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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

That my DP is going to kill us off.

80 replies

FedUpOfLighteningCrotch · 16/02/2022 11:47

We’re moving house and I’m 8 months pregnant so he’s been doing the majority of the work; but he’s gone and hoovered something up he shouldn’t have as when he turned the hoover on this morning a really strong chemical smell came out that start burning my nose and throat. I did ask him what he’s hoovered and he said nothing unusual! But now my chest hurts (could be me overthinking it though) and he’s opened the windows in the house.. and he was sheepishly washing the filter in hot soapy water 5 minutes after I asked him what the smells was and that it was burning my nose/throat.. he still denies hoovering anything that could have created the smell, but he was scrubbing the bathroom yesterday with all sorts of cleaners despite me telling him not to mix them and to use them sparingly as the whole house spelt of bleach at one point I thought it was going to spontaneously combust at one point Grin
I’m very grateful for him doing all the heavy/dirty work however.

AIBU to not want him to make headlines for accidentally killing off the whole family with a mixture of chemicals?Grin

Ps. I am never moving house again.

OP posts:
JinglingHellsBells · 16/02/2022 13:20

It sounds more likely that something is wrong with your hoover and it's rubber that you can smell burning.

I'm sorry you feel a bit unwell, but what is the connection between using cleaning products a day ago, and the smell from the hoover today?

Cleaning products would be used on a hard surface and the hoover is (assume) on carpets. He's not actually hoovering up a mix of bleach and other cleaners (is he?)

JinglingHellsBells · 16/02/2022 13:21

Chlorine gas it not going to hang around in the house from yesterday, if it was there at all.

The OP says the smell came from the hoover.

diddl · 16/02/2022 13:21

@Handsoffmy

Ammonia mixed with bleach makes chlorine gas which is deadly. You can easily mix the two without realising
Like forgetting you put bleach in the toilet & going for a wee?
BuddhaForMary · 16/02/2022 13:22

@JinglingHellsBells

Chlorine gas it not going to hang around in the house from yesterday, if it was there at all.

The OP says the smell came from the hoover.

That's what I was thinking.

Either way I'd give the midwife a quick call just to make sure all is well.

Amortentia · 16/02/2022 13:23

@SeaToSki

If you are 8 months pregnant and may have breathed in a chemical that makes your chest burn, I would be checking with your midwife and/or a poison advisory place (I dont know if there is a central helpline in the UK like there is in the US)
There is, you call 111 and they can advise you or put you through to the poisons unit.
JinglingHellsBells · 16/02/2022 13:23

The most common smell from a hoover @FedUpOfLighteningCrotch is when it's broken inside and the rubber parts are burning. or something is stuck in the workings and causing something to burn or get hot.

I'd get your hoover looked at.

OnceuponaRainbow18 · 16/02/2022 13:24

@diddl

Like forgetting you put bleach in the toilet & going for a wee?

Is that bad? I always do this!

EveryFlightBeginsWithAFall · 16/02/2022 13:25

Sounds like it could be your hoover, would be very odd to hoover up different chemicals or that they should suddenly react today once the hoover turned on

Mollysocks · 16/02/2022 13:26

@BringBackCoffeeCreams

Vinegar makes chlorine gas when mixed with bleach. As does cola. It's very easy to make by accident and very deadly. You need to get checked out OP.
Wow I didn’t know this. Same with baking powder. All these homemade cleaners we see on Instagram or Pinterest, I wonder if they realise how deadly they can be if mixed with bleach! I’ve never seen warnings…
TravellingFrom · 16/02/2022 13:32

@SeaToSki

If you are 8 months pregnant and may have breathed in a chemical that makes your chest burn, I would be checking with your midwife and/or a poison advisory place (I dont know if there is a central helpline in the UK like there is in the US)
THIS 👆👆👆
eddiemairswife · 16/02/2022 13:37

Chlorine is a greenish gas with a pungent odour which destroys the mucus membranes. We made chlorine in Chemistry, 13 pairs of girls, the lab was filled with a greenish mist. We spent the next hour coughing our way through RE which was taken by the head. This was long before Health and Safety was thought of.

ILoveAllRainbowsx · 16/02/2022 13:39

This is why I don't let men do housework because they are not used to it and they do stupid things like that.

