When life gives you lemons, use them to scrub your stove.
TikToker Yagmur (@yagmuronerr) is changing lives with what is just about the simplest hack imaginable.
"Show me the life hack that you randomly saw one day that is now an unconscious standard practice in your life," she says. "I'll go first."
The scoop
In the video, Yagmur pours a spoonful of baking soda over the top of a lemon sliced in half. Then, she turns the lemon over and uses it as a sponge to scrub her electric stove.
After one go-over, she pours a little more baking soda onto the stove, squeezes some of the juice from the lemon on top, and polishes until the surface is free of grime. She wipes off the excess with a hand towel, revealing a squeaky-clean stovetop.
@yagmuronerr chef's kiss 🤌🏼 kitchen electric stove cleaning hack: just half lemon + baking soda 🍋 #cleaninghack #cleaninghacks #cleaninghacksforyou #cleaninghacksthatwork #cleaningasmr #cleaningtiktok #cleaningmotivation #cleaningtips #cleaningszn #cleaningasmr #cleaningsznbaby #cleantok #cleantok101 #kitchenstove #kitchenstovechallange #electricstove #electricstovecleaning #electricstoveclean #cleanwithme #cleanwithmemotivation #torontocontentcreator #torontocontentcreators #torontocontentcreator2023 #cleaninghacksandtips #tiktokviralcleaningcleaningservices ♬ Ultimate life hacks - Kelly - The Life Bath
"Chef's kiss," she wrote under the video. "Kitchen electric stove cleaning hack: just half lemon + baking soda."
How it's helping
Many traditional household cleaning products contain potentially toxic chemicals, and average handling exposes users to almost 20 pounds of these chemicals per year. Additionally, according to Tiny Waste, these ingredients cause problems when washed down sinks and into our waterways, where they can be hazardous to aquatic species.
Household cleaners also often come in plastic containers, contributing to the 40 million tons of plastic waste thrown away each year in America. According to Our World in Data, 1 to 2 million tons of plastic enter the world's oceans each year. When plastic waste is not recycled, incinerated, or kept in a sealed landfill, it becomes an environmental pollutant.
Luckily, there are cheap alternatives — many of which we already have lying around — to popular cleaning products. These can save money and reduce plastic usage and are just as effective and often safer.
One TikToker used a lemon and some salt to clean their copper pots, while another used just boiling water to eliminate a stain. The options and opportunities to get creative with the ways we clean are seemingly endless.
What everyone's saying
TikTokers took to the comments to ask questions, offer suggestions of their own, and praise the hack.
"Girl," one user commented, "you saved me."
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