Cleaning Your Oven with Ammonia

"Easy Oven Cleaning Tip! No more harsh chemicals to clean your oven! Just use ammonia"

 Before I start, just to get this out of the way. YES, it does work. That's not what makes this a bad idea though. Ammonia is a household item that, as the decades pass, become rarely seen in most peoples houses. There's a very good reason for that actually. You see, as much as people assume a single ingredient cleaner is less harsh or scary than those modern cleaners that have a mile long ingredient list, that's not always the case. In fact, cleaning your oven with ammonia can be far more dangerous and harmful than the infamous spray-on oven cleaner most of us know.

 Let's look at this commonly touted pin/life hack.

1. Preheat to 200° then turn off. 
2. In a heat safe glass dish, fill with ammonia and set on middle rack (about 1 to 2 cups of ammonia). 
3. In another dish, fill with boiling water and set on bottom rack (2 cups). 
4. Leave overnight. 
5. The next morning, remove dishes and wipe down the inside with a hot wet sponge

There's a few problems right off the bat with this: there's no mention whatsoever of using gloves or proper ventilation. Ammonia is highly caustic and toxic and can be extremely harmful to your skin, eyes and lungs. In fact a woman in Denmark was sent into a coma from cleaning her oven this way. Which brings up another fact to keep in mind - ammonia is sold in varying strengths, from 2% to 10%, in different countries. This little life hack is meant to be used with the weaker variants found in countries like the US. When you heat up ammonia it stands a good chance of vaporizing, which is extremely dangerous. Vaporized ammonia not only can burn your eyes and lungs, it can kill you if you inhale enough (by, say, sticking your head in an oven trying to clean it).

The fact is, ammonia really isn't better for you or the environment from other forms of oven cleaners. You might look at the ingredients of such products as Easy Off and balk at what it contains, but when you read over just how bad ammonia actually is, you quickly realize that one isn't better than the other. In fact, modern day oven cleaners tend to have far fewer--if any--fumes, something ammonia surely can't claim. Not only that, if you use various other cleaners in your house, you have to be extremely careful to never EVER mix ammonia with anything that contains bleach. That can cause a reaction that produces fumes that can quite literally kill you.

In my opinion, there's a very good reason many housewives started ditching such cleaners like ammonia in favor of the modern cleaners that started appearing in the mid century and soon took over our homes. All in all, this is just not a good idea. There are many other, safer ways to clean your oven.

Alka Seltzer to Cure Urinary Tract Infections

This is one of those ideas that I'm sure we've all seen on pinterest, it's combined with a lot of other pretty bad ideas so I figured I would focus on them one at a time and explain why this is a really bad idea.  I can not stress enough that this is a bad and potentially dangerous idea. I hate dragging myself into the doctor's office and paying co-pays and prescription fees and the whole 9-yards over something like an UTI, and I'm all for home remedies for things like your basic cold or flu or second degree burns (my oven is out to get me I swear).  But certain conditions are nothing to play around with, and UTIs are one of them.

The idea behind this is that Alka Seltzer is alkaline in nature, so it will help balance out the pH of your urine, eliminating the infection. But it also contains aspirin or other pain relievers, so whether it actually helps with the infection or not, what it definitely does is help with the symptoms. So in a day or 2 of taking it you may feel better, but the infection may persist. This can be extremely dangerous because UTIs that are left untreated can move into your kidneys, causing kidney infections which are far more painful and difficult to treat and can lead to kidney failure.

Some doctors say alkaline can help with UTIs, whereas others say more acidic things (such as cranberry juice) can help. But the truth is that the pain relieving properties of Alka-Seltzer is going to mask any pain or discomfort that the UTI is causing, so it's going to be a lot harder to gauge if you're cured, or just no longer in pain. If you really want to give it a try before you can get into your doctor's, dissolving some baking soda in water would give you the same pH level changes as Alka-Seltzer would. The thing to remember is that it isn't just one strain of bacteria that causes UTIs, it's a dozen different kinds. One strain my respond better to acid, another to base. On top of that, your own personal pH level may even affect what works and doesn't, if it's going to work at all.

