Monday, March 22, 2010

Don't Spray! Cleaning Alert

In the Jewish World this is a very dangerous season.  The desperate, dedicated fanatic Passover "spring" cleaning unfortunately fills the hospital emergency rooms with many preventable injuries.

One of Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi's warnings was about dangerous cleaning supplies, because a friend's child spent months hooked up to all sorts of unpleasant feeding tubes after drinking a strong cleanser which had been in a cup on the table.  If the dirt needs a substance so strong and powerful, then it's not the forbidden chametz anymore.  Anything that doesn't come off with ordinary cleansers and elbow grease can stay forever including on Passover.

My own personal pet peeve is the marketing and use of spray bottles for cleansers.  If you spray, you're endangering your eyes, skin and lungs.  I don't spray.  I work with rubber gloves, rags, commercial "sponges" and for the hard to reach spots, brushes, the longer the handles the better, though beware of dripping poisons into your eyes and on your skin.

Also, keep the windows open, so you won't breathe in dangerous fumes.

You don't want to exchange a "chametzdik" (full of chametz) house for a hospital room.

3 comments:

Robin said...

Thanks for this very important reminder - whatever we're cleaning with it should always be out of reach of children. Yikes, that poor child...

Batya said...

amen
There shouldn't be obsessively dangerous cleaning.
Refuah shleimah to all who are in need..
Chag Sameach

Jazzie said...

Most of spray cleaners that can be bought have harmful chemicals this is why I only use homemade cleaning recipes. I often use baking soda and vinegar which are really effective for spray cleaning