4 Top TikTok Cleaning Tips That Worked (And 4 That Didn’t)

After all this time at home, we’ve all learned a lot about the spaces we inhabit — including the best ways to keep them clean and tidy. For me, TikTok was one of the best sources for picking up cleaning hacks. Of course, at AT, we had to try some of them ourselves — and, at times, consult experts about whether or not they’d actually work.

Some of them were game-changers. Some of the hacks worked… with caveats. Others? Well, let’s just say they didn’t measure up to the hype. Without further ado, here are a few TikTok hacks we loved and a few that just didn’t work. 

Restoring dirty grout can be a headache — unless you get your hands on this TikTok-famous cleaner. Our writer absolutely loved Zep’s $7 grout cleaner, and she said she saw results on her kids’ dirty bathroom floor right away, before the product even dried. If stained grout lines are a problem for you… run, don’t walk, to buy this holy grail product!

I myself had a chance to try out the TikTok-beloved Bissell Little Green, a super portable carpet and upholstery cleaner. Turns out, the results I saw at home were as amazing as the viral TikToks I couldn’t stop watching. The machine is convenient to store and carry, and it so effectively sucked up stains (even old ones) from my couch, chairs, and rugs. Highly recommend. 

Our living editor, Ella, adored this TikTok-viral pet hair roller for clearing black cat hair from her white bedding. The $25 tool uses rough fabric to pick up hair, and it’s apparently very easy to use: just pull it back and forth across any surface that needs cleaning. Sounds like a must-have for anyone with a pet that sheds.

Laundry counts as cleaning right? One of our writers, Olivia, says folding a stretched-out collar in a wave pattern, then soaking it in ice water and ironing it does work — but the results aren’t as dramatic as the viral TikTok suggests. Try it for yourself and see!

While TikTokkers claimed WD-40 is a reliable way to remove oil stains from clothes, laundry expert Patric Richardson says it’s too risky — you could end up with dirtier clothes than when you started. Instead, he suggests an oil-based stain remover like Amodex to treat greasy marks on fabric. 

Remember all those TikToks from earlier this year that showed dirty brown water bubbling up from people’s garbage disposals? While ice cubes can help knock gunk further down a drain, we learned turning on hot water only sends the gunk back up instead of down, where it belongs. Instead of following those TikTok instructions, our plumbing expert recommends flushing ice cubes and a gentle cleaner down your disposal. Then, turn on your water to wash everything down. 

I was excited to try this trick, because a crumby toaster is an all-too-common and annoying problem in my house. Turns out, taking a hair dryer to a toaster just makes a bigger mess (even if you use the lowest setting). Instead, I’d recommend holding the toaster or tray over the garbage and emptying it out that way. 

I really wanted this viral method for removing stains from Tupperware to work. It’s so simple and only requires a couple of ingredients (namely, dish soap and a paper towel). But it just didn’t work when I tried to remove curry stains from my food container. I still haven’t found a method I can rely on, so if you know of anything, I’m all ears!