So, I decided to include my (very gross) pictures as well, to really show that this is no joke of a hack.
This TikTok went viral. In it, the user uses four simple ingredients: Borax, OxyClean, Baking Soda, and Washing Soda.
She soaks her couch cushions in the ingredients, and within a few minutes, you can see a ton of dirt and grime come out, and after soaking for a few hours, her entire bathtub is covered in dirty water from the cushions.
Commenters shared that the dirt coming out of the user's video wasn't their fault, but a result of the chemicals in their laundry detergent that simply added a new layer to the fabric instead of stripping the old dirt and grime away.
After reading this and watching this video, I knew I had to try this on my own couch cushions at home.
Though we wash ours monthly, we've had these for over 10 years — I wanted to know how this was going to play out.
I used all the ingredients except OxyClean simply because I didn't have it at home
Amitoj's Couch Cusions submerged in soapy waterAmitoj Kaur
Here are my couch cushions, soaked in the mixture in my bathtub. Notice the white bubbles! This was just right after I had put them in the tub.
Very brown water after removing cushionsAmitoj Kaur
Here is the aftermath of what my tub looked like after I soaked the cushions for four hours.
I was shocked, excited, and also a bit grossed out at the end result here.
You can't see much here, but even when I drained the tub, there was plenty of dirt and grime left on the bottom, and I wash my cushions every month!
After I took the cushions out, I put them on a rinse only cycle in the washing machine and dried them outside since it was a sunny weekend.
My couch looks, smells, and feels so much better.
Though I was extremely skeptical of this trend, I can safely say since washing my couch, I've washed backpacks, comforters, towels, and so much more using the Borax hack.
This is definitely staying in my cleaning routine. Thanks, TikTok!