If you're looking for a home remedy, You can always try unsweetened pure cranberry juice, and up your water intake. There have been studies done on cranberry juice and though the studies are mixed, it does hold some weight to actually working, unlike Alka-Seltzer. Though if it lasts more than a few days, I can't stress enough the importance of seeing a doctor for UTIs. The longer you let it go the more likely it is going to move into your kidneys, and that is something no one wants to mess with.

Shattered Mirror Floor

"Broken glass floor - great for a bathroom floor or countertop. Just lay broken mirrors on the floor and top with polyurethane" 

I don't even know where to start with this one. That's not what this is an image of. The image quality makes me believe it came from a magazine of sorts, but I'm having a hard time finding the source. My first thought when seeing this image is that it was an artsy spread of some sort in a magazine, not some great DIY home design project.

I'd like to point out there is no sealant or polyurethane in that photo, it's just broken mirrors. Also, as someone who has done a lot of refinishing including the floors of my house, polyurethane is an extremely thin sealant - I think what the creator was the pin was thinking more of would be an epoxy resin, which on the floors wouldn't work easily, takes days to set up, and bubbles like crazy unless it's set just so or with a heat source. 

So yeah, this isn't even doable if you ask me, at least not as a DIY home project. 

Crayons As Makeshift Candles

"In an emergency, a crayon will burn for 30 minutes." 

Ok. I'm trying to get through this post without laughing. For some reason this image alone makes me laugh every single time I look at it. I also thought I would try something different and do a video post for this bad idea. Because honestly, this is a REALLY bad idea. 

UPDATE 1.24.15

We're working on a new format for the blog and are currently having problems getting the video to play properly on mobile devices.

Here is a direct link.

So lets get down to why you shouldn't do this. On youtube I found just a few videos of people attempting this. As I showed in the video, I did one crayon with your basic lighter, and another with my work torch. I actually seemed to have had better luck with my lighter than I had previously seen on other youtube videos, but the torch, due to its higher temperature and more focused flame, got the job done quicker. My theory on why this works is that it's like a reversed candle - the paper on the outside of the crayon acts as a wick, and the melting wax inside the crayon helps coat and protect the paper from just going straight up into flames. 

But they don't burn for 30 minutes. Maybe 10-15 if you're lucky. In my video I show how at the 5 minute mark it's already halfway burned though. Also, the image above has it sitting on someone's carpet. Which is just remarkable as far as "really bad ideas" go -- not only are you faced with dripping wax on your carpet, most carpets are made with synthetic fibers and when they catch fire, it's not good. The wax itself is just a simple paraffin wax, which is commonly used in candles and even foods, but this experiment caused a lot of smoke to form, leaving my studio smelling my melted crayons for quite some time. 

All in all, this is just not a good idea. The crayon itself isn't stable, making it very prone to tipping or falling over, it doesn't last long, and it puts off a lot of smoke. I can't think how this would ever be a good idea. In a pinch you're better off even making a homemade oil burning lamp with olive oil than you would this. But the majority of people generally keep candles, lanterns, and flashlights on hand in case of power outage. 

How To Heal A Sunburn

"Heal A Sunburn In ONE Night! 3-4 in piece off an aloe vera plant, sliced in half 1 Tbsp coconut oil, in liquid form 1/2 – 1 tsp raw honey or propolis."

Well summer is nearly here, so now would be a good time to explain why not to do this. The pin and blog it links to says you can heal even the worst sunburn with a simple mixture of aloe, coconut oil and honey or propolis. 

Now I will agree that aloe is the best thing you can use on a sunburn. The other ingredients however are what makes this a truly awful idea. I can not stress enough NEVER put oil or lotions on a sunburn. Why? Well they trap the heat in. As simple as that. Even after you've removed yourself from the sun, your skin once burned will remain hot - you can touch your sunburn and feel the temperature difference between it and your regular skin.

