This year, I will be sharing a four-part series on social media cleaning trends. Social media can be a great source of information on any subject. Cleaning is no exception. Whether you like to or not, we all need to clean up sometimes and people are always looking for fast and easy ways to get the job done. YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, are full of people sharing their cleaning methods. Sometimes these methods spark trends that go viral. But do they really work? In this series, I’ll break down four social media cleaning trends. I’ll share what they are, if they work, and if you should try them. I will kick off the series with my least favorite trend - product overload. In this trend people typically cover a sink drain with a sponge and then proceed to fill the sink with dozens of cleaning products. Some empty entire bottles of liquid, powder, and cream cleaners into the mix. This same process is sometimes used in toilets as well. Sometimes the mixtures are collected into containers to use as cleaners. Often though some content creators will mix these products as ASMR. Viewers find the sounds produced by the mixing and squeezing of the sponges and colors of the mixtures relaxing to watch.
Does it work?
As a cleaning method, not really. On some surfaces, you may get an acceptable result, however, cleaning products are formulated for specific surfaces. If you are using a mixture on a surface containing a product not intended for that surface, you may not get a good result or even cause damage.
Should you try it?
No. This trend is potentially very dangerous. Mixing chemicals is never a good idea if you don’t know what you're doing. Even though these products can be purchased from big box stores anywhere, mixing these products can cause serious issues and even death. For example, powder cleaners such as Bar Keepers Friend, Ajax and Comet are very common and functionally are very similar. However, they are different chemically and mixing Bar Keepers Friend with Ajax or Comet produces chlorine gas. The product that should be handled with the most care is bleach. Bleach mixed with just about anything will produce an adverse reaction. Bleach and ammonia will produce chloramine gas which can be deadly. Bleach and vinegar will produce chloramine and chlorine gas. It doesn't have to be these chemicals alone either. Products containing these things can produce the same effects. Bleach and dish soap can produce toxic gases since most dish soaps contain ammonia. Mixing different brands of products should also be avoided. Even if they do the same thing, they may have different chemical compounds that don't mix.
Bottom line
It's just not worth it. It's dangerous and wasteful. Save your time, money, and most importantly health, and skip this trend.