Chemical on Bali airport gate chair destroyed my clothes within minutes while boarding flight
Had a genuinely insane experience at Bali DPS airport (Ngurah Rai) this week.
I sat in one of the chairs at Gate 2 for a very brief period while waiting to board. The chair looked completely normal and clean, there was nothing visibly wet, dirty, or suspicious about it.
Within a very short amount of time, my clothes started reacting like they had been exposed to bleach or some kind of corrosive chemical. My pants literally began shredding/disintegrating to the point that my skin became exposed in front of other passengers. I had to urgently dig through my carry-on on the aircraft to find another item of clothing to cover myself up because the fabric was continuing to tear apart in real time.
My shirt also became bleached and developed holes after coming into contact with my bag, which had been sitting on the chair next to me. The chemical somehow transferred onto and through the bag material itself and even ruined brand-new clothing packed inside.
What’s even crazier is that the second pair of pants I changed into afterward was also damaged after coming into contact with the contaminated items. Even my underwear developed bleach marks and holes.
The airport responded saying they later inspected the chairs and “they are clean,” but:
- the chairs looked visually clean when I sat down too, and
- their inspection happened more than 24 hours after the incident.
This honestly feels like a major passenger safety issue involving cleaning chemicals being left on public seating, not just a clothing stain.
I’ve now filed formal complaints with the airport, but they closed the report saying the chairs looked clean.
Has anyone ever experienced anything remotely like this or have advice on escalation/reimbursement?
Added some pictures: the pants and shirt are what I was wearing originally. The black leggings are what I changed into after.
