Wild Toilet Cleaning Hacks Are Going Viral Online, And They Might Actually Be Genius

So put down that bottle of bleach and prepare to broaden your horizons, folks. Your bathroom cleaning routine is about to receive a welcome shot in the arm! To kick things off, let’s focus on a hack that’ll get your entire toilet sparkling. All you’ll require here is a delicate piece of fabric and a container filled with baby oil.

If the handle of your toilet has a metallic sheen, then baby oil will make it glisten following a quick scrub. After that, you can zone in on other areas such as the bowl and the tank. Give them a thorough wipe once the product has been squirted on the surface. Before you know it, you’ll be left with a shiny loo.

And there are more tricks where that came from! For instance, if you’re concerned about the grime that could be sitting inside your toilet bowl, don’t just reach under the sink for standard cleaning products. Instead, get your hands on some hydrogen peroxide. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that it’s ideal for battling nasty bacteria.

So what do you need to do with it, then? Well, tip a half-cup measure of the hydrogen peroxide into your toilet bowl and leave it in place for around half-an-hour or so. Once that time has passed, just flush the chemical compound away. It should take any lingering bacteria with it.

But how about dirty marks? What can get rid of the blemishes in your toilet besides bleach products? There are quite a few things, actually. To give you an example, white vinegar is said to be an excellent tool for removing unsightly smears around the bowl. And it won’t take much effort from your end to get the job done.

Tear off a sheet of toilet paper and then pour white vinegar all over it. Make sure the square has been completely drenched, before sticking it on the dirty mark in the bowl. Then, leave it alone until the following day — if you’ve got a second toilet in the house, use that in the meantime. At that point, pull the handle.

When the vinegary paper flushes away, the marks should no longer be there. According to The Spruce website, this is a particularly helpful hack for tackling “hard water stains” in toilets. No scrubbing necessary! If you’re looking to get really creative with your cleaning, though, these next couple of tips will be right up your alley.

Fizzy toilet bombs can be purchased from certain stores, and definitely do a good job of freshening up your loo. Then again, why splash out for them when you can just create a batch yourself? It’s a fairly simple task, so don’t feel overwhelmed! All you’ve got to do is mix a bit of citric acid and baking soda together.

While you’re doing that, throw in a little bit of scented oil as well. Go for whatever pleases your nose the most. In the end, you’ll be left with a mixture that should get your toilet sparkling. But if you don’t want to go through that process, here’s another idea. You just need a loo brush and a full container of Coca-Cola.

To eliminate annoying rust rings around the toilet bowl, tip the fizzy beverage across the entire area. Empty every last drop on the surface, ensuring that it’s covered. After that, step away for roughly 60 minutes. This will give it time to dissolve any stains. Maybe grab a cold glass of Coke while you wait!

At the end of that spell, take your loo brush and begin to rub the dirty marks. Don’t hold back here! Once you’ve done that for a bit, pull the toilet handle. The blemishes should hopefully wash away in an instant. An intriguing hack, right? Speaking of which, that brings us on to the potentially game-changing trick we mentioned earlier.

It was shared in a TikTok post back in March 2021 by a woman posting under the name sheiskd_. The video begins with a shot of a Fabuloso bottle sitting on a sink. From here, the social media user pierces the lower end of the plastic container with a knife. Then, we cut to her toilet’s tank, which is already opened up.

At this stage, sheiskd_ places the Fabuloso inside the cistern and leaves it standing in the far corner. As a result of this, the toilet’s water develops a blue-ish shade. She then flushes it, with a voice-over simply stating “smells amazing.” Yep, the TikTok user found a way to maintain a fresh scent around her loo without giving it a thorough daily clean.

This simple hack made huge waves on the social media website as well. Incredibly, sheiskd_’s post went on to earn nearly 47 million views, while also racking up about 5 million likes and close to 425,000 shares. It was a massive viral hit, and she didn’t stop there. The user dropped a follow-up video a couple of days later.

After confirming that it’s “Day Two” of her experiment, sheiskd_ removes the top of her toilet tank. She says, “As you can see, [the bottle] is pretty full, it’s sitting in the corner [and] it’s not floating around. [The Fabuloso] slowly leaks into the water and it smells amazing every time I walk into the bathroom. And when I flush the toilet.”

That clip proved to be a hit, too, earning roughly 1.4 million views on TikTok. Then, sheiskd_ provided one last update before the week was out in March 2021. In that video, she notes, “I do smell [the Fabuloso] a little when I open the tank, but it’s a faint smell. It is full, but that’s most likely the toilet water now.”

At this point, sheiskd_ offers a piece of advice to those looking to emulate the hack. She adds, “I recommend after Day Six, or maybe you could wait [until] after Day Seven, to put in a new [Fabuloso] bottle.” From here, the clip comes to a close. To say that her fellow users were impressed would be a major understatement.

One user admitted, “I didn’t even think of this.” Elsewhere, a different person wrote, “I’m gonna have to try that.” But another user shared some advice of their own to sheiskd_ in the comments section. It read, “Just take the paper off the bottle first. But I’m definitely doing this.” Are you tempted to give it a go as well?

Anyway, the hack proved to be such a phenomenon on social media that it made international headlines, too. For instance, U.K. newspaper The Sun covered the story via its website in March 2021. So while it might not be the most glamorous job in the house, the negative perception seems to be changing. There’s fun to be had freshening up your toilet!

