These TikTok cleaning hacks will make you want to stop scrolling and get cleaning
If you’re guilty of spending a substantial amount of time scrolling through TikTok, chances are you’ve picked up some tips and tricks along the way. Users on the app are eager to dole out advice for everything including styling the latest shoe trend and even cleaning your home. But which TikTok cleaning trends pass muster and which belong in the dumpster? We tried some of the most popular ones so you don’t have to—but there are quite a few that you should.
1. Dusting Ceiling Fans With a Pillow Case
Even if you’re diligent about cleaning and dusting every last inch of your home, you might not be thinking big enough…er, high enough. Neglecting to dust your ceiling fan blades can mean your fan is flinging icky dust around the room every time you try to cool off.
This TikTok cleaning hack aims to clear the dust off your ceiling fan blades using something you probably already have at home: your pillowcase. Simply pop the pillow case around the blade and gently pull. All the dust will wind up inside of the pillowcase, and you’ll have clean blades.
We gave this a try, and at first, it didn’t seem to be working, as no dust was flying around, but one peek inside the pillowcase showed that it had gotten rid of a lot of dust. Sure, your typical duster or microfiber cloth will also work just fine, but so does this. It simply depends on what you have on hand.
2. Microwave Steam Cleaning
This hack has been floating around on the internet for a while as a genius way to clean your microwave, so it makes sense that TikTok is raving about it, too. Simply pop a bowl of water and a lemon wedge into your microwave and set it on high for about three minutes, or until it’s plenty steamy. The steam will loosen any splattered spaghetti sauce or similar gunk so you can wipe it away.
We’ve long been fans of this trick, and trying it again did not disappoint. Tip: You can also use a bit of vinegar in your lemon and water mixture to up the cleaning power.
3. Clean Stained Plastic Containers With a Paper Towel
If you’ve ever tried to save some leftover spicy rigatoni from your pasta night, you know the effect it can have on your beloved plastic containers. The clear plastic can easily become orange and doesn’t seem to go away no matter how hard you try to clean it.
This TikTok cleaning hack suggests that you fill your plastic container halfway up with water, add dish soap, and then torn-up pieces of paper towel. Shake your container vigorously, and voila—as clean as the day you bought it.
While this definitely did something when we tested it out (it went from a true orange to more of an orange tint), you could probably get the same results with some good old-fashioned elbow grease. Still, this method is fun to try if you’re looking for something new!
4. Clean Your Dishwasher Filter
Hopefully it didn’t take TikTok to tell you that you should be rinsing off your dishwasher filter regularly—right? Not all dishwashers have removable filters, but if yours does, you should be reaching under the bottom rack and removing it for a good clean every month or so.
Unscrew the filter, rinse it off in the sink, give it a clean with a stiff-bristled brush if needed, and put it back into place. Trust us, if you haven’t cleaned your dishwasher filter in a while, your dishes will thank you.
5. Cleaning Your Toilet With Dryer Sheet
You should be keeping up with cleaning your toilet at least once a week, but in between those cleanings, you might notice fuzzies, hairs, and other stray debris clinging to your toilet’s exteriors. The answer? Well, according to TikTok, it’s a dryer sheet. Simply run a dryer sheet all over the outside of your toilet wherever you see fuzzies, and voila: They’ll be trapped.
While we were skeptical of this method, it actually worked much better and picked up more than your typical cleaning wipe. This hack is great, especially if you don’t have a ton of cleaning supplies lying around and you want to keep your home sparkling in between visits from a local cleaning pro. However, we’d still recommend running a disinfecting wipe over your toilet afterward just to get all the cleaning benefits.
6. Laundry Stripping
If you know any TikTok cleaning hacks, it’s probably this one: Laundry stripping involves clearing linens to strip them of leftover detergent to feel clean and refreshed. Before we explain how to do it, know that you should never try laundry stripping on colored fabric, delicate fabric, or anything that requires that you wash it in cold water only.
Once you’ve determined that it’s safe to try laundry stripping with your items, here’s how to do it: Fill a tub halfway full with very hot water, and add a quarter-cup each of borax and washing soda, and a half-cup of laundry detergent. Swirl it all around (with the stick end of a broom, an old brush, whatever you have handy) before adding the laundry you want to strip. Give everything another swirl until your laundry is fully submerged.
Let things sit for around five hours, stirring once each hour, and then drain the water from your tub. Wash the laundry on cold with no detergent to make sure everything is truly stripped and dry as normal. You should be left with bright, clean laundry.
We had mixed reviews with this method, with some saying it didn’t do anything for their laundry and others giving it a big thumbs up. While it may be worth trying it for yourself, you can also probably just use the directed amount of detergent each time and rinse your laundry thoroughly to get the same results.
7. Using a Dish Wand in Your Shower
If keeping up with cleaning your shower seems like a pain, then you may be interested in this hack that allows you to clean your shower while you shower. Leave a dish wand full of soap that’s safe for your tub material in your bathroom. Then, when you’re almost done showering, run this wand all over your shower to keep things looking clean. Simply rinse it away and you should be left with a clean space.
While this is a really smart hack, it works less well for those of us who are lacking a removable showerhead to rinse the soap away. Luckily installing a new showerhead costs just the price of the showerhead itself and any fee you’ll pay a handyperson near you to install it if you don’t want to DIY. Maybe this is just the excuse you’ve been looking for to make an upgrade.
