Experts Warn Against Trying This TikTok Toilet Bowl Cleaning Hack
Not only is it wasteful, it can be harmful to your health.
There are plenty of #CleanTok hacks that can help you clean your home and save time doing so. But don't be quick to try out every cleaning tip you see. This toilet cleaning trend circulating around TikTok seems like a great idea at first, but experts warn it can actually have detrimental long-term effects. Similar to the “product overload” method, it can easily damage your toilet and cause health problems. Plus, it’s wildly wasteful for more than one reason.
A cleaning expert explains why you should steer clear of this trend—and how to safely and effectively clean your toilet bowl instead.
Related: 3 TikTok Cleaning Hacks You Should Skip—and One Worth Trying
What Is the TikTok Toilet Bowl Cleaning Trend?
Creators are showing off a quick and easy way to make their toilets look and smell clean by using Fabuloso (or a similar cleaning solution) one of two ways. They either dump the entire bottle directly into the toilet tank, or cut a hole at the bottom of the bottle and place it inside the tank.
The idea is that whenever they flush, the toilet bowl itself will fill up with the sweet smell of Fabuloso, negating any unsavory scents that might otherwise be lingering. It sounds relatively harmless but, in reality, it can be damaging to you, your toilet, and the environment.
“It may be tempting to produce content that visually pops, but “hacks” like this one can potentially cause more problems than the content creator realizes or admits to," says Mary Gagliardi, Clorox's in-house scientist and cleaning expert, who is also known as 'Dr. Laundry.'
Related: 12 Everyday Items You Should Never Flush Down Your Toilet
Why Is the Trend Dangerous?
Gagliardi agrees with the hundreds of commenters and plumbers who say this is a bad idea. It turns out, there are quite a few reasons you'll want to steer clear of the hack.
1. The Chemicals Can Corrode Toilet Parts
A toilet bowl is made up of numerous components, many of which are hidden inside the tank. Parts like the seal, flapper, and gasket that connects the tank to the bowl itself are made of plastic or rubber. The chemicals found in Fabuloso will eventually wear down those materials resulting in them needing to be replaced more frequently. And, if you don’t replace them in time, the toilet will most likely begin to leak.
Related: The 11 Best Toilet Bowl Cleaners of 2023 That Are Fast-Acting and Effective
2. It Weakens Your Toilet’s Performance
When you put an entire bottle of toilet cleaner in the tank, it reduces the amount of water in it. While some may argue that this is saving on your water bill, it undeniably diminishes the flushing power of your toilet. If you’re not handy in the plumbing department, what you save on water will ultimately go toward hiring help to unclog the drain pipe later on.
Another less serious, albeit annoying, problem is that the bottle usually floats, especially as it begins to empty, which can block the flusher. This means you’ll be regularly reaching into the tank to adjust it. And if you don’t, expect the toilet to constantly run—which is, ironically, a waste of water.
Related: How to Fix a Running Toilet
3. It’s Not Friendly on the Earth—Or Your Wallet
We’ve already detailed a number of reasons this TikTok hack will cost you money—but the most obvious reason is that it's ridiculously wasteful. “Remember that every time the toilet is flushed, the tank refills with water,” Gagliardi says. “After a few flushes, the toilet water that turned purple with an entire bottle of multi-purpose cleaner would be clear again, making this a completely unrealistic and expensive way of maintaining a toilet.”
Dozens of comments on the viral videos reinforce this with most users admitting that the color and smell lasted merely a day or, for some, just a few flushes. With a 56-ounce bottle of Fabuloso selling for close to $5 today, that’s a costly cleaning habit in and of itself. Not to mention, it’s an alarming amount of plastic to discard on a regular basis and constantly flushing the chemicals down the drain can interfere with sewage treatment plants.
Related: 5 Eco-Friendly Bathroom Updates That Save Energy and Money
4. It Can Cause Health Issues in Humans and Pets
Because an all-purpose cleaner like Fabuloso contains chemicals, constant exposure—especially to a large quantity at once—can cause eye or skin irritation. “Bathrooms can be confined spaces with poor air circulation,” Gagliardi says. For that reason, you always want to be careful using any cleaning products without adequate ventilation.
Another hazard to keep in mind is the fact that Fabuloso should never be mixed with bleach, according to the company’s website. It will create chlorine gas which is toxic and, per the CDC, induces burning in the eyes, nose, and throat among other dangerous side effects. If we still haven’t convinced you to skip this trend yet, whatever you do, make sure you don’t have toilet tablets or stamps containing bleach already in the bowl when flushing Fabuloso.
Furthermore, if you have a pet that occasionally likes to sneak a sip from the toilet bowl, they will most likely become sick if they ingest the cleaner with the water. Always keep the lid closed as a safety precaution.
5. It Doesn't Actually Clean the Toilet
Unless you’re using the antibacterial formula—which most TikTokers don’t appear to be in their videos—Fabuloso isn’t actually killing bacteria in your toilet. At best, it’s simply making it smell pleasant, although for a limited amount of time.
Safer Ways to Keep Your Toilet Clean
“When it comes to cleaning products and social media, content needs to demonstrate using products safely, as directed especially EPA-registered sanitizing and disinfecting products,” Gagliardi says. “It’s important to follow instructions as to how much product to use, if water is needed to dilute it, what the contact time is for it to kill germs, what surfaces are appropriate or not to use it on, if rinsing is required, and any other special instructions.”
With that said, there are a number of cleaners, including common household items, that you can use to clean the toilet. For the exterior of the fixture, simply spray it with an all-purpose cleaner of your choice and let it sit before wiping it down with a cloth, making sure to get into the hard-to-reach nooks.
For the tank, an effective method is to shut the water off, fill it with distilled vinegar, and let it sit overnight. The next morning, scrub it with a brush, turn the water on, and flush until the tank is refilled. Alternatively, you can mix vinegar with baking soda and dish soap for a quicker cleaning time.
Lastly, simply squeeze a toilet bowl cleaner with or without bleach around the inside edges, let it sit for the recommended period of time, and scrub with a brush before flushing. Persistent stains need a bit more elbow grease so, first, pour vinegar into the bowl followed by baking soda and scrub after a few minutes. If you still see stains, try gently rubbing them with a pumice stone and, going forward, use vodka to prevent them from forming in the first place.
“At the end of the day, only products specifically designed for use in a toilet bowl or a toilet tank should be used to clean them,” Gagliardi says. “Following instructions is important to make sure the product performs as promised, and to make sure you are using it safely.”
Related: The 7 Best Toilet Brushes of 2023, According to Testing
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