A professional cleaner from Markington says she suffered severe burns from an oven cleaner readily available for anyone online.
Vicky Buck has been cleaning for nine years but last month was left shocked when a cleaning product burnt through her skin, deep enough to cut her nerves.
Ms Buck runs her own cleaning company in the district, Ultraviolet clean. She said it was the Vanquish Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner that burnt her.
Whilst wearing protective clothing Ms Buck said “less than a teaspoon” of product fell through the tongue of her shoe and left her with a 50p size burn on the side of her foot.
Her sock had fused to her skin and she will be permanently scarred. It had also burnt through her gloves but luckily her hands healed.
After speaking to doctors at Harrogate District Hospital she has been referred to a burns specialist.
This is the burn Ms Buck was left with after a small drop of oven cleaner dripped onto her skin.
The incident happened on April 16, a few days before her 45th birthday, since initial treatment Ms Buck returned to A&E today after continuous pain. The doctors dug out the remaining dead flesh in hopes it will heal faster.
She said it was “surreal and grim” watching them remove the black skin without being able to feel it due to nerve damage.
She said:
“The bottle says professional use only and I am professional that has taken courses on chemical products but it still burnt me. It shouldn’t be so easily available, how many people could this happen to?
People really need to get the professionals in to do this. It’s no more oven cleaning for me.”
She says she is sharing her story in hopes others will be hesitant when using cleaners
The product is still available online for around £9 via a large online seller. Ms Buck suggested a product such as this should only be available to those with a licence.
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Ms Buck says when it first happened she had to take a few days off work as it was so swollen she couldn’t put shoes on or use her car pedals.
Ms Buck is on a number of cleaning forums with other professionals often asking for advice on good products, she hopes that going public with her story will stop people buying the product so easily.
The product manufacturer, Clover Chemicals Ltd, had been approached for a comment but had not responded at the time of publication.