There were a number of TikTok cleaning trends that popped up this year. Some of them were really useful and cool. Others were simply not. Separating the two is pretty important before you start cleaning for the new year, so let’s look at a few viral hacks you should jump on—and a few you should leave behind in 2022.
Start by following some of the great CleanTok influencers who regularly post real, actionable tips. Then, scroll on for some hacks that you can start employing right away.
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While you don’t actually need to do laundry stripping if your clothes are washed correctly every time, your clothes may not always be washed right—and laundry stripping is harmless at worst and visually satisfying at best, to say nothing of its effectiveness. To do this one, you soak your laundry for a long time (usually in a bathtub, where you can see the water get grosser and grosser) to pull out product buildup, dirt, and other icky stuff.
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We’ve gone over this before, but please don’t fill the basket of your (electric!) air fryer with water to clean it. There are easier, safer ways to clean it. Ignore this tip altogether.
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Using a pan lid as a kind of superscrubber for your carpets and upholstery was a major trend this year. We have the details on how to do it here, but you get a sense of the maneuver in the video above. This is a definite Do.
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The appeal of this method is obvious: It looks pretty when you do it. The downsides, as we’ve mentioned, are less obvious: You can wreck your plumbing. Do not fill your toilet bowl with every cleaning product you can think of and then flush it away. Clean your toilet the normal way instead.
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We loved this TikTok hack for making your own disinfectant out of pine needles, which you may have in abundance around the holidays. It’s fun to DIY your cleaning supplies, but only when they really work—and this does.
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A hack advising you to use dish soap to keep condensation off your windows went viral recently, but what didn’t get as much attention is how bad of an idea that is. Sure, you can do it, if you want the condensation to cling to other, more porous surfaces around your window, leading to smells and maybe even mold. But you shouldn’t. Here’s how to battle condensation a better way.
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The “FlyLady” cleaning method is big on the app right now, and for good reason. If you follow it, you can tackle cleaning certain parts of your home on a monthly schedule, which will help you reduce the anxiety that comes with trying to do it all at once. Read more about the method here.
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Some people on TikTok say you should freshen up your radiator with actual air freshener. These people are wrong. While this might produce a nice smell, it is definitely not worth the risk that could come with spritzing possibly flammable solutions into one of the hottest appliances in your home. Clean your radiator like this instead.
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A viral CleanTok trend that is not hard to do and works well involves wetting a paper towel before sweeping dust and dirt over it with your broom. The wet paper towel grabs all the last bits of dirt in a way your dust pan might not. Read the details here, but this one is simple and a winner.
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Finally, this is only kind of a cleaning hack, but it’s a great one: You can tear and fold your pizza takeout box to become a smaller pizza takeout box, so it fits nicely in your fridge. Read how here, or watch above.
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