Adding oils, lotions, and honey of all things is only going to keep your skin hot. I know there is a rather big following especially online who claim coconut oil is a miracle and can do anything, but lets get logical here - oil is oil. Yes I know the general makeup of butter vs coconut oil is completely different, but on a burn they will have the same effect  We laugh at the 100 year old idea of rubbing butter on a burn, so why turn around and put the modern day equivalent on your skin? Coconut oil will have the same effect as any oil or lotion on a sunburn. 

Now I will say, that after the sunburn has had time to cool, say in 24 hours, and it's no longer hot and it's starting to feel dry and itchy? By all means try coconut oil! Keeping your skin hydrated once the burn has had a chance to cool off is perfectly fine, and can help in the healing process. But the hours after you first got your burn and your skin is still hot is NOT the time to start adding oils and lotions to your skin. Honey is no different in it's ability to trap heat into your skin. I know there is a large body of studies that point to honey having anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties to them, but all in all between the mess and the stickiness it's pretty low on the 'things I want to rub on my skin' list. You're better off taking an ibuprofen and drinking several glasses of water. (Hydration starts from the inside - when you get sunburn you need to up your water intake!) 

So what can you do when faced with reddening skin from a day out? The very best thing you can do for a sunburn is to soak in a cool tepid bath with ground oatmeal (you can either buy it over the counter or make it yourself in a food processor, nothing fancy just ground oatmeal until it a powder. Yes it really is that easy! You can add herbs like lavender or chamomile if you're feeling fancy.) and once out, pat dry and apply aloe. My go to aloe is the mentholated kind with added lidocaine. Aloe can be applied many times throughout the evening too, so don't just apply it once and figure that's good enough, the more times you apply it, the better chance you have at healing you sunburn. Also like I said earlier - drink water. Lots of water. You're probably dehydrated from being out in the sun and hydration is very important to healing your skin.  

Egg Membranes to Stop Bleeding and Heal Wounds

"Who knew? If emergency occurs... While the blood is gushing - hold pressure and crack open an egg. Peel that membrane off and put it on the wound (continue holding pressure) The membrane will harden and keep the wound closed until you can get to the ER for stitches. My grandma taught my mom this and it works!" 

I don't even know where to start with this one. I guess I'll start with - gush? If you have a wound that is gushing, you need stitches, not an egg. But does it work? Well, yes apparently it DOES work; the membrane is so thin that when applied it will stick to your skin, and when dry it forms a tough glue-like barrier. But whether it works or doesn't isn't the problem -- Salmonella is. You see, most people think you can only get things like salmonella through eating contaminated foods, but you can in fact also get it via open skin and wounds. It's not a common form of contracting salmonella, but adding a possibly infected egg membrane to your cuts is just asking to gamble with statistics on this. Yes, you are more likely to get it from eating contaminated foods, but why risk being one of the few who get's it from an open cut because you couldn't bother to find a bandage?

There has actually been studies done on this (source: Pubmed), which is what a lot of people who swear by this bring out every time this idea is debated. It was used and compared to other forms of skin grafts for burn patients. However, the study only contained 18 patients and anyone who studies research will quickly point out that 18 is a VERY low number for a study. This study was also done in a controlled environment of a hospital with irradiated eggs with gamma radiation to kill off things like salmonella and other bacteria - not just your basic eggs from the supermarket. I know some people might think "What are the risks really?" But an estimated 142,000 Americans a year come down with salmonella - is it a risk you really want to take just to heal a wound?

All in all, unless it's the end of the world and zombies are rising up and there is a bizarre shortage of band-aids and medical professional arounds, you can do this, but something as simple as Super Glue would work JUST as fine, without the risk of introducing bacteria to the wound. In fact they even make skin glue for this purpose. It comes with it's own set of risks - as it can trap in dirt, foreign objects, and bacteria into the cut, causing infection - so use at your own risk. And if you have a wound that is "gushing" as the pin states, you're better off getting yourself to the nearest Urgent Care or ER then you would be sticking raw egg to your wounds. 

