Current:Home > NewsMixing cleaning products can create chemical warfare gas: The Cleantok hacks to avoid -TradeWisdom
Mixing cleaning products can create chemical warfare gas: The Cleantok hacks to avoid
View
Date:2025-04-18 19:24:41
- Some TikTok cleaning hacks can be dangerous for your health and your belongings.
- Experts say to avoid overloading your toilet with cleaning products, running water through toasters and filling your air fryer with soapy water.
- Other popular CleanTok hacks to approach with caution include couch cleaning with a pot lid microfiber towel and Tide Pods and filling your toilet tank with Fabuloso.
The plethora of cleaning videos on TikTok can be mesmerizing and inspiring, from scrubbing ASMR to novel hacks for #SundayReset.
Some of those hacks can be used for regular spring cleaning, as one professional house cleaner previously told USA TODAY. She has been sprinkling baking soda on upholstery and mattresses to draw out odors for years (and she lets the kids jump on the bed to help!)
But experts say that a few of the #CleanTok trends have gone too far, and can even be dangerous for your health and your belongings.
Here are a few #CleanTok hacks to avoid, according to House Digest experts:
More:We tried these easy cleaning hacks and they're life-changing
Overloading your toilet with cleaning products
Some Tiktokers get creative and artistic with the #ToiletOverload trend, mixing powders and colorful liquids in the toilet bowl.
Mixing cleaning products at all can be dangerous, as the chemical combinations can release harmful gasses.
According to the National Capital Poison Center:
- Mixing bleach and ammonia makes chloramine gas, which causes coughing.
- Mixing bleach with an acidic cleaner releases chlorine gas, which was used as a chemical warfare agent in World War I.
Even if you're wearing a mask, jamming your toilet with chemicals could be bad for your plumbing.
"Flushing an excessive amount of cleaning products down your toilet can result in you having to call a professional plumber to fix the damage caused by it," Joseph Wade, vice president of operations at Benjamin Franklin Plumbing told House Digest. "An excessive amount of chemicals can not only clog but also damage the pipes that they pass through."
Using water to clean your cooking appliances
House Digest said some people have been running water through toasters to clean them. But doing so can damage electrical components, and become a safety hazard, Katie Dills of The Cleaning Authority told House Digest.
Some TikTok videos also suggest filling the cooking compartment of an air fryer with soapy water and turning it on as a self-cleaning method.
"That's just a way to get soapy water into the fan system and destroy your air fryer, said TikToker and House Digest expert and TikToker Carly Castro.
Other popular CleanTok hacks to approach with caution
According to House Digest, these are the other popular CleanTok hacks that homeowners should approach with caution.
- Couch cleaning with a pot lid microfiber towel and Tide Pods. Check to ensure you're using the proper cleaning agent that won't damage the fabric.
- Do not fill your toilet tank with Fabuloso or any other all-purposes cleaners.
veryGood! (69)
Related
- Trump's 'stop
- Argentina’s former detention and torture site added to UNESCO World Heritage list
- State governors from Arizona, New Mexico seek stronger economic ties with Taiwan
- Hawaii governor calls on people to visit West Maui when it reopens in October: Helping our people heal
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- Southern Baptists expel Oklahoma church after pastor defends his blackface and Native caricatures
- Fentanyl found under sleeping mats at Bronx day care where 1-year-old child died
- Deion Sanders condemns death threats against player whose late hit left Hunter with lacerated liver
- Small twin
- House Oversight Committee to hold first hearing of impeachment inquiry into President Biden on Sept. 28
Ranking
- Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
- Nicole Kidman, John Lithgow auction off Zooms, artwork to aid crew members amid Hollywood strikes
- Nick Chubb injury: Latest updates on Browns star, who will miss rest of NFL season
- Rihanna, A$AP Rocky have second child together, another boy they named Riot Rose, reports say
- Federal court filings allege official committed perjury in lawsuit tied to Louisiana grain terminal
- Arizona county elections leader who promoted voter fraud conspiracies resigns
- What to know about the search for Sergio Brown: Ex-NFL player missing, mother found dead
- Challenges to library books continue at record pace in 2023, American Library Association reports
Recommendation
Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds
'This was all a shock': When DNA test kits unearth family secrets, long-lost siblings
Fed-up consumers are increasingly going after food companies for misleading claims
Chanel Iman Gives Birth to Baby No. 3, First With NFL Star Davon Godchaux
US wholesale inflation accelerated in November in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
Former Colorado officer who put handcuffed woman in car hit by train avoids jail time
Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards' Daughter Sami Vows to Quit Vaping Before Breast Surgery
Minnesota professor dismissed over showing Islamic art can proceed with lawsuit, judge rules