I’ve been pretty much jobless these last two years with loads of free time on my hands and nothing seemed more fitting than laying back and watching Tiktok videos.
My feed was filled with videos on cleaning hacks and that got me thinking, do they really work? And if so, are they as effective as they are shown to be?
So, my inquisitive mind decided to try these hacks out first hand and see whether or not they actually work.
Now I’m pretty sure you’re already familiar with the oven cleaner hack where you can clean a pan using an oven cleaner spray without any water or dish liquid. But did you know that using oven cleaner spray on a pan can actually cause the Teflon coating to fade?
Yup, most Tiktok hacks do have a fair share of drawbacks and while these tricks may seem to work well in the start, chances are that some of them may fail miserably and won’t work as shown.
Below are some of the most trending Tiktok cleaning hacks I came across. I’ve tried and tested each and every single one of them to see whether or not they work and if they can potentially damage whatever it is I’m cleaning.
- Washing the Shower with a Diswashing Wand
- Degrease your Faucet with a Zip Lock Bag
- Clean your Garbage Disposal Unit with Ice Cubes
- Steam Cleaning Furniture with Pine-Sol
- The Colorful Toilet Overload
- Fabric Softener to Clean the Walls
- Cleaning Pots and Pans with Oven Cleaner
Trending Tiktok Cleaning Hacks – Do They Really Work?
Washing the Shower with a Dishwashing Wand
Now, I found the “washing the shower with a dishwashing wand” hack to be fun to do.
Hack : The hack involves filling a dishwashing wand with a little vinegar and dish soap and scrubbing the shower daily to stop soap scum or stains from building up.
My Experience : It’s a good hack that works wonders and a plus point is that it’s easy to pull off. Using this hack while in the shower gives me something to do while i’m waiting for the shampoo or conditioner to do its thing.
The vinegar also helps keep bacteria from building up around the corners and the mix can even be used on the glass walls (if you have a cubicle shower like I do).
Long Term Review : While this trick works and there’s nothing negative I have to say about it, the vinegar in the solution can cause tiled surfaces to lose their shine.
Make sure the tiled surface has either a matte finish or try using the dishwashing wand without adding vinegar to the solution.
Degrease your Faucet with a Zip Lock Bag
I’ve got 4 bathrooms at home and around 6 faucets in total, so cleaning them can be a pain. This hack I found proved to be one of the most effective hacks out there to clean faucets and don’t tell anyone, but it can be used to clean taps and even showerheads.
Hack : The video goes to show a hack to remove dirt from your faucet by soaking it in a zip lock bag filled with vinegar and then wrapping it around the faucet head for an hour only to reveal a shiny and muck-free faucet at the end.
My Experience : I know that vinegar has a lot of cleaning benefits and I knew that this hack might just work. So I tried it with one faucet and soaked it in vinegar and wrapped the zip lock bag around the faucet head with a rubber band to keep it in place.
After one hour, I removed the bag and the faucet was free from hard water stains and dry dirt.
Long Term Review : This hack is good only if you want to get rid of lime deposits on chromed and metallic things.
If the faucet, tap or showerhead is made from plastic, use a good quality descaler instead with water and a soft cloth to clean it.
Clean your Garbage Disposal Unit with Ice Cubes
Here’s another hack I happened to come across that piqued my interest. I currently own the Moen Host series garbage disposal unit and boy is it a task to clean. I mean it gets all slimy and nasty after a point that I struggle to get it back to its former glory.
Hack : The hack involves filling the sink with ice cubes and running the garbage disposal while cold water is flowing through. Based on the video I watched, the chute will get clogged up and after a while it will shoot out a chunk of a slimy substance which I presume to be the dirt and grime that’s collected over the months.
My Experience : I’m not entirely sure how people come up with hacks like these that actually work. I mean, I filled the sink with a lot of ice cubes and turned on the tap as shown in the video. I then proceeded to turn on the garbage disposal unit and waited for a couple of minutes.
Once all the ice was crushed, I saw that it did not spit out a lot of gunk like what was shown on the video, but yes, it did clean the blades and left it smelling better than before.
Long Term Review : While ice and water can clean the disposal units chute, it does not stop bacteria from collecting in the garbage disposal unit. To thoroughly clean the unit, my suggestion will be to use a cap of bleach with water and pour that down the chute after cleaning it with the ice and water.
Turn on the disposal unit to thoroughly clean its inside. I wouldn’t recommend using bleach with ice because it will splash and you could get bleach in your eyes.