Home Made Glow Sticks

"Making a Glow Lantern - Materials needed: Matches, bleach, 3% hydrogen peroxide, and a jar. Cut about 20 matches at the top to get only the match heads. Throw them in the jar and mix in 3 cap-fulls of hydrogen peroxide. One more cap-full of bleach will do the trick. Put the top back on the jar and shake. This setup will stay lit of hours"

People. Please. Please. Don't start mixing chemicals together because you saw it work online. "But there's a youtube video!" you say. Yes, and with a simple trick of camera work I too can make it seem like this would work.

Unlike other hoax videos involving harmless items like Mountain Dew, this is potentially dangerous.  First off you need about 20 matches and you need to cut the heads off them then place in a jar. Mix in a dash of bleach and a pinch of peroxide and voila! you have a glow stick in a jar!

But it doesn't work that way. Technically so I've read, the bleach could act as a catalyst for the peroxide to oxidize the phosphorous that is in the match heads. But also from what I've read (because honestly, this isn't something I'm going to personally test) this would have been something that would have worked perhaps 100 years ago - the type of ingredients, mainly the phosphates, in matches today are NOT the same as what used to be and won't work with this experiment. A similar phosphate is used in more modern strike anywhere matches, but those are far more dangerous than regular matches.  Everything I've reading online of people having actually attempted this have said it's failed.

Strike anywhere matches come with a list of dangers themselves - mainly they can catch on a lot of different things and POOF! Fire! Not to mention that when you mix bleach with hydrogen peroxide you get apparently straight up oxygen - which sounds lovely but is actually not the best thing to be around. (not to mention the perfect food for fire.. which you've just introduced to about 20 strike anywhere matches) If the bleach doesn't mix right with the peroxide you also face dealing with chlorine gas, which is a nasty substance and not something you want to be around.

So all in all - chances are this isn't going to work. and if it does work, it's still dangerous. Don't believe everything you read online. And if you want to have some fun with glowing jars, you're better off just picking up some cheap glow sticks, crack them open, and dump them into the jar. (but as we all know from one of my experiment  it won't glow like a lantern) However your best bet is to just make sure your home is stocked with batteries for flashlights or lanterns in case of a power failure and save those matches for lighting candles or a fire in case of an emergency.

Stop Signs Aren't Liars

"Good to know!  You don't have to legally stop at all stop signs" 

I just don't even.. Before I even get into how this isn't remotely true, Generally if a stop sign is placed somewhere it's for a good reason - it's there so that people stop and are aware of possible on coming traffic. Private or public roads, it doesn't matter, it's a visual guide to let you know stopping and checking for traffic in that spot is probably a good idea.

But on to why this isn't remotely true. As the pin states, it's more and more common in commercial and residential areas built by developers to place stop signs and other road markers. But this doesn't make them not legally binding. In fact in a lot or areas the developers MUST place proper road signs in areas before the city will even recognize them as streets. On top of that, in the majority of states here in the US, the police DO have jurisdiction on private property - so if you run a stop sign in the mall parking lot, a police officer CAN pull you over for reckless driving. Not only that, but if you run a stop sign and get in an accident, insurance companies couldn't care less if it was a 'real' stop sign or not. You will still be legally at fault for ignoring street signs and markings. In fact there is a great write up on this over at Quick and Dirty Tips about signs posted on private property. 

But lets also take a look at the image here and think about how they say proves a sign is not a 'real' legal binding sign. It's a sticker on the back of the sign. So in order to know if a sign is real or not, you have to STOP your car, get out, and look at the back of the sign. Also if a mere sticker is all it takes, then the majority of stop signs I've checked out in my city are apparently not legally binding. (or just old or stickerless) What happens if someone decides to pull that sticker off? or fades and washes away with time? 