Here's a nontoxic way to clean the bathtub from Martha Stewart: Combine one teaspoon of liquid soap with several drops of an antibacterial essential oil —"such as tea tree, eucalyptus, rosemary, or peppermint" — to one cup of baking soda. "Add just enough water to form a paste," Martha explains, "and use it with a sponge or brush to scour bathtub surface."

For Martha Stewart, a simple feather duster won't do. Use a lambs-wool duster to attract and hold dust; a duster with an extendable handle to reach high places; electrostatic mitts and cloths to grab hold of dust up close; and last, but not least — and probably the most clever idea — use a natural bristled paintbrush to "reach into all kinds of nooks."

Mildew doesn't have to be a problem. Regular cleaning and air circulation is key, but so are a few easy-to-learn tricks. Reduce dampness in an area by keeping it dry with desiccants or by separating wet materials. Having a dehumidifier at home helps, but even an incandescent lightbulb helps to dry the air.

When it comes to cleaning bathtubs, Jenice Findley of Fins Property Maintenance shared an idea with NBC News. She explained, “[Mix] one cup vinegar [and] half a cup of baking soda with hot water, pour into the tub, and allow to sit for five minutes. Start filling the tub with hot water until it’s approximately a quarter full, and let it sit for an additional five minutes. Then release the drain and rinse thoroughly.”

Marble can't sit around without proper care. To keep it clean, routinely wash with a sponge filled with "warm water and a mild, neutral detergent," Martha Stewart said. "Rinse and dry with a soft cloth." You can prevent stains by annually sealing countertops, but be careful with alcohol and fruit juices, as the acids in them are particularly damaging.

Cleaning ceramic tiles is easy with a simple combination of baking soda and water. The combo creates a paste that, when scrubbed into grout, cleans without the use of harsh chemicals like bleach. After rinsing, give your tiles a good clean with a microfiber cloth that's submerged in a solution of water and mild dishwashing liquid and then wrung out.

During a spring clean, crevices can be very tricky to access, even with the aid of a vacuum cleaner. With that in mind, discarded toilet paper rolls could make things a lot easier. All you need to do is stick the cardboard tube on the end of your vacuum, and then position it into the gap.

While we now know what to do with the toilet brush, what about the toilet itself? On that front, Doyle James of Mr. Rooter Plumbing shared a tip. He told NBC News, “Mix one cup of baking soda with 15 drops of tea tree essential oil, and 15 drops of lemon or orange essential oil. Let the mixture sit in the bowl for 30 minutes and scrub with a bowl brush before flushing.”

Yearning to restore your bathtroom’s gleaming chrome? To shed some light on this next tip, a user on BuzzFeed wrote, “Vinegar in a plastic bag with a rubber band tied around any faucet or shower head makes it look just like new. I’m talking decade-old rust and stuff gone. And [the] water flows like the first day.” 

Some outdated technology can still come in handy. Believe it or not, an old CD tower is perfect for the bathroom. Just flip it sideways, nail it to the wall, and voila! You’ll never have better storage for your bathroom supplies...or any loose CDs you have lying around.

Over time, the drains in your house will become clogged with gunk and grime. If you want to clear it all out, call upon baking soda and vinegar once more. For this particular task, you need to send some hot water into the drain, before adding half a cup of the former. Then, dump a cup of the latter down there, too, to help eliminate the muck.

Never waste time or toothpaste again. Always have a binding clip fixed to the bottom of your rolled-up tube! That way, you can achieve the trifecta of organization: neatness, efficiency, and maximum usage. Plus, we know you have some clips laying around the house that you never use.

Remember your nice white walls? Well, they’ve now got some messy artwork on them, courtesy of your children. Luckily, those crayon marks can be removed from glossy paint if you’ve got some WD-40 handy. Simply spray and then wipe the surface to get it looking as clean as a whistle again.

Here's a solid gold solution to filling up a container that's too large for the sink. Simply use a clean dustpan to funnel water from the faucet into the perfectly placed container. It may take some trial and error, but it'll get the job done!

Stiff drawers can test the patience of even the most mild-mannered person. But don’t fret, as the issue can be solved with some quick thinking. By applying soap to the sliders, you should be able to simply and easily loosen up the problematic drawer. Dish and bar varieties of soap should both work, too.

Grout is one of the toughest things to clean at home, as it’s difficult to scour tight spaces. Mind you, a bottle of toilet bowl cleaner could make the job easier. According to some experts, the liquid will lift up any dirt if you leave it to soak for around 15 minutes. Then, just wipe it away!

Ah, squeaky hinges – the bane of your existence. The constant noise is enough to make even your grandma swear! Little do you know, though, that the solution is sitting in your kitchen cabinet. A quick squirt of cooking spray should fix up the joint and save you from that ear-piercing sound.

Yes, you can fix clogged toilets without the aid of a plunger. Just douse the bowl with dish soap and then wait for around half an hour. After that, add a bit of warm water to the mix. This blend should grease up the blockage and clear the pipes.

Just like anything else made from metal, spray cans can become rusty. You can avoid any pesky rust circles on your surfaces, though, by covering the bases of your spray cans in nail polish.