if elves lived in modern america they would be rednecks im sorry but it’s true. imagine you meet a tall guy who’s always in a baseball cap and driving around in his truck and learn that he’s a crack shot with a rifle, like insanely good. okay that’s pretty cool i guess. but it starts to get weird cuz he’s so good at identifying edible plants that he practically survives off of berries and wild game and his mom’s homemade bread which is the absolute best stuff you’ve ever tasted in your life. his truck, which he tells you he essentially built himself with the amount of repair and replacement work he put into it, is either insanely well-built or insanely lucky, and drives right on through snowdrifts and mud pits and potholes like they’re nothing. the first time he tries to take you on a hike he drags you uphill for two straight hours with a cheery smile on his face and seems genuinely surprised when you’re worn out at the top. sometimes when you’re out in the woods his head turns around at what you swear is literally nothing and he’s like “oh yeah there’s deer ‘round here you can hear 'em. loud as all get-out.” when he finally takes off his fluorescent orange snapback and shows you his pointy ears and tells you he’s immortal you’re just like oh that makes a lot of sense actually
tiktok has me STRESSED with their “cleaning aesthetic” vids, so here’s some things you should NOT mix when cleaning, and keep in mind that these can be components in cleaners that should not be mixed (for example, windex usually has ammonia in it and thus should be treated the same way):
bleach and vinegar: creates chlorine gas
bleach and ammonia: creates chloramine gas
bleach and rubbing alcohol: creates chloroform, hydrochloric acid, and chloroacetone
bleach and toilet bowl cleaner: if you’re using an acid-based toilet bowl cleaner, combining it with bleach will create chlorine gas
bleach and mold or mildew stain removers: acid-based stain remover=same as above
bleach and oven cleaners: many oven cleaners contain sodium hydroxide, which creates chlorine gas when combined with bleach
bleach and lysol: chlorine gas once again
(really just never mix bleach with anything other than water) (please stop fucking around with bleach)
drain cleaners: if you use one drain cleaner, do NOT follow it up with another. follow package directions on the one you’re using. you could cause an explosion that could also blind you if it gets in your eyes.
hydrogen peroxide and vinegar: you can spray these on the same surface and wipe down in between and make sure it’s dry before applying the other, but don’t combine them in one container bc you’re going to make peracetic acid.
surface cleaning powders: products based on oxalic acid-based cleaners (Bar Keepers Friend) and products based on trichloroisocyanuric acid (Ajax/Comet powders) create chlorine gas
good rule of thumb: always stick to one cleaner per surface/item that you’re cleaning to avoid interactions
i don’t vibe with the energy of some of the tags on this, so i wanted to clarify that this is not at ALL written in the spirit of “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU DIDN’T KNOW THIS, IDIOT”
you don’t know what you don’t know until you learn it
if you didn’t know this before, now you do! that’s great!
I once moved into a cheap apartment where the previous owner must’ve had a cat because one corner of one bedroom reeked of old cat pee. I decided to fix the stench by dumping a bunch of bleach in that corner.
What I didn’t know is that concentrated cat urine is basically ammonia, which when mixed with bleach produces chlorine gas: the same chemical warfare stuff that killed soldiers in WWI.
I’m a pretty smart guy, but in my ignorance I nearly gassed myself to death.