All in all this is just asinine, not true, and a bad idea. 

Glow in The Dark Steps for Halloween

"Mix powdered laundry detergent (containing phosphors) with a little water and splatter on your doorstep. Then, switch your porch lights to black light bulbs and your steps will glow!"

Interesting. This image has made the rounds of pinterest but often times with the idea of cutting open glow sticks and dumping them down your stairs, so I'll go ahead and post about why both glow sticks and laundry detergent is a bad idea. 

As I mentioned in my previous glow stick post - glow sticks don't work that way. The writer at Pintology tried this out using glow sticks, and as you can see her results were on par with my last glow stick test - glow stick liquid just doesn't last, and isn't as bright as the original image from pinterest. Here is where I would also like to point out that the original image isn't taken at night - so that is some pretty strong day-glo green they have going on there on the steps. 

So what about laundry detergent like the pin suggests? Yes and No. Yes, certain laundry soaps can glow under black light. The problem comes about by what it IS that makes it glow - phosphorus. It can be in everything from laundry detergent to dishwashing soap, but more and more companies are straying from using it in their products? Why? 

Because it's REALLY bad for the environment. In fact it's already banned in 16 states. 

From Wikipedia: 

"A more profound problem arises from the heavy use of sodium triphosphate, which can comprise up to 50% by weight of detergents. The discharge of soluble phosphates into natural waters has led to problems with eutrophication, or the growth of living things, of lakes and streams, often where it is not desirable. The replacement of sodium triphosphate by zeolites offers some relief to this problem. With respect to the phosphate additives, between 1940 and 1970 "the amount of phosphates in city wastewater increased from 20,000 to 150,000 tons per year." With an increase in phosphates, especially in the absence of species feeding upon algae, algal blooms grow splendidly on the excess phosphorus and can produce toxins, killing fish, dolphins and plants. They can also indirectly cause oxygen depletion at greater depths, through microbial breakdown of dead algal cells."

So why would you be adding this to your STEPS? That can be easily washed away, into your yard, soaking into ground water, washing away into city water systems? Even if you live in an area where phosphates haven't been banned yet so you can still even BUY soap that contains it, why would you want to willing add something like this to your yard - which is where it would end up once you hosed it off.

So back to the glow stick idea - now you're thinking maybe you could just cut up a LOT of glow sticks and try this.. well guess what makes glow sticks glow? It's a nice little mixture of hydrogen peroxide and phenol. What's phenol? Oh, just a chemical found in everything from BPA to paint stripper -

"Phenol and its vapors are corrosive to the eyes, the skin, and the respiratory tract. Repeated or prolonged skin contact with phenol may cause dermatitis, or even second and third-degree burns. Inhalation of phenol vapor may cause lung edema. The substance may cause harmful effects on the central nervous system and heart, resulting in dysrhythmia, seizures, and coma.The kidneys may be affected as well. Long-term or repeated exposure of the substance may have harmful effects on the liver and kidneys." There is no evidence that phenol causes cancer in humans. Besides its hydrophobic effects, another mechanism for the toxicity of phenol may be the formation of phenoxyl radicals" 

I'm honestly a bit skeptical that this image is even of glow sticks or soap - if you look at it it's too well done, too bright, and clearly not taken at night or with the usual hue that a black light would give off. I believe (and I'm unable to find the source of the image to verify) that this is simply steps painted up with day-glo paint.

So all in all - Bad idea all around. Don't do this. Don't pin.

Easy Cheese Toast with a side of Fire

"Easy grilled cheese using toaster turned on its side."

I originally heard about this idea over at reddit.com some time back, so I wasn't too surprised when I saw it being repined a year later on pinterest. The problem? The pin doesn't talk about amount of toaster fires this little trick has caused. You can't just take a toaster, turn it on it's side, and expect it to magically make cheese toasties. Not only do you run the risk of the cheese melting down into the elements and catching fire, a lot of toasters have that neat trick of popping the toast up once it's finished. I bet you can imagine what happens when it's laying on it's side and it does that.. yep - it shoots flaming hot cheese toast. Some modern toasters even have a grill that when the level is pushed down, moves in to grab hold of the toast, so if yours does that you're going to have a hard time cleaning melted cheese off the grate. 

