Why TikTok's DIY For A Sparkling Clean Washing Machine Is A Recipe For Disaster

If you constantly attempt to achieve a sparkling clean home, perhaps you have found the corner of TikTok dedicated to scrubbing down appliances that most people would have never thought of cleaning. While expending significant effort to deep clean your house is praiseworthy, some internet personalities may recommend TikTok cleaning trends that should be avoided. Among these is a video by popular TikToker @sierra.honeycutt, who demonstrates how she deep cleans her washing machine by scrubbing it down with lots of different cleansers. The problem is that these products should never be combined, as doing this could be dangerous.

The video begins with the TikToker saying that she arms herself with a Scrub Daddy, some Dawn Powerwash dish spray, and Pine-Sol, squirting the dish soap around the drum of the washer and then scrubbing down the sides and bottom with a Pine-Sol-soaked Scrub Daddy. The problem with her approach to cleaning her washing machine is that she combines cleaning products that are not safe to use together, as mixing Pine-Sol with other cleaners could create harmful gasses, per Pine-Sol's website. What's more, she then makes the situation worse by adding a splash of bleach to the detergent dispenser cup and starting up a self-clean cycle — after rinsing the drum with only one pitcher of water, which could leave some lingering traces of chemicals. While the comments are overflowing with praise for her sparkly washing machine, mixing these cleaning chemicals should give any viewer pause.

While you should immediately dismiss the tip to use Pine-Sol, dish soap, and bleach in the same cleaning session, this TikTok creator's advice isn't all bad. Among her better recommendations are to use small bristle brushes for scrubbing down the bottom of the drum, as well as cracks and crevices that are difficult to reach. She also vacuums out debris as a preliminary cleaning step and wears rubber cleaning gloves, which is a definite must-have when using harsh cleaners that can irritate your skin. The TikToker safely uses a glass cleaner to spray the clear top of her washing machine as well as the sides, which lends a crisp finish to the somewhat disastrous start of the cleaning video.

If you're still on the hunt for the best way to clean your washing machine that won't risk making you ill, there are a number of natural products that fit the bill. You can clean the washer drum with your choice of a number of substances, including vinegar and baking soda, bleach, or hydrogen peroxide, among others — being careful, of course, to never mix these household chemicals. You can also purchase washing machine cleaning tablets, which take the guesswork out of the process and can be used in tandem with the self-cleaning cycle that most washing machines have available to you. While the internet has lots of "ingenious" ideas for cleaning your home, remember to always double check TikTok's recommendations for safety and efficacy.