Well, I'm trying to be frugal and earth friendly. So I've made my own laundery detergent and make-up remover wipes, and I was trying to make my own dishwasher detergent. I found quite a few recipes online, most of which called for either washing soda or baking soda mixed with equal parts salt and borax. Easy enough, but most of the blogs said that this may cause a film on your dishes, which could be corrected with citric acid. No problem! I already use citric acid in the dishwasher for exactly that reason!
So, apparently ignorant of the most basic laws of chemistry, I mixed equal parts of washing soda, salt, and boric acid with half as much citric acid. It clumped up in the container, so I added some warm water, put on the lid, and shook it up. As I started to shake it up, the container started to expand, so I shut my eyes and started to loosen the lid. Before I could get the lid off, KABOOM!! The container exploded all over me and all over the kitchen. The ceiling fan was drenched! My kids were crying and asking if I was alive and if I could see. I hadn't even considered blindness until they brought it up, then I was afraid to open my eyes!
I can still see, and I guess this is a lesson learned. Don't try this one at home!
Wow. Glad you are OK. I sent you the laundry soap Carrie, Nicole and I use... we have not had any explosions yet:)
ReplyDeleteOne word that sums up frugal AND earth friendly.... SHAKLEE! When are you going to give it a try!?
ReplyDeleteThere are certainly some Shaklee products that I love....the basic cleaner Liz gave me works wonders in the kitchen, and is well worth the money. But I was so turned off by this lady who lectured me for an hour on how $300 per month of Shaklee vitamins would "cure" my son of Crohn's disease. She really minimized our situation and tried to make me feel guilty for pursuing an evidence-based course of medical therapy rather than her anecdotal "evidence". It's really not the money I'm not willing to invest, it's the time. And besides, this experiment was pretty fun!
ReplyDeleteA. I smell science fair
ReplyDeleteB. I, an eye nurse, am here for you prn
C. Shaklee is awesome, but the whole "vitamins will fix everything" movement loses me as well.
D. Love this blog!!!