A new life hack that has gone viral has explained the error of our ways when it comes to cleaning the toilet – but people are completely divided on whether it’s a good idea or not
Let’s face it, cleaning the loo is arguably the most dreaded household task.
Squatting down to tackle those ghastly stains can be a real chore, and neglecting those duties only leads to unsightly limescale and perilous bacteria growth. The design of most toilet cleaners and bleach with their angled nozzles seems ideal for squirting disinfectant around the bowl.
Yet, it appears we’ve all been making a bog-standard error in our cleaning routines, pouring money down the drain alongside those pricey cleaning agents. But a viral life hack has split opinion as it promises to flush away our misguided ways.
The TikTok channel NYT Wirecutter, which boasts a whopping 89,500 followers for its savvy product reviews and trick of the trade videos, threw us a curveball in their recent video.
They claim chucking bleach directly into the pot isn’t the top trick. Instead, they recommend hurling a bucket of water into the loo for a tank-free flush, then attacking the bare bowl with bleach and brush.
This technique, they say, keeps your cleaner concentrated, not watered down. The tip sent waves through the comments section. “What? Awesome hack,” celebrated one viewer. Another was floored: “Well, I was today years old when I realised this instead of fighting with the scrubber in the water.”
However, many people dismissed the tip – arguing that toilet cleaner is typically concentrated and meant to be diluted with water. One person commented: “[There’s] no need to do all these extra steps. It’s made to wash with water in the bowl.”
Another agreed, saying: “Ain’t nobody got time for that.” A number of users also pointed out that it is common in the US for toilet bowls to hold a large amount of water, whereas in many other countries, this is not the case.
“Meanwhile, in Europe our amount of water is about the same as when you poured the bucket in, so we don’t have this problem,” one user wrote.
