen Bleach in water per load. For HE laundry machines, fill bleach dispenser with Cloralen Bleach to the maximum level. For hand washing, dilute 1/3 cup of Cloralen Bleach with 2 1/2 gallons of water.
The bottle also advises that this will not turn clothes yellow, and that it is safe for white cotton, linen, and polyester. Do not pour the bleach directly on clothes but instead dilute it with ambient temperature water (around 64 degrees Fahrenheit).
The Verdict:
Cloralen cleaning products are not exclusive to Aldi and can be found at retailers such as Walmart, Target, and big box home improvement stores. Cloralen products at Aldi include bottled bleach and multipurpose or bathroom spray cleaners with bleach. The spray cleaners have a fresh scent with notes of pine, and all of them do the job if you need to clean, whiten, deodorize, sanitize, or disinfect.
