5 Cleansing Mixes You Should Never Make

We know: you always want to do your best to take care of work, children and house, but that’s not easy. That’s why we love those tips that make our lives easier, especially cleaning tricks.

However, due to lack of information, we can end up putting ourselves in danger. This is the case with mixing cleaning products: in an attempt to make your work easier, you can end up generating substances that are dangerous to your health.

As much as two products work wonderfully on their own, that doesn’t mean mixing the two will potentiate their effects. On the contrary: you could end up nullifying the cleaning properties of the products, harming your health and running the risk of causing an explosion.

To avoid these problems, know and write down these 5 cleaning product mixes that you should never do.

1. Bleach + Disinfectant

These two products are widely used and offer good results when used alone in cleaning the house, but mixing them together is dangerous.

Bleach has sodium hypochlorite as an active ingredient, which has germicidal properties and can be used as a bleach for clothes. Disinfectants, in turn, are rich in ammonia.

Thus, when these two products are mixed, the formation of chloramines occurs, substances that, if inhaled, can cause health problems ranging from allergies to poisoning and burns.

2. Bleach + Detergent

Like disinfectants, detergents can also contain amines. Thus, mixing this product with bleach leads to the formation of chloramines, which damage the respiratory tract.

It is worth noting that this mixture can occur unintentionally when we clean the sink right after washing the dishes without rinsing the remnants of detergent left in the tub. Therefore, always remove all detergent from the sink before applying bleach.

3. Bleach + Vinegar

Vinegar seems like an innocent spice that makes salads very tasty, as well as being a powerful cleaning agent. These properties are true, but vinegar can also pose a danger if mixed with bleach.

When combined, these two products form chlorine gas (Cl2), a yellow-green vapor that, even in small amounts, can cause coughing fits by irritating the airways, breathing problems and burning eyes.

4. Vinegar + Hydrogen Peroxide

The mixture of vinegar with hydrogen peroxide leads to the formation of peracetic acid, which in high concentration can cause irritation to the skin, eyes and respiratory system.

Peracetic acid can be found in chemical stores, but the lid of the package needs to be equipped with a special valve that allows the oxygen that forms inside the package to escape.

This means that if you mix vinegar and hydrogen peroxide at home and store it in a regular, airtight container, the release of oxygen can increase the internal pressure and end up rupturing the bottle.

5. Baking soda + Vinegar

If you attended a school science fair, you may remember that volcano that erupted when baking soda and vinegar were mixed together. In these conditions, where the foam and the carbon dioxide formed have a way to escape, mixing these two products is not dangerous, but it can even cause an explosion if done in a closed container.

Also, since baking soda is a basic substance and vinegar is an acidic substance, mixing the two results in water and a salt called sodium acetate, meaning you lose the cleaning properties these products had before.

For your safety, never mix cleaning products, not even products of the same kind, but from different brands. It is worth remembering that you must keep all these products out of the reach of children and animals and that the packaging must never be reused.