So what do you do when time is tight and you have hungry kids demanding food? Best to stick to ether using a traditional toaster oven for this, or do what I do - stick the toast with cheese under you're oven's broiler for a few seconds. It works as well as this trick does and is less likely to cause a house fire (as long as you keep an eye on it - your broiler gets real hot real quick) 

Glow Sticks Lanterns

"Break open a glow stick, dump it in a jar, shake it up and you have an instant glow stick lantern! Perfect for outdoor parties. Could keep a few of these around for when the power goes out...fun in the dark"

This is one of those pins that verges on true, but misses the mark. The sheer amount of crazy glow stick pins is overwhelming, so I figured I'd start with the easiest - can you cut open a glow stick, dump it into a jar and get an easy lantern?

Sort of. Before trying this myself I read up a bit on it. The biggest complaint about this was that it didn't last long - something about the chemicals of glow sticks exposed to open air causes them to fad far quicker than if you leave them in the tube. 

So I decided to try it myself -  I wanted to see if it would glow well enough to replace candles and battery powered lanterns if the power went out, and just how long it would last. 

A quick trip to the dollar store and I had a fist full of glow sticks to play with. Now here is where I'd like to also mention that despite the fact glow sticks are labeled NON TOXIC, that doesn't mean breaking them open doesn't come with risks. and it's tricky to break them open - you basically have to cut one end, aim it towards the container, and then cut the other end to break the suction so it will flow freely into the container. There is a great article on the safety of glow sticks on Steve Spangler's blog, which you can read here. 

Despite knowing I shouldn't get this on my skin, it was a pain to try to get the liquid out and yes, some splattered on my skin and shirt. As fun as it was to look like an old school raver, it really did burn my skin a bit. Not eating away the skin or anything, but for sure you shouldn't be having young children do this project.

And there we have it - my jar. You can't really tell, but that is a tiny jar - about 3" inches total in size. I couldn't help myself and had to place it next to a dental casting I have because creepy is fun. 

But would this work if the power went out? Uh.. no. Not unless you feel like breaking open a LOT of glow sticks. Here's a photo I took midway into the room of the jar:

Yeah.. that's not lighting a whole lot of anything there. But hey, what about just using it for fun party or Halloween decorations? Well, I failed a bit at tracking the time on how long they last, as I figured it was late and I was tired, so I took a quick hour long nap. When I woke, I asked my husband where my jar was. "It's where you left it silly" ... oh. After just an hour the jar had already stopped glowing. So unless you're planning on a rather quick party, these aren't going to last the whole night through. The other glow sticks we had cracked for fun were still going strong though, and lasted about 4 hours before I went to bed.

All in all, though you can break open a glow stick and dump it in a jar, it's not going to last long, and it's sure not going to help when the power is out. You'd have better time just leaving it all IN the stick and playing with those. 

Home Cures for Pink Eye

"You won't believe how simple it is to clear this up WITHOUT a trip to the waiting room and a bill! Pinkeye Remedy! Use breast milk or raw cows or goats milk instead"

I generally like to stay away from possible controversial posts, but after seeing this on pinterest I felt I should do a write up on it. This is the epitome of a bad idea pin. I generally don't like to link back to the sites that are pinned giving bad advice, but trust me.. a quick pinterest search for pink eye cures will pull up a LOT of bad advice. I'm not a doctor, I'm not claiming to be a doctor, but I think sometimes common sense should tell us not to put strange things into our eyes.

I know when I was nursing my babies it was a common recommendation if they start to get a little crusty in the eyes to squirt a bit of breast milk into the eyes to help clear it up. That always made me laugh because I figured it was a good nursing session when I didn't end up dosing them with breast milk. But does breast milk help prevent or cure pink eye? Reports are mixed. Over at the blog Science of Mom, she did a really great post about this, which you can read here.

