I wouldn’t Do That If I Were You!

Most of us don’t realise we could be putting our lives at risk by the simplest of actions. I’m not talking crossing the road or driving the car, i’m talking about trying to save a few pennies by stretching out your household cleaning products.

You may not realise this, but, trying to get an extra squeeze of floor cleaner or a few more drops of bleach by adding a diluting agent like water or vinegar will have disastrous and in some cases lethal consequences.

Below are a couple of examples of what you get when you mix household products with other items.

Bleach & Vinegar

Mixing ordinary vinegar with bleach will kill you if you do this inside the house. Bleach is Sodium Hypochlorite in a water solution, now if you introduce Vinegar into that mix, Vinegar is Acetic acid, the acid compound changes the chemical state of the Hypochlorite in the bleach into Chlorine Gas that will attack and eat away the lining of your lungs and in sufficient volume will kill you. Bad Idea.

Bleach & Ammonia

This nasty little combination will get you on two fronts. Firstly, the Ammonia breaks down the Bleach and partly converts the Sodium Hypochlorite into Hydrochloric Acid which is the same acid in your stomach and will do some very nasty things if you get it on your skin. Secondly, the now Hydrochloric acid reacts with the remaining Hypochlorite and releases Chlorine Gas. Burned and gassed. Nasty.

OR

The mixture will release Chloramine Vapour which can condense and form Hydrazine. Chloramine burns your eyes and respiratory system and can lead to internal organ damage. If there is enough ammonia in the mixture, hydrazine may be produced. Hydrazine is not only toxic, but also potentially explosive. Bang for your buck taken literally.

Bleach & Rubbing Alcohol

This one is my favourite because it immobilises you first, then kills you. The sodium hypochlorite in household bleach reacts with ethanol or isopropanol in rubbing alcohol to produce chloroform.  Breathing enough chloroform will knock you out, which will make you unable to move to fresh air. Breathing too much will kill you.

Basically, do not add a foreign item to your cleaning products, especially if it contains a bleach, trying to make it go further or work better by adding other liquids will not be beneficial for you.