First of all, my toilet isn't really "grubby", I promise.
It's just the normal amount of icky the average toilet is on any given day. My bath on the other hand... that really needs a little attention as it has a little soap scum ring on it. I know, bad cleaning writer!
It's helpful to test out the old "Coke as toilet cleaner" hack, however. This one pops up on cleaning blogs, lifestyle and news sites often. I have written about using Coke to clean before, but only in a general sense, exploring all the ways folks say you can use it.
Have you got a home hack you want us to try? Email homed@stuff.co.nz
This time, I'm getting to the nitty gritty: Can this stuff clean a toilet and dissolve bath rings or not?
READ MORE: * Cleaning hack: Five ways to use Coke as a cleaner (and one reason you shouldn't) * Home hack: How $1.80 can make your bathroom smell fresh for months * What happened when I tried a cleaning hack on our oven door * 9 common household cleaning hacks tested
METHOD: Every blog I know that's pimped this hack has used full sugar Coke, claiming the sweeteners in No Sugar, Zero and Diet Coke render its alleged magical cleaning powers inert.
I got two 440ml cans of classic Coke from a service station for about $5 - I'm sure you can get it cheaper at a supermarket.
I already have my doubts about using Coke as a cleaner, not least because The Coca-Cola Company includes myths about "using Coke as a cleaner" on it's very long and detailed Rumours page, stating: "We don't make any claims relating to other uses. Instead, we recommend using products specifically designed for cleaning or rust removal."
While Coke does have some acids and carbonation that could be useful in cleaning, it's nowhere near enough to be as effective as vinegar or a purpose-made cleaner.
Also, as cleaning blog Cleansgreen points out, it's mostly made from sugar. No matter what you clean with it, you're going to have to clean it again to get the sugar off or you'll end up with a whole other raft of problems.
But I'm willing to test out its powers to dissolve grease or make the loo a little whiter.
I simply pour the cans of Coke over the porcelain loo and enamel bath and leave it to do its thing for about two hours.
RESULT: After leaving the Coke to eat into the ceramic and enamel like Nana always warned you it would eat into your teeth, I went back to have a look.
Wiping away the Coke from the bath ring, it did seem to come away quite easily, although nowhere near as well as it does when I clean it with lemon and vinegar.
Just wiping with plain water on another section hardly shifts anything at all, so I think the Coke has had a minimal effect.
Flushing the loo, however... the bowl looks exactly the same as it did before its Coke bath. It smells the same too. So it didn't really clean it or make it sparkle, but it certainly doesn't leave any smell.
Some might say that it needs to be left on longer than 2 hours, but vinegar would have made a noticeable difference in less than two hours, so that's still a fail on Coke's part - only as a cleaner, not as a delicious, delicious beverage.
I will stick to my usually cleaner, which is vinegar and lemon, because it's cheaper, that's what it's made for, it smells better and above all, it works. Coke, on the other hand, is just for drinking.
I can't definitively say it doesn't clean anything - it cut into the bath ring a little - but I can definitely say it doesn't clean anything better than other products that are specifically designed for cleaning. So why would you bother?
