Someone got cleaner in their eyes, on their skin, or swallowed some. What do you do?

Act first, then call. For eyes, start rinsing with lots of room-temperature water immediately and keep going for 15 to 20 minutes. For skin, take off contaminated clothing and rinse under running water for at least 15 minutes. If someone swallowed a cleaner that burns or irritates, and they are awake and able to swallow, give a small amount of water or milk; do not make them vomit. For fumes, get to fresh air. Then call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222. Call 911 at once if the person collapses, has a seizure, has trouble breathing or cannot be awakened. These are Poison Control's own instructions, set out in full below.

Call 911 first if any of these are true

Poison Control: "If the individual collapses, has a seizure, has trouble breathing, or can't be awakened: Call 911 IMMEDIATELY" [1].

For everything else, give the first aid below and call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222. Help is "free, confidential, and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week" [2], and a specialist will tell you whether the person can be watched at home or needs care.

Cleaner in the eyes

Poison Control: "It's important to irrigate (rinse) the exposed eyes, immediately" [1].

1. Remove contact lenses if the person wears them [2].
2. Rinse with lots of room-temperature water for at least 15 to 20 minutes [1].
3. Adults can step into a shower and let the water run over their face [1].
4. Young children: wrap the child in a towel to keep them still, and pour water so it hits the bridge of the nose and runs gently into the eyes, rather than pouring water directly into the eye [1].
5. Call Poison Control once rinsing is under way, or have someone else call while you rinse.

Fifteen to twenty minutes feels long. Use a timer, and keep going even if the stinging stops.

Cleaner on the skin

Poison Control: "It's important to rinse the exposed skin immediately" [1].

1. Remove contaminated clothing first [1].
2. Rinse with lots of room-temperature running water for at least 15 minutes [1].
3. Call Poison Control for advice, and tell them what the product was.

Cleaner swallowed

1. Do not induce vomiting [1]. Poison Control also says ipecac syrup is no longer recommended [1].
2. Give a small amount of water or milk immediately only if the product is burning, irritating or caustic, and the person is conscious, not having a seizure, and able to swallow [1] [2].
3. Call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222, or use the webPOISONCONTROL online tool [1].

If the person is not fully awake, is having a seizure or cannot swallow, give nothing by mouth; if they cannot be awakened or have trouble breathing, call 911 [1].

Fumes breathed in

Poison Control: "It's important to move to fresh air immediately" [1].

1. Get to fresh air and stay away from the fumes [1].
2. Ventilate the area thoroughly, without going back into the fumes to do it [1].
3. Call Poison Control about any burning, coughing or breathing trouble.

For chlorine gas from bleach mixed with an acid, Poison Control adds a shower for 20 minutes, breathing the steam to soothe the airway, and medical attention for trouble breathing or other serious symptoms [3]. What to do about the mixture itself is on the page for when you have mixed cleaners.

What to have in hand when you call

Poison Control's recommendations depend on "age, substance, amount and symptoms" [2]. Have ready:

• The product container, with its label. EPA notes that the label carries the use directions, precautions and first aid information [4]. For a homemade cleaner, the label you wrote is the only record of what is in it.
• The person's age and, for a child, approximate weight.
• How much was swallowed, splashed or breathed, as best you can tell, and when.
• Symptoms so far, and what first aid you have already given.

What not to do

• Do not make the person vomit, and do not use ipecac [1].
• Do not give water or milk to someone who is not fully awake, is having a seizure or cannot swallow [1].
• Do not wait for symptoms before rinsing eyes or skin. Rinse immediately [1].
• Do not stop rinsing early because the pain has eased.
• Do not put anything else on the skin or in the eye, such as vinegar on an alkali burn or baking soda on an acid. Water is the only rinse Poison Control gives [1].
• Do not go back into a room full of fumes to fetch the bottle or open a window [1].

When the sources give different rinse times

Rinse times differ between sources, and the difference is worth knowing so it does not cause doubt in the moment.

This page follows Poison Control's times for household cleaners, because they are the national center's current general instructions and they are at least as long as the Tennessee figure. The New Jersey figure applies to an industrial chemical far stronger than household products. Lye is the exception. For sodium or potassium hydroxide, the strong alkali in some drain openers and oven cleaners, the two producers' handbooks differ, and this page follows Dow's 30 minutes because it is the longest and because Dow notes that caustic keeps penetrating eyes and skin after contact [8]. Check the label or SDS of a drain or oven product for "sodium hydroxide" or "potassium hydroxide"; the pH adjusting page sets out the producers' wording. If the product's own label gives a longer time, follow the label, and always follow what the Poison Control specialist tells you on the phone.

Pets

These instructions are for people. If a pet has been exposed, call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 [7].

Preparing before it happens

Save 1-800-222-1222 in your phone now; EPA asks families to post it by the phone as well [4]. The storage and labeling habits that prevent most of these calls are on the children and pets page and the bottles and labels page.

References

1. Poison Control (National Capital Poison Center), *First Aid for Poisonings*, undated, read October 2026. https://www.poison.org/first-aid-for-poisonings
2. Poison Control (National Capital Poison Center), *Need Immediate Assistance?*, undated, read October 2026. https://www.poison.org/need-immediate-assistance
3. Poison Control (National Capital Poison Center), Williams A. and Klein-Schwartz W., *Chlorine Gas*, undated, read October 2026. https://www.poison.org/articles/chlorine-gas
4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, *National Poison Prevention Week: EPA Urges Public to Keep All Pesticides in Original Containers to Prevent Accidental Poisoning*, March 21, 2017, page updated October 8, 2026. https://www.epa.gov/node/173157
5. Tennessee Poison Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Kumar S., *When is Bleach Dangerous?*, May 6, 2020. https://www.vumc.org/poison-control/node/813
6. New Jersey Department of Health, *Right to Know Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet: Peroxyacetic Acid*, RTK Substance No. 1482, revised October 2004. https://www.nj.gov/health/eoh/rtkweb/documents/fs/1482.pdf
7. ASPCApro, *Are Essential Oils Dangerous to Pets?*, published February 6, 2018, modified February 15, 2024 (ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center number). https://www.aspcapro.org/resource/are-essential-oils-dangerous-pets
8. The Dow Chemical Company, *The Caustic Soda Solution Handbook*, Form No. 102-00011, undated. https://dow.com/documents/102/102-00011-01-the-caustic-soda-solution-handbook.pdf.html
9. Occidental Chemical Corporation (OxyChem), *Caustic Soda Handbook*, 2000. https://www.ausimm.com/globalassets/insights-and-resources/minerals-processing-toolbox/caustic_soda_handbook_oxychem.pdf