But what are you to do if you're way past the nursing stage? Well as this pin states - raw cow or goat milk of course! Now I'm not going to go into the raw milk debate here, because that's not the point of this post. Anyone who drinks raw milk has to be aware that it is, in it's very essence not clean. That's the point behind a lot of peoples' love of raw milk - its full of things! Pasteurized milk is cooked (usually at a very high temperature for long periods of time) until it's dead of anything and everything (including taste according to some people)

The problem with the idea of putting raw animal milk into your eyes is that unlike breast milk, which is usually applied direct from the breast or shortly after being expressed,  raw milk has been siting for a while. And though the chances aren't as common as some people might think, raw milk CAN contain things like e-coli and listeria. In fact, things like listeria can cause eye infections if it gets into your eye.

So let's talk about what is pink eye. Other than really gross, it is basically just an inflammation of your eye. Often times caused by allergies or a virus, most of the cases of pink eye are able to clear up on their own within a week. There are a few kinds of conjunctivitis so unless it's a bacterial infection, chances are the drops won't do much more than relieve the symptoms. (in which case any old eye drops will do to help with the crustiness and itching) If it is caused  by a bacteria, then you do need prescription drops. I always like to stress that - not all pink eye cases even NEED medical drops. Warm compresses, keeping your hands away from the infect eyes, and eye drops to help keep the eye from being painful is often all you need.

So all in all - really you're BEST bet is to ether dose with over the counter eye drops (They even make homeopathic pink eye drops if that's your thing, you can find it at most major drug stores here in the U.S.) and if it's not clearly up in a few days, please, seek medical attention.

Flatten Glass Bottles in Your Oven

"Flatten glass bottles in a convection oven…to make cutting boards or small serving trays, I love this!" 

Except it doesn't work that way. Glass has a melting temperature of roughly 1500 °F. Making the pin even worse is the link that it goes to, which suggestions making this in your TOASTER OVEN. Because nothing says tequila night like burning your house down. Which if your oven can get that high is remarkable. Imagine how quickly you could cook a roast in an oven like that. And by oven I mean kiln, because that's what it would take to make this.

Unstoppable Bad Idea

This is one of those ideas that just had me confused as to who honestly thought it was OK, and more so that it seems a LOT of people don't question the safety of this.

What's that you ask? It's The new laundry product by Downy, called Unstopables, in an oil burner. Apparently if you do this, your house will have a 'just done fresh laundry' scent all day long. I've seen this all over Pinterest, and tried to find the blog that this image originated from but couldn't. I did however find a lot of people complaining that it didn't work, and just ended up smelling badly burnt.

Let's back up here. People are taking laundry products, and melting them. With out a care or thought in the world about what is IN this product. I'll give you a hint - it's not just lovely magical scent beads that are perfectly fine to melt. I can tell you right now this isn't a good idea. There is a big difference between adding something to your wash, and melting it and breathing in those heavenly scented fumes. But just to play it safe on my report, I emailed P&G directly about this. I have a feeling the woman who replied thought I had lost my ever loving mind, and gave me your pretty basic reply: 

Thanks for contacting Downy

Safety is our top priority and all our products are thoroughly evaluated to be safe when used properly. We cannot recommend using a product for a different purpose or in any way other than as explained in the instructions on the label.
Thanks again for writing

Megan - Downy Team

So there you go, direct from P&G, you really shouldn't be using something used in your wash in an oil burner. And because I'm curious enough, I looked up the actual safety data on Unstopables. Which is just full of interesting information. Not only do they recommend NOT using water if this stuff catches fire, they also directly say to avoid excessive heat and open flames. I haven't bothered to look up the ingredients to see how it could affect you if you inhale them, but I can take a guess and imagine it's probably not the best thing. (you can read the write up here (PDF) if you're interested)