This happened days ago and I wasn’t sure I would blog it. But it’s the only really eventful thing that happened this week. So I’m sharing and you can laugh at what an idiot I am!
I saved my birthday money for months because I couldn’t decide what I wanted to spend it on. I finally decided a couple of weeks ago that I wanted a steam mop/cleaner. I did lots of research and decided on one that had a mop but lots of other attachments too so I could use it to clean virtually everything. I was SO excited.
When it came on Tuesday I decided to use it in the bathroom first, since the edges of the linoleum and the baseboards are the hardest for me to keep clean. I read through the directions and got the cleaner all set up. I went to town steaming the bathroom floor and was so pleased with how nice it looked afterward. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been using it or how much water was left in it so I decided to leave it to cool and then add some more water so it would be full enough to clean the kitchen. The directions said to leave it to cool at least 20 minutes before emptying or adding more water.
I waited at least 20 minutes before attempting to open the water canister. But I missed one crucial step in the directions: pushing the trigger to release any built up pressure before letting it cool. When I started unscrewing the cap, steam came flying out and onto my hand. In my panic I thought the best choice would be to completely unscrew the cap so all the steam could get out, rather than screwing it shut again. This was the wrong choice, however. I unscrewed it as quickly as I could. As soon as the (large, heavy) cap was loose it FLEW off and steam shot out everywhere. We have high ceilings and the area above me was dripping water. The area around me was all wet as well. Jacob was staring at me from the couch in disbelief. I quickly cleaned up the steam before I realized that the hand I’d used to unscrew the cap was hurting. Yes, I burned the top of my hand with very hot, high powered steam.
I ran my hand under cold water for ages and it was still so painful. After a couple of hours, some Tylenol (what a whimpy pain reliever!) and many tears, I was still in so much pain. We tried a few topical pain relievers we had in the house but nothing helped for more than 30 seconds. Jacob rescued me by going to Walgreens and finding some burn gel that finally did the trick. It was such a relief when it started feeling better. After a couple of days it’s feeling great and you can barely see the burn.
But the main problem is now I’m scared to turn it on again!
Don’t they say when you get bucked off a horse…?
Now that you are well-informed, you’ll never deal with that issue again. But I’m so sorry it happened at all.
Now I understand. When I saw your facebook update I didn’t get what a steam cleaner was. I could only imagine that it was for steaming clothes, but I didn’t think you had too many power suits in your wardrobe. I hope that you can get over your fear really quick because it sounds like an awesome tool. It is good to hear that your burn is healing quickly.
Oh no!! I’m so sorry about your hand. I can see myself doing the EXACT same thing. Seriously. Once I was taking a pizza out of the oven with one hand (dumb), and my wrist started to bend and I realized my hand wasn’t strong enough to hold the pizza. Instead of setting the pizza three inches back into the oven and getting another oven mitt to use both hands, I decided I would try to lift the pizza out of the oven and set it on the stovetop. My wrist buckled, the pan tipped, and all the toppings of the hot pizza slid off and into the oven. Great. I was so mad. But I laugh about it now. Good luck tackling the steam cleaner a second time!
And I love your blog comments! Never boring to read about your nostalgia about the city. I love it. It’s fun to hear from someone who actually knows what I’m talking about because they’ve been here!
Just one more reason why cleaning is never a good idea.
Glad you’re feeling better.
Ouch! I’d be afraid too!
So sorry!! That toally sounds like something that I would do. I hope it heals quickly.
You poor thing. I would’ve done the same thing. We all react differently to things like that. When I was “a lot” younger I accidently put my hand through a window. Now if that wasn’t bad enough, I thought I’d add insult to injury and pull it out at breakneck speed. I had double the injury, and they were both my fault. I’m glad your hand is feeling better and I don’t think anyone would that wouldn’t hurt like mad. Burns are terrible until you get the right meds.
Hi Emily,
I was just wondering how you made your signs, what material you used, etc?
I have been following your blog for a few years, just because I love your creative spirit. I saw your wedding pictures, and a really awesome one where you and your husband are sitting down and holding signs (one says “thank” and the other says “you”). My fiance and I LOVE it and want to do the same thing, so thanks for the inspiration!!
Thanks, I would appreciate your advice.