accidentially cleaning my house

In my quest to be as Martha Stewart as possible, I constantly read homemaking magazines and websites. Heloise's Helpful Hints is one of my favorites. I read a hint in the paper last week about cleaning a coffee thermos with baking soda and vinegar. I carry a thermos like this one to work every day.

Last night I was in Martha Stewart mode and running vinegar through my coffee pot [to clean it]. I decided it would be a great time to clean my thermos, using the HOT vinegar. I smiled to myself because I was being so "green." I put in one tablespoon of baking soda and poured in the vinegar. It immediately started to bubble and fizz.....

(This is the part where I prove how big of an idiot I actually am)

Since I didn't want all of my wonderful Martha Stewart cleaning solution to "bubble out," I put the lid on. Tight. I picked up my beloved pink thermos to shake it, thinking this would "help" clean the inside. It felt like no liquid was in there, so I began to shake it some more. The next thing I know, there is a loud explosion and vinegar is everywhere. Seriously yall, EV-RE-WHERE.

As my husband later explained to me, Vinegar is an acid and Baking soda is a base. When combined, they react to each other. In chemistry class, this is the type of reaction that your teacher tells you never to let happen in a confined space because it could be "dangerous." Yeah, dangerous and messy.... I looked around. My leather sofa and loveseat were soaked. My new, (free-ish, but 100% silk) pillows were soaked, my coffee and end tables were soaked. There was vinegar on the ceiling, the window, my beautiful hardwood floor that I had already mopped 2 times that night.... everywhere. 

I started to light candles to mask the vinegar smell and clean. I didn't realize it, but even though vinegar/baking soda looks clear in its liquid form, it is actually a nasty white film that sticks to everything. I couldn't even clean the "cleaning solution" off! The top to my thermos had exploded into about a million pieces, leaving black pieces of plastic all over the place. I had to mop THREE more times, finally resorting to the hands and knees method. Its still not clean.

To make a long story even longer, I have a bruise on my stomach where the thermos hit me! 

As I sat in the floor last night with rag in hand, listening to my husband laugh hysterically at (not with) me, I realized two things:

1. Be careful when using common household cleaning products; they could explode any time.

2. It could have been worse -- at least it didn't hit me in the teeth.