The Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled about 6.3 million bottles of scented Mistolin and Lestoil multi-purpose cleaners sold in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, after testing found the products may contain a bacteria capable of causing serious infections in people with weakened immune systems. No injuries or illnesses have been reported so far, but the recall covers more than a year of production, and the products remain widely recognized on store shelves across the two territories.
A Bacteria Best Known From Hospitals
The organism at the center of the recall is Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes as an environmental germ found widely in soil and water that most commonly causes trouble in healthcare settings. People with healthy immune systems are usually unaffected by exposure. The CPSC’s recall notice, issued September 3, 2026 and included in a wider weekly recall roundup from ConsumerAffairs, warns that people with weakened immune systems, or those using external medical devices such as catheters, face a risk of serious infection if exposed, since the bacteria can enter the body through inhalation, the eyes, or a break in the skin.
Which Bottles Are Covered
The recall applies only to scented versions of the two cleaning lines, sold in 28-, 40-, 64-, and 128-fluid-ounce bottles. On the Mistolin side, the affected scents include Alegra tu Día, Espíritu Play, Flores de Primavera, Fresco Despertar, Frescura de Lavanda, Frescura Tropical, Manzana y Canela, Pino y Especias, and Sólo para Ti. The affected Lestoil scents are Energía del Yunque, Fuerza de Lavanda Tropical, Intenso Limón Boricua, and Olas de Rincón. Unscented versions of both product lines are not part of the recall, according to the CPSC, which specified that only scented formulations were affected. Consumers should check the date code printed on the side of each bottle: recalled units carry the prefix ‘PR01’ followed by a five-digit number between 25091 and 26168, corresponding to products manufactured between April 1, 2025, and June 17, 2026.
Where The Cleaners Were Sold
The recalled Mistolin and Lestoil cleaners were manufactured in Puerto Rico by Clorox Manufacturing Company of Puerto Rico and sold exclusively in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, at retailers including Walmart, Sam’s Club, Costco, Supermercados Econo, and Supermercados Selecto, for between $1.40 and $8 a bottle. The recall does not extend to Clorox products sold in the continental United States, since the affected Mistolin and Lestoil formulations are marketed specifically to Puerto Rico and Caribbean consumers. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have a combined population of a few million people, and Mistolin is a widely recognized household cleaning brand there, which helps explain how a recall confined to two territories can still cover more than six million bottles.
How To Get A Refund
Consumers who have a recalled bottle are told to stop using it immediately and register the product for a refund rather than attempt to exchange it in-store. The process requires uploading a photograph of the bottle’s 12-digit UPC code along with the date code printed on the side of the container; Clorox Puerto Rico has set up a dedicated recall website and a toll-free phone line to process claims, and consumers are instructed to dispose of the cleaner, in its original container, with regular household trash once it has been registered.
Clorox’s Second Bacteria Recall In Recent Years
This is not the first time a Clorox-branded cleaning product has been pulled over bacterial contamination. The company previously recalled millions of bottles of Pine-Sol multi-surface cleaner over a similar bacterial hazard, and the CPSC later announced that Clorox agreed to pay a civil penalty of roughly $14 to $15 million for failing to immediately report the bacterial hazard once the company became aware of it, as federal law requires. That earlier case involved a different product line and a different bacterial contaminant than the one identified in the Mistolin and Lestoil recall, but it illustrates the same underlying risk regulators have flagged repeatedly in liquid cleaning products: bacteria can sometimes survive or grow inside a sealed bottle if manufacturing or preservation controls fail, even in a product designed to disinfect other surfaces.
No Illnesses Reported Yet, But The Risk Window Is Long
The CPSC’s notice lists no confirmed injuries or illnesses tied to the recalled cleaners, and the recall was announced before any reported infections surfaced, based on internal testing or manufacturing review rather than a cluster of consumer complaints. That distinguishes it from recalls that follow a string of injury reports, and it means the true public-health impact, if any, may not be clear for some time, since Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in vulnerable people can take days to develop and are not always traced back to a specific household product.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors.
More from Morning Overview
