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Writing this outside, cos nearly poisoned myself. Did the usual of sharing the big bottle of bleach between downstairs and upstairs loos... but the downstairs loo bottle had had Harpic in previously and still some in the bottom. Nearly knocked me over when I poured the bleach in.
https://www.hunker.com/13421915/the-danger-of-mixing-bleach-toilet-cleaner
Is this common knowledge? How did I get to my age without learning this important information?! Doh!
According to my family legends, my family were specialists at making that gas 😀
I wonder sometimes how I made it to adulthood.
Blimey. My inner assassin is taking notes.
Wasn't there a fella killed on the bog as his crapsules mixed the layers of two products left by the cleaner...or something?
Is this common knowledge?
Not common enough. Even though it makes the news from time to time when fatalities occur.
I recently stuck my head in my fermentation vessel after emptying the beer (to enjoy the smell!), which of course was pure co2. My god it was unpleasant. Not a mistake I'll make again!
Not common enough
Too right! I always presumed stuff like Harpic was just bleach with some other stuff added. Well you live (thankfully) and learn.
Yep you can use a similar reaction it to good effect sterilizing equipment by mixing a very small amount of bleach and white vinegar in a big bucket of water, similar reaction but the outcome is a a chlorine solution IIRC. And the concentrations are low enough that it's deemed safe to not need rinsing afterwards so remains sterile.
Basicly, never mix bleach with anything acidic (which is most other household cleaners as the acidity removes limescale and stops it leaving streaks).
DezB
Full Member
Not common enough
Too right! I always presumed stuff like Harpic was just bleach with some other stuff added. Well you live (thankfully) and learn.
Genuinely news to me too. Harpic just a brand name for a bleach product in my head.
Good to know.👍
It does say on the back of bleach bottles not to mix with anything else.
I dispute that article and doubt whether it's chloramine, but that's splitting hairs. Bleach is hypochlorite, and you'll get chloramine from hypochlorite and ammonia based cleaners, but toilet cleaners, eg: harpic is likely to be acid, and they together will liberate chlorine rather than chloramine.
Not quite as nasty but still pretty grim. How bad was it, it's corrosive and you could have chemical burns in the airways and lungs if you inhaled much. Call 111.
For some reason I'm Disappointed that poopscoop is not a font of knowledge on toilet cleaning products.
together will liberate chlorine
Made that mistake today. Bathroom window still open.
How long ago was this? Symptoms can be delayed by hours......
<h2>Immediate signs and symptoms of chlorine exposure</h2>
- During or immediately after exposure to dangerous concentrations of chlorine, the following signs and symptoms may develop:
- Blurred vision
- Burning pain, redness, and blisters on the skin if exposed to gas. Skin injuries similar to frostbite can occur if it is exposed to liquid chlorine
- Burning sensation in the nose, throat, and eyes
- Coughing
- Chest tightness
- Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. These may appear immediately if high concentrations of chlorine gas are inhaled, or they may be delayed if low concentrations of chlorine gas are inhaled.
- Fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema) that may be delayed for a few hours
- Nausea and vomiting
- Watery eyes
- Wheezing
PLEASE PHONE 111 AT THE VERY LEAST
How bad was it,
Was already feeling a bit rough after giving myself mild food poisoning yesterday. (I’m a bit dim in case you hadn’t realised 🤓)
Gave myself half hour and didn’t feel any worse, no dizziness, coughing or anything so will report back in the morning. All being well an’ that 😊
alternatively a poem to pass the time while you wait to see if you have inhaled enough
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46560/dulce-et-decorum-est
Phone 111. Now, not if you start getting worse.
Is this common knowledge? How did I get to my age without learning this important information?!
It’s certainly something I remember reading about quite some time back, there was quite a lot in the news about it, I think after a number of unfortunate incidents caused by people doing exactly that.
I’ll be honest, generally speaking it’s not something I actually think about, but if I’m putting any sort of cleaner into the loo, a little voice pipes up at the back of my mind about it, and I only ever use one product at a time.
I recently stuck my head in my fermentation vessel after emptying the beer (to enjoy the smell!), which of course was pure co2. My god it was unpleasant. Not a mistake I’ll make again!
I stuck my nose into a container of sodium metabisulfite(used to clean containers in beer making), wondering what the smell was like and took a big breath through my nose.
Also something I'll not be doing ever again 😆
I seem to recall when I first joined the Civil Service many years ago amongst the usual bollocks office safety talk they mentioned this - someone had apparently died while trying to freshen the office loos.
