People Reveal Which Household Items Are More Dangerous Than Most People Think

Watch out for the corners...

Throw Rugs in Senior Citizen's houses. Literal death traps. They trip on that tiny little edge of carpet or it slides on the floor and now you have an old person with a broken hip and a death sentence.

Edit: Just for clarification- I meant their personal houses or homes or any senior living place. Not Nursing Homes. But really it's a problem with any potential tripping hazard. That tiny little threshold ledge between rooms? Yep that too. Do your Elders a solid and try to trip proof their living spaces.

inferno006

Having worked in geriatrics for a few years now this comment is literally too true. Hip fractures have a very high mortality rate associated with them. Protect your elders!

FalconHoof88

When frozen food just won't. Come. Apart.

Zippers actually cause a lot of injuries. So does frozen food - the injuries occur when people try to separate frozen items.

rororoxor

Nothing more uncomfortable than watching someone trying to separate frozen burger patties with a 8"+ chefs knife.

jingerninja

My SIL broke her foot by dropping a frozen ham on it. The ER didn't believe her and called the police on my brother because he made some joke about "well what do you think happened, I pushed her down the stairs?" He then had to spend several hours trying to prove they didn't even have stairs :(

IWillJustForgetAgain

I shudder at the thought.

A mandoline slicer! Those things slice over 9000 fingers every year... yikes!

emilyrachel18

The mandolin slicer is a demon who will serve the kitchen faithfully, but it demands a blood sacrifice.

GreenStrong

There's a reason I'm not allowed to use the mandoline at work.

asunshinefix

The irony.

Irons.

Did I unplug it? Do I turn my car around and head back home to check?

optimalultilization

You know, I once heard an interesting story about a woman who suffered from crippling OCD. She had to quit her job because she was always terribly paranoid about the iron being on. She suffered for about 10 years before she went to a therapist who suggested that she simply take the iron with her when she goes out. It totally worked and she was able to get a stable job after that.

Hostile_Sunshine

Uggggh.

Clamshell packaging. That shit is designed to butcher and maim.

SuzQP

Can openers make short work of clamshell packaging.

BookerCatchanSTD

But my can opener is still stuck in it's clamshell packaging!

sponge_cat

Just get your scissors. But first, go borrow some other scissors to cut your scissors out of their clamshell packaging.

I_Can_Haz_Brainz

Plus they aren't cheap to run.

Space heaters. It's good to be warm and on the whole they're super effective.. but they can sure go wrong.

My grandmother is paranoid af about even using them due to her mother dying in a house fire caused by an unattended space heater.

sexapotamus

Space heaters made in the last 15 years are actually really safe with redundant safety features that cannot fail. What makes them unsafe are people using cheap extension cords or power strips that aren't rated to take that kind of power load. The resistance is too high causing the cords or the internal to over heat and cause a fire. You should only be plugging them directly into the wall outlet or be using a heavy duty extension cord intended to be used in a workshop.

zismahname

My nemesis.

Apparently ladders are surprisingly dangerous.

You'd think it would be easy to avoid falling off one, but i've heard of it happening more than I expected. You also really don't need that high of a fall to badly hurt yourself.

baequon

I'm not afraid of heights but ladders. Ladders are scary.

GentianLine

Heights aren't dangerous when they're up there alone, but with a ladder they can come down and get you!

PamComedor

Frustrating, too.

Dull knives.

Cheftard

Wish this were more well known. A sharp knife cuts where you intent, and requires less force. A dull knife requires more force, and makes mishaps far worse.

bl1y

It'd probably make sense to distinguish potential harm and likely harm.

A sharp knife has the potential to do a lot more harm, but since it's easier to control, you're less likely to have an accident. A dull knife has less potential, but you're more likely to mess up with it.

bl1y

Eating too many is painful af, but they're so tasty.

Gummy Vitamins...

I'm an adult and have trouble limiting myself to less than 20.

Smooman21

When I was about 4 years old I snuck down to the kitchen in the middle of the night and ate an entire bottle of gummy vitamins. My mom came in, realized what I had done, and immediately called poison control. They told her I'd be okay, she just needed to give me some Tums. She dug through the cabinet to find the tums only to discover the empty wrapper, because I had already eaten all of those, too.

9bfjo6gvhy7u8

Or dry tile, plus socks.

Wet tile floors. Lots of people die.

my_future_wife

Yep. Hotel I work at had a man slip in the bathroom and pass a few years ago. They called his wife, who they thought was staying with him, only to find out he was having an affair.

Edit: just want to clarify, the misstress had gone out for whatever reason, so he was alone when he slipped.

Pitchin_Apples

I want that bathtub with the built-in door.

Water and bathroom floors.

More people are killed or injured in accidents in bathrooms than most people realize.

elliotsilvestri

Or even just tub showers without non-slip mats to stand on, or elderly people slipping getting out of a tub... Grippy mats and securely mounted hand-holds are important, people! Our bathrooms are trying to maim us!

sponge_cat

Some people are worried about the great robot uprising. I'm more worried about robots partnering with bathrooms. We'd all be dead inside a week.

elliotsilvestri

I, for one, welcome our sophisticated Japanese automatic toilet overlords.

sponge_cat

Clean out your lint traps for kindling.

Stairs. People fall up them or down them a lot. Also Lint catchers for your Dryer. Causes household fires a lot.

Mangi-Mangi

If you camp a lot, save the dryer lint. Makes a great fire starter for your campfire.

robrtsmtn

If you are in the medical field and work with ekg's the paper has a high acetate level greal for fires also try hand sanitizer on a toilet paper roll.

rdocs

I use Vaseline on cotton balls. Burns long and hot enough get the kindling going even when things are a bit damp.

sweetnourishinggruel

*Shudders.*

Cheese Grater. You ever accidentally have your hand slide down the grade? It just shreds your skin.

boshimonos1

Never called by it's negative name, "sponge ruiner."

S_M_ith

Keep a cheap toothbrush by your kitchen sink for tools with small crevices. Peelers, garlic crushers, slicers, graters

Adding, because I'm really passionate about this. Guys, clean your can openers with a toothbrush. I promise it's disgusting right now if you really look closely. Especially if you have roommates. Please, do it for me.

LameImpalas

Corners are dangerous. Live in a sphere.

Any corner. The corner of a table or the corner of a cabinet door. Never leave those doors open. It takes one wrong step to lose an eye. Or one bad fall. That's why I live in a corner free house.

I___________

Do you live in an igloo?

come-at-me

No, he lives in his Oval Office.

Jordaneer

Hmm, that would allow him to cut corners.

ryeyun

What a verb.

Garage doors, let the professionals fix it if it breaks. The springs carry a lot of weight, its perfectly capable of sending you to the hospital if you are doing DIY repairs.

Bahnd

My dad was totally degloved (think that's the right word) and his thumb was only attached by a shred of....something trying to fix a garage door. It happened when I was really young so I'm not 100% with the details. After that he stopped working construction and went to college so he never had to fix one again.

l8er_alli_gator

degloved

This word still gives me shivers every time I read it.

AristocratesSR

Right, can we just delete it from existence?

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