Cleaning Ingredients You Should Never Mix

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Inside: Want to start making your own cleaners? It’s so much fun, but don’t forget there are some cleaning ingredients you should never mix. Check them out. 

Currently, it has become more and more difficult to get some of the cleaners in the store. Even Amazon is running low on a lot of cleaners.

If you are like a lot of people recently you have started making your own cleaners.

I have noticed a huge increase in people coming to my site to learn how to make their own cleaners at home.

Making your own cleaners is a great way to save some money and use the supplies you have at home when the stores are out of cleaners.

Over the years I have played with and perfected my cleaning products. Not only are they cheaper than buying them in the store, but I think they look prettier too.

My favorite all-purpose cleaner looks nice even if it is just sitting out on the counter.

However, when you are mixing and matching there are some you want to be very careful with.

Some cleaners when mixed together don’t even clean well.

But, some cleaning ingredients mixed together become toxic, so I thought I would come up with a list of cleaning ingredients you should never mix.

Cleaning Ingredients You Should Never Mix

Before you start whipping up your own homemade cleaners check out this list of cleaning ingredients you should never mix.

Bleach + Vinegar-

Bleach and vinegar are both great cleaners! I use them both almost every week.

Bleach can do a great job of disinfecting laundry and your home. Vinegar also can kill germs (although not as well as bleach) and helps get rid of smells.

However, bleach and vinegar together lead to a nasty chlorine gas that can cause a chemical burn. In fact, bleach and vinegar chlorine gas was used in the first World War.

I love using bleach to clean my bathtub, but I make sure to skip the vinegar when I am cleaning with bleach.

This is one combination that you want to avoid!

Baking Soda + Vinegar-

Unless you are cleaning out your drains baking soda and vinegar shouldn’t be mixed.

They both are great cleaners on their own, but together they just cancel each other out leaving you without a cleaner.

After the big fizz of combining the two, you are pretty much left with a mixture similar to salt water.

When cleaning out drains that bubbly effect can help clear the drains so it is really the only time I recommend using the two products together.

Vinegar + Hydrogen Peroxide-

Hydrogen Peroxide and Vinegar both work great to clean and can disinfect products.

However, together they become toxic and can irritate the skin, eyes, and lungs.

If you are cleaning something use one of the two, not both.

Vinegar will work best if you are trying to get rid of hard water or mineral deposits. It also helps to absorb bad smells.

Hydrogen peroxide works better to disinfect and can be used to clean everything from stains on laundry to disinfecting toothbrushes and cutting boards.

Choose one or the other when you are cleaning or making your own cleaners, but not both together.

Rubbing Alcohol + Bleach-

Bleach and rubbing alcohol are another one to skip mixing together.

Both bleach and rubbing alcohol are great at disinfecting and killing off germs and viruses.

You can use bleach to kill off germs in the laundry. Rubbing alcohol works great to make a homemade lysol.

When you mix bleach with rubbing alcohol you have made Chloroform.

Since there are probably better ways to get out of cleaning than to knock yourself out I would skip mixing these two together. 😉

Skip mixing these two cleaners together.

Ammonia + Bleach-

Ammonia is great at getting rid of baked on stains or hardened foods. I love to use it to clean my stove burners.

Ammonia and bleach together make a nasty little gas that is extremely toxic.

You definitely don’t want to mix these two together. In fact, the liquid could potentially explode too. It is best just to let these two cleaners work alone.

So, if you are wanting to start making your own cleaners go at it. Just make sure you avoid mixing these cleaners together.

Looking for a few cleaning recipes? Check out my favorites here.

P.S. For more cleaning tricks and frugal tips delivered to your inbox subscribe here!

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