# I got clorox on my hands. They became slippery and warm. Why?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-clorox-on-my-hands-they-became-slippery-and-warm-why/314268>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 26, 2005, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-clorox-on-my-hands-they-became-slippery-and-warm-why/314268 "2005-07-26T18:15:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Side_of_the_Floyd)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-clorox-on-my-hands-they-became-slippery-and-warm-why/314268/1 "2005-07-26T18:15:09Z")

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Is this a chemical reaction?  
Oh, another question: Why does hair conditioner feel warm when it gets on my hands?

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**Author:** ![St\_Ides](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@St\_Ides](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St_Ides)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-clorox-on-my-hands-they-became-slippery-and-warm-why/314268/2 "2005-07-26T18:30:52Z")

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Bleach is a base.

When you got it on your hands, it reacted with the oils on your hands to form a soap and glycerine (sp?).

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**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-clorox-on-my-hands-they-became-slippery-and-warm-why/314268/3 "2005-07-26T18:47:12Z")

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And the reaction of the bleach base with your acidic hands releases heat.

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**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-clorox-on-my-hands-they-became-slippery-and-warm-why/314268/4 "2005-07-26T22:58:20Z")

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If you took chemistry, you might remember ectothermic and endothermic reactions.

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**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-clorox-on-my-hands-they-became-slippery-and-warm-why/314268/5 "2005-07-26T23:04:20Z")

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**exo** thermic, not ectothermic

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**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-clorox-on-my-hands-they-became-slippery-and-warm-why/314268/6 "2005-07-27T00:08:07Z")

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> [@Strinka](#):
>
> **exo** thermic, not ectothermic

Ectothermic reactions refer to skinny guys falling asleep while sunbathing.

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**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-clorox-on-my-hands-they-became-slippery-and-warm-why/314268/7 "2005-07-27T00:32:17Z")

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The reaction is called saponification. The base or alkaline substance reacted with the oils and fats in your skin, yielding heat, and creating a very mild soap, hence the slipperiness.

If you read about how our great grandparents made soap, it involved a vat of lye derived from wood ash runnings (base/alkaline) combined with fats collected from cooking.

Pick up a copy of Firefox for more detail.

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**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-clorox-on-my-hands-they-became-slippery-and-warm-why/314268/8 "2005-07-27T00:33:29Z")

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Erp. That was **Foxfire** , not Firefox. Sorry-I confused my books with browsers. :smack: