If there’s one DIY recipe that’s simple, fun, and makes a house feel (and smell) like a home, it’s a simmer pot. All you have to do is cut some fruit into slices, add it to a pot with some spices, cover the ingredients with water, and simmer it on the stove for a few hours, and voila—you have a warm, inviting home. It’s such a lovely trick that you might consider bringing part of the routine into the rest of your household duties. Like, perhaps, cleaning your pillows?
That's what one TikTok creator did. User @janelleandkate posted a video with the caption, “Wash your pillows people!!”—some advice we can all agree with. In the video, Janelle takes the pillowcase off of a pillow and submerges it into a bathtub filled with water. She then pours baking soda, liquid detergent, and salt on top. So far, so good. But then the video takes a turn. She slices a few lemons and oranges on top, juicing them as she goes, then lets the pillow soak in the citrus-drenched soapy water for a few hours. When she takes the pillow out of murky, yellow-tinted bathtub water, she reveals the final step—to put the pillow in the dryer with some tennis balls.
The water certainly looked dirty, but, as one commenter pointed out, the oranges she juiced into the tub could have been the main culprit instead of all the dirt, dust, sweat, saliva, bacteria, and mold that easily can collect in a pillow that's not washed enough.
So, should you really use fruit to clean your pillows? According to experts at Sleepopolis, a niche publication that covers the sleep industry, probably not.
“Lemons can be helpful natural cleaning agents, but they may not be the best choice for cleaning pillows directly,” Jade Piper, the operations manager of Bettercleans, told Sleepopolis. “Lemon juice is acidic, and while it can be effective at removing some stains and odors, it could potentially damage the fabric or filling of the pillow.”
Instead, you can wash most down and synthetic pillows the regular way—in the washing machine, a route much easier than this TikTok hack anyway. Cleaning experts recommend using fragrance-free soap on pillows and keeping them clean by fluffing them, regularly changing the pillowcases, freshening them up in the dryer, and using removable pillow protectors. You’ll still have to replace your pillows about every two years, but keeping a regular cleaning routine—without fruit—is important to ensure you have the cleanest, healthiest cushions under your head.