Quite a lot of CS safety rules seemed to be a result of someone dying in unusual circumstances.
Doesn’t urine and bleach also give off a nasty gas? Make sure you flush a few times before peeing
Wow..I genuinely had no idea about this. I thought harpic/toilet cleaner/bleach was pretty much all the same stuff and just throw in whatever i have lying around..yikes..
On a (sort of) related note.
I have been using strong bleach to clean 'black spot' off Indian sandstone, i considered adding something to stop it spreading / keep it where it needed to be. Flour? Surely it is just ground up wheat seeds?
With third hand experience of 'one product good, two products better' fail, i thought it best to check.
Google says... Ut-ah. Produces some sort of chlorine gas apparantly. Probably ok outside, but why risk it.
Could be worse, like making phosgene by welding around chlorinated solvents....
https://www.brewracingframes.com/safety-alert-brake-cleaner--phosgene-gas.html
For a while we employed a cleaner at home once a fortnight and her contract very clearly stated that they are not allowed to use any bleach products provided for this very reason. The agent went as far to say there were a number of cleaner deaths as a result of this.
Doesn’t urine and bleach also give off a nasty gas? Make sure you flush a few times before peeing
It can do - urine contains urea CO(NH2)2 which can react with the sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) in bleach to form chloramine gas but generally the concentrations of both aren't enough to give clouds of the stuff, more just a slight whiff.
Harpic + bleach on the other hand will give off a decent amount of chlorine. Harpic is basically just hydrochloric acid with a thickening agent and fragrances added.
Cilit bang and bleach is not a combination I am in a rush to experience again
If you have a hot tub, just be careful when 'shock dosing' and then turn the bubbles on to mix it. get out of the way. Chlorine gas. Nearly done it a few times, and that's a well vented area.
Oh, at least I didn’t get a raft of “You idiot, everyone knows that!” replies!
Useful info for some, by the look of it. Cool.
No after effects here anyway. Left the loo window open and there was no gaseous whiff this morning (apart from the obvious 😁)
Yeah never mix bleach with any other products it can be pretty nasty stuff. Chlorine is terrible stuff, despite that some NHS trusts bought chlorine tablets to clean down areas during the pandemic.
My MiL managed that too, decided that if bleach was good for cleaning, bleach+something other cleaner would be even better...
(Un?)fortunately she survived 😀
Yep, bleach after cleaning with vinegar is pretty bad as well...
tagnut69
Free Member
Cilit bang and bleach is not a combination I am in a rush to experience again
Not surprised with your username!
I knew this, and I'd been told in a domestic 'don't do this' context rather than science learning or 'did you know' factology. More specifically, I was told never to mix cleaners in general, and I learned about the specifics via other means.
Back in the 80's I had to follow a blue light ambulance from the mill in a car as one of the millers had moved the flour bleaching gas line and inhaled a good lung-full of chlorine (used on high ratio cake flour to make it really white).
The miller spent 2 hours in a room with the windows wide open in the depths of winter while they assessed his lung function before sending him home with an instruction to sleep propped up to reduce any risk of drowning. He didn't make that mistake again.
On the subject of 'domestic stuff you didn't realise could kill you', this reddit thread from today is quite the eye opener.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/mzwd8x/what_seems_harmless_but_is_incredibly_dangerous/
My favourites are 'messing with garage door springs' and 'eating five-day-old pasta and rice'
'Being dissolved in a Yellowstone hot spring' gets an honourable mention, although not really a home-based danger.
Tell the ladder one to WCA... 🙁
I was thinking of this thread on Sunday as I was haphazardly spraying black mould remover on a shower head I'd also just sprayed limescale remover on, still alive though...
On a loosely related note the first time I used the limescale stuff I noticed my hand burning after a bit and quickly rinsed it off. In hindsight I should have worn rubber gloves but is it just me being dim thinking the packaging info etc. isn't very clear?
web-page: https://hg.eu/uk/products/hg-professional-limescale-remover has pictures of a bare hand and sponge mock applying it (and in the video)
PDF of bottle label:
in the "Directions for use" and "Attention" section is doesn't mention wearing gloves. However in the warning section it mentions "causes severe skin burns" surely that should be more prominent :p
surely that should be more prominent
See that big red diamond in the top right corner with a picture of a hand burning/dissolving?
AdBlue (33% urea) and hypochlorite (14%) 🌋👌