Plant pathogens on even tiny bits of soil, sap or plant debris can be transferred by shovels or cutting blades of pruning shears. These pathogens are microscopic and may still be present even if the tools look clean. Sterilize your garden tools, bonsai scissors or even seedling trays with 5000ppm chlorine bleach to prevent their spreading.
Diluting standard sodium hypochlorite-bleach from 5% to 0.5% (5000ppm) is easy. Just add one part bleach to 9 parts water. The tricky part is that the bleach exposed to atmospheric oxygen, whether undiluted in an opened bottle or diluted solution, degrades rapidly. Use Indigo® 10000ppm high level chlorine test strips to confirm your working bleach solution is at proper strength by matching the dipped strip to the 5000ppm pad on the color chart.
Before you start disinfecting your tools, clean them thoroughly first. Chlorine bound by organic matter whether its soil, sap or debris seriously reduces the effectiveness of bleach disinfectant solutions. See below for a typical tool cleaning & disinfection procedure.
To do a proper cleaning job on shovels, shears & clippers you'll need chlorine bleach, a container to hold the tools, gloves and a scrub brush.
Dilute the 5.25% bleach 1 part bleach to 9 parts water to make a 5000ppm solution.
Remove any dirt, debris, or plant residues using a scrub brush or sponge and soapy water.
Rinse with clean water to remove the soapy residue.
Fully immerse the cutting/digging parts of the garden tools in the 5000ppm bleach solution for 5-10 minutes to kill any pathogens or contaminants on the tools.
Remove the tools and rinse with clean water to remove any residual bleach.
Dry the tools completely to prevent rust and corrosion & then store in a clean, dry location.
When to clean?
If you're a tree surgeon? After each plant operation; if not:
Before you put them away for the winter.
Springtime, before use, if fall cleaning not done
Immediately after working with an infected plant
After working in a garden away from home & then at home.
Standard bleach is 5.25% but there are stronger & weaker versions on the market. The chlorine:water ratio of 1:9 won't for these to get 5000ppm. Watch this video on how to use our chlorine dilution calculator to take out the guesswork. The calculator works in metric (as were the guidelines done by the NIH, FDA, etc. before they converted to American units). Not to worry. A quart is basically the same as a litre, a gallon is 4 litres, a cup is 250ml, a tablespoon is 15mL & a teaspoon is 5ml. There is no need to be exact; the guidelines allow for this.
The number of strips (100) per vial is approximate.
Indigo® brand chlorine test strips are Made in USA & are tested for accuracy using NIST compliant standards. Click on the PDFs for Full documentation. A Certificate of Conformance is available on request.
Test Strip Documentation
Stability Statement
Certificate of Analysis
SDS
Calibration Fluid CoA
Rest assured, your garden tools can rely on Indigo® chlorine test strips!
Reviews (6)
2024-04-12
I have ordered these from Indigo Instruments for years. They are always shipped quickly and the product is of good quality.
— Betsy
2020-12-11
Great product and we use it daily to test our bleach solution. Working with Indigo Instruments was easy and our order arrived by the promised date even though we are in Hawaii.
— Kristi
2020-10-15
Order was easy and delivery was quick. Great product. Will order from them again.
— Debb Gagen
2020-08-05
Great service and excellent prices. Very fast delivery also
— Shirley
2020-04-21
Great product worked as expected. These strips were a great help to us and Indigo Instruments has been great to work with. Thanks!
— Steve
— Indigo: Glad we could help Steve. Thank you for review.