Steam Cleaning Furniture with Pine-Sol
I was lucky enough to come across this hack while doing my usual summer cleaning. So i thought why not give it a go and see what it’s all about.
Hack : This hack deals with cleaning upholstered furniture by using a damp microfiber cloth and some Pine-Sol multi surface cleaner. Based on the video, they use the cloth to wipe away stains and dirt on the upholstered sofa and it appears to work.
My Experience : I have an old leather sofa set at home that’s begging to be cleaned, so I followed the steps in the video word for word and used the microfiber cloth to clean away the stains. It was bad! Like truly bad!
The smell of Pine-Sol was a bit too overpowering and made me sick to my stomach and the stains remained on the sofa even though I rubbed it hard in a circular motion as shown in the video.
Long Term Review : This hack does not work as intended and causes respiratory issues. In fact there’s a warning on the Pine-Sol bottle that I totally forgot to check that stated “exposure to heated vapor or mist can irritate the respiratory tract”.
I would recommend not using Pine-Sol to clean your upholstered furniture and to instead find a safe to use carpet cleaner or leather cleaner that is safe to use or inhale.
The Colorful Toilet Overload
Here’s another hack I came across on Tiktok, it’s one of the most popular trends on the app and because of how colorful it is, many people are trying it out at home.
Hack : The video for this hack shows the user pouring multiple cleaning liquids down the toilet to apparently give it the ultimate cleanup. This has resulted in a colorful bowl and actually ends up getting clean at the end, but is it safe to do?
My Experience : I will not recommend this hack to anyone simply because it’s too dangerous and can cause a number of health related issues.
Mixing toilet cleaners is a big no-no and the resulting fumes and mix can turn corrosive and at times kill you.
Long Term Review : If you’re keen on having a colorful toilet bowl to flaunt on your next tiktok video, i’d recommend first washing your toilet using a single toilet cleaner in the prescribed manner and then immersing one of those small colorful bath bombs and watch the magic unfurl.
Whatever you do, never mix different chemicals in a room with little to no ventilation.
Fabric Softener to Clean the Walls
I’ve heard of this one, though not a favorite of mine, it does have some benefits to it.
Hack : This hack dealt with washing the walls of a room with fabric softener and water. The end result in the video was a clean surface with no stains whatsoever.
My Experience : I tried using 1 cup of fabric softener with 3 cups of water in a spray bottle and sprayed the toilet walls and kitchen walls with it.
I then wiped it down with a soft cloth and though the walls smelt great, it did not clean the wall thoroughly and there were still stains left behind.
Long Term Review : If you happen to use fabric softener and water to wash your walls then you might have noticed that fabric softener tends to stick to the surface and over a period of time, dust collects on the surface because it gets stuck to the remnants of the softener.
It’s better to use a blend of vinegar and water in equal parts to effectively clean a wall. Again, do not use vinegar on a tiled or marble wall as you’d have to polish the surface to regain its shine.
Cleaning Pots and Pans with Oven Cleaner
If you’re like me then chances are that you’ve probably burnt a pan or two over the years and getting rid of the scorched marks can prove to be difficult.
Hack : A video went around a couple of months ago where a tiktok user used a heavy-duty oven cleaner called Easy Off to clean a burnt pan. They simply sprayed on the cleaner and left the pan aside so the cleaner takes effect. Once done, they rinse the pan with running water and most of the burnt bits that were stuck to the pan came off.
My Experience : I tried this hack the moment I came across it and noticed that it does work to remove burnt bits from the surface of the pan.
But when I tried it the third time, I noticed that the Teflon coating on the pan was beginning to fade and the pan was getting ruined.
Long Term Review : I recommend using this hack only on old pans that have a lot of scorched areas around it. If you want an alternative to using oven cleaner, try using a mix of baking soda, water and vinegar and soak the pan for 30 minutes before wiping it down.
This will get rid of any stains or burnt bits that are stuck to the pan and you won’t damage its protective Teflon coating.
Takeaway
While not every Tiktok hack works, there are some that work better than others. I was able to try them out at home and found some to be quite stupid whereas others were actually truly helpful at getting the job done.
Others like the colorful toilet overload are plain stupid and should not be tried even if it’s for clickbait.
I’d recommend sticking to the regular safe-to-use household products like baking soda, water, dish soap and vinegar to clean a wide range of items around the house. Trust me, they’ve worked for me and I’m sure they will for you.
Also Read:
- I Bought The Tiktok Sunset Lamp and It’s worth the hype!
- Best Shein Finds | Bestselling Shein Clothes from Tiktok
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