Cleaning Products You Should Never, Ever Mix
These dangerous duos could leave you coughing and wheezing — or may even explode.
Make it a rule to never mix bleach with anything but plain water.
Bleach + Ammonia
Bleach and ammonia produce a toxic gas called chloramine. "It causes the same symptoms as bleach and vinegar — along with shortness of breath and chest pain,"
Bleach and Toilet Bowl Cleaner
The mixture of an acidic-based toilet bowl cleaner with bleach is bad for your health. It releases toxic fumes that can cause breathing issues and watery eyes.
Bleach + Rubbing Alcohol
Perhaps you've heard of chloroform? Although it might not actually make you pass out, this combination can be irritating and toxic.
Mildew Stain Remover and Bleach
Mildew stain remover contains acid, which, when combined with bleach, produces chlorine gas. Avoid irritation of the eyes, nose, throat and lungs by steering clear of this combo.
Disinfectant and Bleach
Disinfectant shouldn't be mixed with bleach. The bleach oxidizes the 2-benzyl-4-chlorophenol that is in disinfectant, resulting in various irritating and toxic compounds.
Oven Cleaner and Bleach
Bleach is often considered the go-to for getting all sorts of cleaning jobs done, but there are many things it shouldn't be mixed with, and oven cleaner is one of them! The combination can produce chlorine gas, resulting in irritation of the eyes, nose, throat and lungs.
Dish Detergent and Bleach
Many dish detergents on the market today, like Dawn, add ammonia to boost cleaning power. If used in combination with bleach, the reaction will result in toxic gas being formed. Bleach and Lemon Juice
It makes sense that if acidic commercial cleaning products mix poorly with bleach, a simple addition of acidic lemon juice does too. Avoid the harmful result of chlorine gas by choosing one or the other.
Bleach and Lemon Juice
It makes sense that if acidic commercial cleaning products mix poorly with bleach, a simple addition of acidic lemon juice does too. Avoid the harmful result of chlorine gas by choosing one or the other.
Glass Cleaner and Bleach
Mixing bleach with glass cleaner like Windex releases toxic gases and produces toxic chemicals. One of the ingredients in Windex is ammonia. The combination of ammonia and bleach's main ingredient, sodium hypochlorite, produces chloramine vapor.
FYI: Do not clean chairs and upholstery materials with ammonia and/or bleach as it will alter their properties and will destroy them in time!
Bleach + Vinegar
"Together, they produce chlorine gas, which even at low levels, can cause coughing, breathing problems, and burning, watery eyes,"
Baking Soda + Vinegar
"Baking soda is basic and vinegar is acidic,". "When you put them together you get mostly water and sodium acetate. But really, just mostly water." Plus, vinegar causes baking soda to foam up. If stored in a closed container, the mixture can explode.
Hydrogen Peroxide + Vinegar
Combining them creates peracetic acid, which is potentially toxic and can irritate the skin, eyes, and respiratory system.
Vinegar and Water (on Hard Wood Floors)
It may not be dangerous, but the combination of vinegar and water to clean your hard wood floors could be costly. Vinegar is acidic, and can damage the finish on your floor, resulting in a dull appearance. Furthermore, a solution of vinegar and water to clean is mostly water and while the combination works for other surfaces, it can result in moisture damage to your hard wood floors.
Certain Pesticides and Water
Cleaning up around the house can result in some yucky discoveries, like finding bugs and spiders! But before you combine a strong pesticide with water, don't! Certain pesticides, when combined with water, create deadly phosphine gas.
Drain Cleaner + Drain Cleaner
"I would never recommend mixing two different drain cleaners or even using one right after the other,". "These are powerful formulas, and could even explode if combined.
Antibacterials/Disinfectants and Detergent
Mixing a disinfectant that uses quaternary ammonia with a foaming cleanser (think of mixing Formula 409 Multi-Surface Cleaner with a foamy soap), may seem like the perfect combo to double down on picking up grime, but it actually results in quite the opposite. The combination neutralizes the disinfectant.
"Even other products like window and toilet bowl cleaners can have ingredients, like acids or ammonia, that shouldn't be mixed with bleach,"