Most of us think of our homes as our safe-havens . After all, it’s the one place we feel the most secure. But I’m not sure if you realize that some common household objects are more dangerous than we thought.
So when I recently stumbled upon this Reddit thread that asked, “What household object do most people not realize that if used incorrectly, could easily kill them?” I was really intrigued. Let’s check out some of the answers folks provided.
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Oven Cleaner
“Oven cleaner. Had a friend of the family use it on a warm oven and breathed it in. Messed up her lungs and died in hospital.”
OMG! I actually had no idea about this. The fact this even exists is extremely troubling to me.
These Two Mixed Together
“Bleach and ammonia cleaners create toxic gas which smells and tastes funny, and makes your nose and eyes run.”
Oh, that sounds like a deadly combination so yes make sure you never mix these two together.
Water
“Not sure if this is entirely related but I feel like it’s surprising that most people don’t know that you can’t put out a grease fire with water.”
I remember being told this as a kid, and it has stayed ingrained in my memory.
Candles
“Candles. Just because they’re trendy and smell nice, doesn’t mean they’re not still a naked flame that can cause a house fire that can kill you in your sleep.”
Never light a candle and go lie down. That’s not a good idea.
Ladders
“My brother’s father-in-law died falling off a ladder. He wasn’t even high up, just fell badly. His wife (a nurse) tried CPR, but he didn’t make it. He had no other health problems.”
Oh my goodness! That’s a such tragic story.
Compressed Air
“Using compressed air cans near a stove.”
“Yeah, most people don’t read the fine print, but ‘canned air’ very often contains a lot of propane or butane.”
Wow! I actually didn’t realize that. We always have compressed air that we use to clean our computer keyboards.
Stairs
“Because it hasn’t been said here yet …[expletive] STAIRS. I’ve fallen downstairs at my work, banged my head and woke up in the hospital…. I wasn’t running down them, one [expletive] loose floorboard on the edge made me fall down 6-8 steps.’
Yikes!
Humidifier
“I thought I cleaned it well but apparently you need to drown it in bleach and or hot water to get all that bacteria out from giving you a severe lung infection.”
Oh-oh! I’m off to thoroughly clean mine now. Thanks for the tip.
Lift Cords
“Lift cords on blind windows. I’ve heard a lot of stories of children getting tangled in them by the neck and dying. They have cordless blinds now so those are way better.”
This definitely makes a lot of sense.
Pressure washers
“The jet immediately penetrates the skin, injecting whatever’s inside the washer or lining the washer into the bloodstream. Even new, first-time use cases can cause severe damage to the body. Do NOT play with pressure washers.”
Oh, I’ve heard that you have to be extremely careful to use those.
Magnets
“Toddlers will put *anything* in their mouth. If they swallow one magnet, they’ll likely be fine. If they swallow two, they can have an intestinal perforation. Without the words to communicate what’s wrong, it can easily be deadly.”
My goodness! I’ve heard about this before.
Toaster
“You should clean ur toaster because if too many bread crumbs collect they could actually catch fire through the heat of the toaster.”
And this is why we got a toaster oven. It’s way easier to clean and get rid of all the debris.
Extension Cords
“Cheap extension cords and power strips, especially ones without built-in fail-safes that trip them if they are overloaded. The number of people who I see using those cheap, brown, dollar store extension cords, loading up every single available outlet, and leaving them plugged in 24/7 for years on end, makes me cringe.”
Don’t be cheap, just buy the good one instead.
Microwaves
“There’s a reason they have a warning to not [mess] with them even if they’re not plugged in. You can still absolutely get fried if you open it up to mess with it. You’re not safe just because it’s unplugged.”
That’s right. Leave that microwave alone, alright?
Gas Fireplace
“Don’t know if it counts but gas fireplace heaters are dangerous if they are not properly checked by a qualified maintenance tech, or in the case of my high school friend, the gas appliance engineer took a bribe from the landlord’s son, and my friend died from carbon monoxide poisoning as a result, arseholes got suspended sentences but 10-year probation.”
OMG! I’m pretty shocked by that.
Pressure Cooker
“This almost happened to my grandmother some 30 years ago. One Saturday morning, she was preparing lunch, when the valves of the pressure cooker failed and this damn thing exploded. The safety valve itself got launched into the wooden ceiling, bounced off of it, and went right into the floor just inches away from her feet. What’s more, she somehow also managed to avoid all the other debris and the hot water flying around. She actually got out of her absolutely trashed kitchen totally unscathed.”
Here’s the thing, I’ve always thought those pressure cookers may actually be dangerous and now I know.
Garage Door Opener
“Garage door opener — specifically the springs. Those springs have a crapload of tension in them and if you mess with them they can mess you up. I had a contractor working at the house and he set up his work area in the garage. While he was working, one of the springs just broke on its own. He was okay, but he said it was so loud he thought a car had crashed into the garage.”
I would never have thought of that.
PAM
“When my dad was a kid, one of his good friends died by inhaling Pam cooking spray. The boy was a good, smart kid and just thought inhaling Pam would get you a little high, like sniffing a Sharpie or whatever. But Pam coats your lungs and very quickly suffocates you if you breathe it in. He had no idea how dangerous it was and he was dead in minutes. It was absolutely devastating for everyone who knew him.”
Wow! And this is why I don’t use Pam.
Okay, how are we all still alive?
It seems that anything and everything in our homes can actually kill us. This is exactly what I thought the first time I moved out. I keep going over some worse-case scenarios in my mind. Finally, after about two weeks of living on my own (and still being alive), I was able to relax. Have you ever come close to having a dangerous disaster in your home?
