Is This TikTok Famous DIY Dusting Spray Better Than Pledge?
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What if, instead of purchasing cleaning products, you could make them with ingredients you already own? And what if they worked even better than comparatively expensive, store-bought brands? This is what TikToker Whitneykailyn claims her popular DIY dusting spray can do in a video that has garnered over 160,000 likes since it was posted.
According to the viral cleaning hack, four simple ingredients should work together to polish and keep dust off of furniture. One commenter said, "Did this and I thought I was going crazy ... it worked so well I didn't have to dust the one table I did it to for a few weeks." To see if this DIY spray is better than those you could purchase at the store, we compared it to Pledge Revive It Moisturizing Oil, which retails for less than $6 at Target. We were hopeful that the homemade mixture would work just as well, if not better, than Pledge.
What you'll need to try this hack
You'll need four simple ingredients to make this dusting spray, as well as a spray bottle to apply it. If you have an empty bottle from another cleaning product, you can reuse it for this project. However, since we didn't have one on hand, we purchased a spray bottle from Target's Up & Up brand.
You'll need to gather your ingredients and add them to the bottle — to avoid any mess, use a funnel or pour from a measuring cup. Add 1 cup of water, ¼ cup of distilled white vinegar, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and 10 to 15 drops of lemon essential oil. Out of these ingredients, we only had to purchase the essential oil, opting for a lemon and mint scent by Everspring from Target for $7.99. In a comment on the viral video, Whitney says you can substitute the lemon scent with another essential oil if desired. Of course, you'll also need a microfiber cloth and furniture to dust. We selected the top of a large wooden dresser that looked like it could use a little love and care.
How our test went
To see if this DIY mixture could compare to Pledge, we used each product on the left and right sides of the wooden dresser, respectively, placing a thin piece of tape down the middle to separate the sides. Before spraying the DIY solution onto the left side, we made sure to give it a good shake, as demonstrated by Whitneykailyn. Then, we sprayed a few squirts and polished the top of the dresser with a microfiber cloth. For the right side, we followed the same steps with Pledge, using a different microfiber cloth to ensure the solutions didn't mix.
Making and using the DIY spray was incredibly easy, and we didn't encounter any complications. However, it did possess a slight vinegar odor that the Pledge product did not. At the same time, the smell is toned down by the essential oil drops and doesn't linger on furniture for too long.
Did the hack live up to the hype?
Overall, this DIY spray worked just as well as Pledge, as both sides of the dresser appeared polished and dust-free after use. Thus, it performed as expected and lived up to the hype generated by the viral video. To further demonstrate how this product can polish surfaces, we also used it on the wooden desk in the above image. If you look closely, you'll be able to see the difference between the shiny and clean left side versus the dull and dusty right side.
While we wouldn't say it performed better than Pledge, a few added benefits come with using the DIY mixture. Those who love a particular scent may enjoy making their own cleaning products, as you can add any essential oil you desire. Additionally, you may enjoy this mixture if you'd like to use more natural products around the home. From a cost perspective, this is an excellent hack for those who already have the ingredients lying around. Further, even if you have to purchase the ingredients — they would likely be more expensive upfront than Pledge — they would last much longer, making this method more cost-effective in the long run.