Yahoo News I'm a cleaning fanatic, and The Pink Stuff is my $5 miracle worker
There's a reason this versatile paste went TikTok-viral and became an Amazon No. 1 bestseller — even the pros swear by it.
I'm a cat owner, which means I have to embrace the possibility that weird splotches and stains will appear everywhere and anywhere in my home. Whether it's the wet food she splatters Jackson Pollock-style all over my walls or the tiny scratches she leaves on my cabinets, my feline keeps me busy. If I'm not vacuuming her fur, I'm wiping down a surface. Of course, I love my kitty — but the mystery spots, many of which I've never been able to entirely eliminate? Not so much.
After trying everything, from Magic Erasers to scrubbers to stain removers that work on everything but the actual stain, I had all but given up. That is, until TikTok oh-so-conveniently directed me to a cleaning solution called The Pink Stuff that promised to help — and actually did.
This all-purpose paste gets rid of stains on just about anything: walls, countertops, cookware, even your white sneakers.
- No chemical smell
- Highly affordable
- Easy to apply to stains
- Can be used on practically any surface
- Caked-on messes might require a bit more scrubbing
TikTokers have branded The Pink Stuff the best, fastest, cheapest way to get rid of any stain, period. I've scrolled through hundreds of videos of users applying it on walls, pots, countertops, windowpanes, you name it. It seems I'm not the only one who's obsessed — according to The New York Times, TikTok videos featuring The Pink Stuff have racked up over 2 billion views! And since 2018, the amount of this rose-hued paste being sold has quadrupled.
I managed to land myself a tub from Amazon (it frequently goes out of stock, probably due to TikTok stalkers like me who want one for themselves) and it arrived the next day in all its pink glory. And did I mention it's an Amazon No. 1 bestseller?
The name totally makes sense: It's a hot pink paste that turns light pink when you apply it. The tub is also massive: It weighs about a pound, so you get a ton of bang for your buck.
You're probably thinking that something this cheap, bright and effective has to have an off-putting chemical smell, right? Wrong! It has a light floral scent, so no need to hold your breath when you open the jar. As for application, just use a cloth or sponge (lots of TikTokers swear by the Scrub Daddy) and gently rub away the stain. It takes minimal elbow grease — in just a few minutes, the cat-food residue on my walls was gone for good. It took a little more time to work its magic on scratches and paw-print stains, but they're history too.
According to countless TikTok posts and 145,000-plus five-star Amazon ratings, The Pink Stuff works on nearly any surface. Parents swear by it for removing permanent marker stains left behind by toddler Picassos, while cooks insist it gets rid of tough spots on silverware, pots and pans. If a stain has bedeviled you for years, try it — it just might change your life.
Shoppers are tickled pink — one even used it to get her shower looking as good as new. "Oh my gosh — this stuff is a life-changer," she gushed. "Used it to get my fiberglass shower totally clean. Nothing else would get it done and this stuff brought my shower back to near-new in one use. We’ve since cleaned a weird chalky film off our garage door, removed wall markings and cleaned my storm door. We’ll never be without a jar (or three) of this stuff."
It's a must for crayon creations, too. "I’m in love. It’s official," one besotted shopper wrote. "I am obsessed with Magic Erasers but sometimes they don’t work on all jobs. We were staying at an apartment out of town when my son decided to write all over the wall with crayon. At home I use a Magic Eraser with no trouble, but this place has flat paint and a Magic Eraser would’ve torn away at it. The Pink Stuff was recommended by a friend, and I am obsessed! It didn’t damage the wall, I actually like the scent, and best of all, the crayon came off with minimal scrubbing."
Another shopper used the paste to remove scratches from her car. "I had recently hit a traffic cone with my white car ... four different brands of scratch removal didn’t work," she shared. "This stuff removed those marks instantly with one graze of the cloth. Then it had me going all around my vehicle to find any little mark I could remove."
Even cleaning professionals are hooked. Said one: "I am a professional house cleaner and I don’t think I’ll ever want to go without this product again! Nothing else has gotten my oven door clean ... this worked with a little elbow grease. It is completely clean now! It got a pot I have had for 15 years looking new. I cannot wait to use this in my clients' houses."
"Believe the reviews! This stuff is amazing," wrote a final fan. "It is really good for cleaning greasy appliances. My only complaint is that it doesn't come in a squeeze container. I don't like the idea of dipping the same brush in the container." (Psst: The Pink Stuff also comes as a spray!)
It's easy to use: Just use a cloth or sponge and gently scrub the stain away.
And if you don't feel like scrubbing manually, the Rubbermaid Reveal Power Scrubber is another top-seller:
Perfect for getting into small corners and busting away grime from grout, this battery-powered gadget scrubs 60 times per second to save you time and effort.
"I never write reviews — but I had to write about this amazing little tool," wrote a five-star fan. "I just bought a new house and wasn’t going to replace kitchen and bathroom floors. I spent an hour or so with this little tool and some grout cleaner, and my old kitchen floors look alive again. I’m shocked. And very, very happy."
Check out our full Rubbermaid Reveal Power Scrubber review for more.
If you have Amazon Prime, you’ll get free shipping, of course. Not yet a member? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day trial here. (And by the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on orders of $25 or more.)
The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.
