spider mites and bleach

[Rema]

A few weeks ago I brought home 3 plants which the geeks here ID'ed as a Cym, a Den and a Phaius - since I first got them I've been putting off the repotting. For about a week now I noticed that the den was failing, with leaves yellowing and dropping off. Today I saw it was infested with spider mites (and well nourished ones too!!) and that they had also infested the Phaius that was right beside it. Thankfuly I had already moved all my other orchids outside and was waiting to repot these before moving them too. Since I have no products besides a teeny weeny container with Neem oil I figured it wouldn't be enough to save the plants, so I unpoted them and washed the affected areas with pure bleach (bleach here is about half the strengh of the american ones such as Clorox), I then rubbed each one of the leaves and rinsed them. I repeated this process a few times and them rinsed thoroughly. I repoted them in medium grade bark and since they were in what looked like regular sandy soil I added some very water retentive dry ground coconut. (I've just realized I am an "underwaterer"). So, What do you experienced geeks have to say about this? I truly hope I got rid of the mites and saved the plants.

[Rema]

here is the original thread with these:
What are these and how do I care for them?

[FLBob]

I use a bleach solution (1 part bleach 4 part water) in the same fashion to rid plants of mites and scale. I've never seen an ill effect on my plants, and it seems to do a good job of ridding the plants of pests.

[ridethespiral]

Originally Posted by FLBob

I use a bleach solution (1 part bleach 4 part water) in the same fashion to rid plants of mites and scale. I've never seen an ill effect on my plants, and it seems to do a good job of ridding the plants of pests.

I can't find cinnamon extract for very cheap around here so I wonder if this will work on my problem of tiny beetle like bugs in the substrate.