It is very important to double-check the recipes that anyone posts online before you use them. I recently had an experience in my Discord server that has brought this up and I really wanted to spread the word everywhere. If you follow me on Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok, you probably already saw, but let’s talk briefly about why we need research skills and discernment when it comes to the online space.
Firstly, I would like to make an important note that this post is not accusing anyone in this forum of doing this, nor am I saying anyone in this forum would do this. I am simply sharing this information out there because I am assuming that Spells8 is not the only witchy place you hang out.
What Happened
A few days ago, someone joined my Discord server and immediately started posting a “recipe” to make your own crystals in many different channels of the server. This would be well and good if the recipe was an actual one using kits like National Geographic makes or the creation of sugar crystals. I cannot advocate any other method of creating your own crystals because I am not a chemist and I do not know enough about chemical reactions to even post the recipes here.
Anyway, the recipe this person posted was absolutely deadly to anyone that would have made it. I will not post the entire thing here but it involved mixing bleach and ammonia. For anyone that does not know, mixing bleach and ammonia creates something called chloramine gas.
Depending on how much of the gas is released and the length of time you’re exposed to it, inhaling chloramine gas can make you sick, damage your airways, and even cause death. Source - Healthline
As far as I can gather, chloramine gas may be odorless like carbon monoxide. I do not have a definitive source for that, though, but you can be sure that if you mix bleach and ammonia, this will be created.
Research Skills Are Important
I hate to say it, but you can never be fully certain of what is shared online, especially when it comes to mixing chemicals, herbs, and essential oils. Some essential oils do not mix well together or should be used sparingly. An example of this would be any citrus oil. Just like the fruits themselves, they are acidic. Putting citrus essential oils in plastic can eventually lead to corrosion of that plastic depending on how strong the oil is. Citrus oils can also make you photosensitive, so adding orange oil to a carrier that goes on your skin and then going outside can leave you more susceptible to sunburn. Many essential oils should not be used around pets because they can be harmful to them. Source
Some herbs have contraindications to each other and to medicines. The most common one I can think of is St. John’s Wort and any hormonal medications. St. John’s Wort interacts with those hormones and can render them null and void. Taking hormonal birth control and St. John’s Wort? Your birth control may not be effective. Source
And you should absolutely never mix chemicals unless you are 100% certain of their effects. This one just goes without saying, in my opinion, but I leave the above example with bleach and ammonia. You should never mix bleach with any other chemical, only dilute it with water.
If I did not know better, I probably would have let this recipe stay up on my Discord server. If someone would have used it and suffered, I would have felt entirely responsible because it is absolutely preventable.
What can you do?
Just type things into Google that you’re not sure of. You can use certain words together with the subject, too. For example, if you want to know about vinegar you can type in the following phrases.
“Vinegar contraindications”
“Vinegar reactions”
“Vinegar safety”
“How to use vinegar safely”
Be sure that you’re looking at reputable sources for your information, too. And not every herb, essential oil, and chemical will have information. Some things haven’t been studied, so it’s extra important to be careful.
I just want everyone to be safe. I don’t know what I would have done if someone would have gotten hurt because of a recipe in my server. Please use this as a reminder to ask questions when you don’t know something, be cautious about recipes posted online (especially when they use chemicals), and when in doubt, just don’t do it.
rides & EpiPens in my life for about 20 years now)… so I have been hyperaware of ingredients & interactions which usually was set around the adverse reactions. 
that are like ducklings with me around the house. They are in the same place that I am at all times throughout the day. 1 is slightly older & they are sensitive to certain food ingredients & have sensitive tummies, so I wouldn’t want them to get into anything or that is giving off fumes without at the very least ventilation or a way outside if something was to happen.
I have to read the whole process & see if I am mixing it with anything other than water. Luckily, it was just to clean a coffee machine & then I ran water through it, but I didn’t know if I had to add a cleanser of some kind… which due to possible reactions with coffee, I had decided that if it was more than just vinegar, I would go back to making coffee by the pot. 
Great reminder Megan. Thanks for posting this vital information!