Effect of Bleach Fumes on Fire Arms

Question
Can bleach fumes resulting from daily household cleaning applications harm fire arms? I recently cleaned the mold from my bath tub using a goodly amount of Tilex mildew remover, which has a heavy concentration of bleach.  I kept the fan in the bathroom running and experienced no physical issues from the fumes.  However, my husband was pretty upset and thought I had used too much of the bleach solution and said that the caustic nature of the fumes could damage his handgun (in another room - although you could smell bleach in there). Is my husband's extreme concern/ caution in this regard founded?

Answer
Heather,

I'm not a chemist and there a lot of variables that come into play in regards to this issue.

I can tell you that the oxygen-bleaches vs the chlorine bleaches will have less of a corrosive effect. Also it is going to depend upon the concentration of the chlorine fumes, the proximity to the firearm, whether the firearm in question is stainless steel or blued, what kind of rust protectant that the gun finish has on it, etc.

My guess would be that it is doubtful that under the conditions that you described, (the active ingredients of Tilex, the fact that the gun is in a different room, the fact that it no doubt has rust inhibitors on the surface,)
that your husbands gun was subjected to conditions that would cause any corrosion on the gun in the short term.

I've stored blued firearms in a safe in a room immediately next to a wash-room where similar odor/fumes are prevalent with no noticeable adverse effects over a long period of time.

In short, I would not be concerned about it if it were me. However....... like they say "but that's just me".

Keep in mind Heather that this an educated guess on my part based upon your description, the conditions, the product used etc. and I suppose that your husband (if he looked hard enough) may be able to find a conflicting opinion somewhere else.

However........ "that's my story and I'm sticking to it"

Thanks for the question and good luck with all that.
Sid Lark