Danger in the Bathroom!

Time for confessions... I do make healthy, good-for-your-skin bath & body products, but have been resorting to using chemical-laden house-cleaning products. Recently, I decided it was time to really do some deep cleaning in my bathroom. First, I used a soap-scum remover all over the tile and floor of the shower. I rinsed it well. The next day, I was disappointed with how dingy it still looked. Hmm... chlorox would probably really whiten and brighten things (I thought). I proceeded to dump and mop the chlorox around the floor and base of the shower tiles where it was the dingiest and had some mildew. I finished and started to leave the bathroom. Suddenly, my airway felt like it was being tightened. I felt short of breath and tingly. When I would breathe in, it smelled and tasted like something was burning. Afraid that I might be not long for this world, I went to my husband, also a Paramedic, and explained what was going on. He went out to the ambulance and brought in a tank of O2 and put the non-rebreather on me. I felt extremely stupid! 

In time, I started feeling better and didn't really want to go to the hospital anyway since I still had my pajamas on! ;) I started trying to figure out what went wrong. I knew never to mix chemical cleansers - especially chlorox! The only thing I could think that went wrong was that the scum cleanser had nested down into the trap under the flooring of the shower and when I dumped chlorox on the floor (which went down the drain) it combined with leftover cleanser and produced toxic fumes.

I had been accumulating natural household cleanser recipes and this was what it took to make me realize that I would never again purchase killer cleansers at the store!