I’m a home expert – a popular CleanTok trend could damage your home’s pipes, leave your skin burned, or even KILL you
PLENTY of the home hacks on TikTok are meant to get your house cleaner than ever before, while requiring less time, money, and effort.
But the biggest trend on CleanTok right now could seriously damage your home, if it doesn’t hurt you first.
You’ll find the new trend under the hashtag #ProductOverload, and it’s exactly what it sounds like.
Cleaning fans pour and pump household cleaners into their toilets, showers, sinks, and other stain-prone areas, creating pretty swirls of foam and fluid.
But the home pros at Good Housekeeping warn that the camera-ready product combinations can do more harm than good.
“Some of these videos show thick sludges of mixed products that can easily settle in, clog pipes, and cause blockages,” said Carolyn Forté, executive director of the Good Housekeeping Institute’s Home Care & Cleaning Lab.
Even if you flush or rinse them thoroughly, mixing cleaners together and sending them down the drain can damage your sink, tub, or toilet, she warned.
Plus, mixing your products together doesn’t necessarily make them more effective. In fact, some products counteract each other, so when you “product overload,” you really are flushing money down the drain.
“Cleaning products are best used as directed on the label, and aren’t formulated to work in combination with other cleaning products,” Forté said.
Even using a bigger “dosage” of cleaner than what’s listed on the label can render it ineffective. Since products are formulated for specific scenarios, using them in heavier concentrations can corrode or scratch surfaces, too.
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You can do harm to more than just your pipes when you mix abrasive cleaners together, the experts warned.
Dr Kelly Johnson-Arbor told Good Housekeeping that the high pH labels of cleaning powders and multisurface cleaners can be extremely abrasive to skin.
But in some #ProductOverload videos, TikTok users are shown mixing together cleaners with their bare hands or swirling liquid products into pretty patterns.
“People should wear rubber gloves when using these products, as skin irritation, including redness and pain or even chemical burns, can occur after use,” said Dr Johnson-Arbor.
Depending on the ventilation in your home, burns and itching aren’t the only risk you’re exposed to when you take part in the trend.
Many homeowners don’t realize that the products they’re using contain ammonia or bleach, along with other agents, so they combine them without thinking about the danger.
“Mixing bleach and ammonia causes the release of chloramine gas, and mixing bleach and toilet bowl cleaner can trigger the release of chlorine gas,” Dr Johnson-Arbor warned.
When you inhale those gases, you might experience coughing and trouble breathing. And if you have respiratory difficulties already, like asthma or lung disease, being exposed to the fumes could even result in death, the expert continued.
“Unless the label says to mix with another chemical, it’s best to follow the directions as listed and not combine products,” Dr Johnson-Arbor added.
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No matter how tempting the CleanTok trend may seem, stick to following your cleaning products’ labels exactly, and use them one at a time.
“Mixing cleaning products deliberately is never a good or safe idea,” Forté said.