Rant: Beware of Viral Cleaning Videos!!

Wow, it feels like I haven't done anything useful online in forever! Because I haven't. One of the perks of owning my own business is being able to adjust my schedule for my own needs, and over the past several months I've needed to make a lot of time to help out with my grandchildren while their father was on deployment. 

As a result, the part of my business easiest to put on the shelf until later is the online portion, since it doesn't really provide a financial contribution for me yet. 

My goal this year is to double my business from last year at a minimum, and that means refocusing on my online presence and maintaining it for the foreseeable future. 

And just to get my creative self going again, I'm dropping a little rant about something I've found online that absolutely drives me crazy: these viral cleaning videos. Let me start by saying there are loads of great videos out there and if you find someone who provides great content, I encourage you to follow them and be a part of their community.

The ones I'm talking about aren't actually there to educate someone, but instead strictly to get clicks and try to keep people watching for as long as possible. Some people are just all about the money. I'm about money too, but I have standards - and I've learned what they are by watching people do some really dumb shit online to get paid. I prefer to build a reputable business that grows over time instead of recommending things that could kill my target market. 

The videos I'm referring to often start off with a tagline like "I didn't know how to..." or "Today is the first time I learned..." They aren't educational. They aren't useful. And in some cases, they're downright dangerous.

Let me give you an example. I won't name any names here, as I'm not going to call anyone out personally tonight. But here's the little tale of the one that pushed me over the edge: 

I was in an Uber scrolling through social media on my to meet up with some friends a few weeks ago. As you can imagine, much of my feed includes cleaning videos and blogs, even on my personal page (thanks, algorithms). 

One in particular caught my eye as the clip on repeat showed a gloved hand shoving a sponge into a toilet to plug it up. Curious why someone would do this, I clicked on the video. What a mistake that was. I truly wish I could have those 20 minutes back for something more productive. Like trying to talk to my driver who spoke about two dozen words of English. (That's not a knock at my driver, I spoke zero words of his language.)

This person literally flushed their toilet and then plugged it up with several sponges. Like...what? They proceeded to spend about the next 20 minutes filling the toilet almost to the brim with every single cleaning product I think I've ever seen - not only toilet cleaners, but dishwashing detergents (something like 8 different kinds of Dawn and several others), abrasive cleaners, all-purpose cleaners, bleach cleaners, and ammonia products. 

I mean, why not, right? Once you've dumped 22 types of dish soap and 13 different all purpose cleaners in a toilet, why WOULDN'T your next thought be to add bleach and ammonia?

Once the toilet bowl was full, this person reached in with two gloved hands and started hand mixing all the ingredients they'd added. It was at this point I stopped watching this abomination and checked out the comments - many of which said exactly what I was thinking. YOU NEVER MIX AMMONIA AND BLEACH. NEVER. NOT EVEN ONE TIME.

Unfortunately, there were also many comments actually THANKING this person for posting such a helpful video. In a moment of annoyance and snarkiness (not my first and likely not my last), I made some kind of comment saying that people who needed real help deep cleaning a dirty bathroom were more than welcome to message me and I would provide them with step by step instructions using a fraction of the products - in a way that wouldn't produce chloramine and potentially kill them.

The poster of the video actually responded to my comment saying something about how people do things differently and "to each their own." The audacity. 

I can't think of a single person who thinks to themselves, "I know I've been told not to mix bleach and ammonia, but to each their own! I'm sure chloramine is fine." 

I responded any person posting a video saying "this is how to do something" shouldn't include instructions for producing toxic gas. They didn't respond. (As you can see here, I did actually come across a recommendation for mixing bleach and ammonia to commit gopher murder. I did not click on the link.)

So, my few dear followers, please be wary of these types of videos. They aren't there to help you - their purpose is ONLY to make money for the person who made the video. I will never do that. 

If I provide you a video, or a blog story, or any cleaning tip or hack, or product recommendation, I make you the following promise:

I have used the product I'm recommending or promoting, as well as any product that may become a sponsor of this blog. I have tested it in my own house. If I liked it, I've tested it in the homes I clean. In some cases, I've replaced products that I originally used when I started my business because they are more effective, more affordable and equally effective, better for the environment, or any other reason. If I recommend or promote a product, I will provide you details of my own personal experiences with it. I will never recommend anything that will damage your home, and I will never suggest any cleaning method that could produce a toxic gas that can kill you.

If I share a video or story from some other source, I promise you the following:

I won't share any click bait filled with ads that prevent you from reading the information I'm trying to share. I won't share any video or story or tip that I haven't already tried myself, or that I know to be effective and safe.

Do you have any questions about particular products, or particular things in your home that you aren't sure how to clean? Please reach out to me! I'm happy to answer questions whenever I can, and if I find I'm getting a lot of questions about similar topics, you'll probably end up finding your answer in an upcoming blog post.

Thanks for reading, and see y'all next time!