I would much rather do it myself.

You need to be careful. These chemicals are very dangerous especially if you are pregnant.

IamJob · 16/02/2022 13:44

This reply has been deleted

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BuddhaForMary · 16/02/2022 13:45

The way I read it OP isn't saying she thinks he hoovered chemicals up, she's saying he hoovered something up that's jammed in the vacuum and it's probably knackered the belt when she turned it on today, hence the horrible smell.

SlightlyJaded · 16/02/2022 13:47

@ILoveAllRainbowsx

This is why I don't let men do housework because they are not used to it and they do stupid things like that.

I would much rather do it myself.

You need to be careful. These chemicals are very dangerous especially if you are pregnant.

Or, you could expect men to be able to clean just as well as you without creating toxic fumes?

Women not 'letting men do housework because they will mess it up' is pathetic. This is not a 'male' mistake, it's a human mistake - as previous posts confirm.

Agree with demanding the truth and getting checked out if necessary. For now, open the windows and air the house.

Staryflight445 · 16/02/2022 13:53

Oh dear, I agree with everyone else.
No laughing matter.

Get yourself checked over op.

Heyahun · 16/02/2022 13:54

@ILoveAllRainbowsx are you joing or being serious - Men can't do housework... ffs - my husband does his share of the housework and he has never done anything stupid like this - he is more than capable of doing things correctly lolz

Staryflight445 · 16/02/2022 13:55

@SlightlyJaded exactly.
Men if anything are more inclined to just stick to using one product.
You only have to watch cleaning tiktok to see how many women regularly mix chemicals with bleach and some of them in America even use borax on their glassware and plates etc.

Idiocy does not gender discriminate.

tenyeardecade · 16/02/2022 14:01

@doublemonkey

What a knob for not telling you what he'd hoovered up.

No pun intended but he needs to come clean!

lmfao I'm sat here thinking of how knob and hoover is a pun. until I realised the pun was coming clean!
SunshineCake1 · 16/02/2022 14:14

You need to get checked out. Seriously. A woman died from cleaning and mixing bleach and other cleaning products. This isn't a Grin matter!

Original poster
FedUpOfLighteningCrotch · 16/02/2022 14:26

Ah it could just be the hoover then. My chemical/cleaner idea came from the fact we have paint tiles in the bathroom that started to chip and peel so he’s spent the last few days scrubbing off the paint ready to re-paint for the next people; so he would have been wiping it all down with bleach ect and I thought maybe if the chemicals are on the flakes of paint that come off and he’s hoover them up it could be the smell coming from the hoover. It was a really strong smell Envy

The only bottles of cleaner he had up there were a thick bleach, flash with bleach, flash with bicarbonate soda and a black mould spray. I know he definitely used the black mould spray and the bleach but unsure if he bothered to use the others.

I’ll give the midwife a call and leave a message explaining. The smell has now gone and I feel better thankfully but I should hope he’s learnt his lesson 🙈

I know the dangers of mixing chemicals; I don’t think he does though, that or he doesn’t believe the seriousness. I read a article of a woman who died just mixing bleach with some other normal household cleaners that essentially made chlorine gas. Awful situation!

I think once babies here I’ll do the majority of the cleaning Grin

OP posts:
Penvelopey · 16/02/2022 14:29

I think once babies here I’ll do the majority of the cleaning grin that grin better mean that's a joke. Unless he is doing all the hands on care of the baby

ILoveAllRainbowsx · 16/02/2022 14:31

[quote Heyahun]@ILoveAllRainbowsx are you joing or being serious - Men can't do housework... ffs - my husband does his share of the housework and he has never done anything stupid like this - he is more than capable of doing things correctly lolz[/quote]
Well you are very lucky.

I don't trust men to do housework safely and hygienically. I would rather to it myself.

TravellingFrom · 16/02/2022 14:32

I think once babies here I’ll do the majority of the cleaning

Why would you do that?!?
He needs to learn about not mixing household cleaners nit for you to take over. What f he then decides to do some cleaning when you are out and about, and either make himself ill or make your baby ill??

Fwiw at the swimming pool near us, some bright spark used ‘the wrong cleaner’ that then mixed with the chlorinated water. Cue for 10 people ending up in hospital.

He needs to learn!!

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