Anyone else terrified of cleaning products?

[montys]

After a small scare a few months ago, I've become so careful around dish soap, dishwasher soap, bleach, laundry detergent, etc. After doing dishes, I'll sometimes wash my hands twice over with painfully hot water to guarantee that there's no residue left over, and then avoid touching my face for the next hour anyway, to make sure I don't ingest any and get poisoned.

I also randomly get worried that my roommates aren't washing dishes thoroughly enough to get the soap off. Which makes no sense because germs on unwashed dishes should be way more worrisome. But another one of those irrational fears I suppose.

Can anyone else relate?

[SLA]

Do you know how much it would take to get poisoned?

I don't.

[Kuatir]

What are the statistics for people being poisoned by washing dishes?

[Raerae91]

This should probably go in the OCD section

[MyNameIsTerry]

Contamination OCD theme by the sounds of it. Have a look at GingerFish's thread on the OCD board as she has talked about her fear of poisoning by the actions of others. Other people commented about there issues with this.

There is also phil6 who has talked about his contamination themes (his thread on the GAD board is long) revolving around cleaning and toilets.

Are you talking to a doctor about this? If not I would certainly recommend it given you are engaging in harmful compulsions. That could escalate.

[Magic]

When I wash the dishes I rinse with tap water before drying. One place I worked at I was told not to dry with cloth but leave to drain. I usually wipe up at home.
I don't use furniture polish. The only spray I have is for kitchen and bleach inside toilet. I clean the windows with a wash leather.

[Shezney]

Yes, I don't use bleach, its just bathroom cleaners that I have a real problem with, wash my hands a good few times after using them.

[montys]

Contamination OCD theme by the sounds of it. Have a look at GingerFish's thread on the OCD board as she has talked about her fear of poisoning by the actions of others. Other people commented about there issues with this.

There is also phil6 who has talked about his contamination themes (his thread on the GAD board is long) revolving around cleaning and toilets.

Are you talking to a doctor about this? If not I would certainly recommend it given you are engaging in harmful compulsions. That could escalate.

Thanks for the tip, I'll check that thread out.

I'm seeing a therapist, yeah. I'm only one session in so far, and we haven't specifically gone over this yet, but I'll bring it up as soon as I can. It's been getting better over time actually, but sometimes those annoying thoughts creep back in.

[SLA]

those annoying thoughts creep back in.

As someone who has had phases of OCD, and can remember one case similar to this, the thoughts don't really go away completely.

They lose their power, and become less frequent, but the never truly go away for good.

I get the same stupid thoughts about driving into a wall on the same stretch of road everytime I go past it.

It's like a Pavlovian reponse, I panicked once in that situation, and now everytime I pass it..... the same thing happens.

You are stuck in this cycle because at one time it seemed like a threat, and you still haven't rationalised it yet.

If a product was so dangerous you'd get poisoned from the tiniest atom of it, you'd never see it on the shelves.

Your skin and body are amazing. There is no threat here.

Scalding your hands is a perfect example of the irrationality of your brain.

The sensation of the high temperature is tricking your brain into thinking it has "solved the issue"

It hasn't, you are merely risking doing yourself REAL damage. Chemicals would wash off regardless of the temperature of the water.

Start to become an expert in this area. Find out more about how things really work, and you will be filling in less blanks, and worrying a lot less as a result.

[Leslie735]

I am not "terrified" of them but I've become more aware of using more echo friendly products in my house for health reasons. I use to be a big bleach user when cleaning my house. I now use more natural stuff like vinegar and 7th generation cleaning products. I do still use bleach in my bathrooms for the toilets or if someone has been ill. I no longer use those wipes and such though.

[Lucinda07]

Montys,
I'm anxious & uneasy when using certain cleaning products. However, the products we use for washing dishes & clothes are fine. Just follow the instructions.
Only by swigging the liquid straight from the bottle would you become ill. A little residue does not harm. Rinsing hands in very hot water is not commendable - a quick dip in tepid water is enough. In fact, after completing a grubby job - I often give my hands a quick wash in the water used for the washing up.

---------- Post added at 17:45 ---------- Previous post was at 17:42 ----------

After all the dishes have been washed up, of course!

[Purple_1985]

I'm the same, only the last few months I've been like that. I hate bleach the smell of it so I used duck toilet cleaner. Even then I hate to smell it if that makes sense. And extra cautious that it doesn't splash near me or that I inhale it too much. I hate washing up liquid as I'm paranoid if I wash the dishes in hot water the vapours to inhale are bad. I get worried if I haven't rinsed the soap of properly. I started to worry about cleaning the bath as my bathroom doesn't have a window, and the smell lingering, because of that I've been cleaning it with dettol spray and wipes as they don't really have a odour like cif forinstance.

I notice a few months back I been washing my hands more, but then they started to get so dry and crack, I eventually forgot about washing my hands a lot.

I've recent ditched my clothes washing powder to gel tablets. As I was super paranoid of the power getting inhaled and it's far too messy too!