What Should You Do If You Accidentally Mix Household Cleaning Products?

Mixing household cleaning products can create dangerous gases, even when each product is safe on its own. The most common dangerous combination is bleach with ammonia, which produces chloramine vapors, and bleach with acid (such as vinegar or some toilet bowl cleaners), which produces chlorine gas. These gases can cause severe breathing problems within minutes.

What is happening

When certain cleaners combine, a chemical reaction releases toxic fumes. You may notice a strong, sharp, or swimming-pool-like smell, burning in your nose or throat, coughing, or watery eyes. The danger depends on the products, the amount, and how much fresh air is available. Some reactions also produce heat or splatter that can burn skin and eyes.

Emergency warning

If you or anyone nearby has trouble breathing, chest tightness, persistent coughing, dizziness, or fainting, call your local emergency services immediately. Do not wait to see if symptoms improve. If you are unsure whether the mixture is dangerous, treat it as dangerous and call for help.

What to do first

1. Get out and get air. Leave the room or area right away. Move to fresh air outdoors or to a well-ventilated space away from the fumes.
2. Help others leave. If it is safe, make sure children, pets, and others in the area also move to fresh air. Do not go back inside to retrieve items.
3. Ventilate only if safe. If you can open windows and doors without staying in the fumes, do so. Otherwise, leave that to emergency responders.
4. Call for help. Contact local emergency services or a poison control center. Be ready to say which products were mixed and when.
5. Rinse exposed skin or eyes. If cleaner splashed on skin or in eyes, flush with plain cool water for 15-20 minutes. Remove contaminated clothing.
6. Keep the containers. If you can do so safely, keep the product labels or containers so responders know exactly what was mixed.

What NOT to do

• Do not try to neutralize the mixture or add more products to it.
• Do not stay in the room to clean up while fumes are present.
• Do not induce vomiting if someone swallowed a cleaner.
• Do not rely on a fan to make a toxic gas safe; some gases spread and the fan may spread them further.
• Do not re-enter until the area has been ventilated and the reaction has stopped.

When to call for help

Call emergency services immediately for any breathing difficulty, chest pain, confusion, fainting, or severe eye or skin burns. Call a poison control center for guidance if someone swallowed a product, has eye or skin exposure, or if you are unsure whether the mixture is toxic. Symptoms can worsen over time, so seek care even if you feel only mildly affected at first.

What to monitor

Watch for coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, throat or chest tightness, nausea, headache, dizziness, or eye and skin irritation. These can appear or worsen minutes after exposure. If symptoms do not improve quickly in fresh air, get medical help.

How to prevent it

• Never mix cleaning products. Use one product at a time and rinse surfaces between different products.
• Keep bleach separate from ammonia, vinegar, and acid-based cleaners.
• Read labels and follow the manufacturer's directions exactly.
• Store products in their original labeled containers, away from children and pets.
• Ventilate when cleaning, and never combine products in a bucket or toilet bowl.

If you are unsure whether a mixture is dangerous, leave the area, get fresh air, and call for guidance. This is general information and not a substitute for professional medical advice. In an emergency, call your local emergency services right away.