Does The Pink Stuff Really Work?
Alright, let’s talk about it. The Pink Stuff. Does it really work? This is what I wondered after seeing all of the hype on TikTok, YouTube, and blogs alike.
So, I decided to try it for myself and got some very interesting results. I tried it in the kitchen and in the bathroom with successes and failures in both.
But, before I get into all that, if you don’t know what “The Pink Stuff” is, let me give you the 411.
What Is “The Pink Stuff”?
The Pink Stuff Miracle Cleansing Paste by Star Drops is a cleaning paste named for its pink color.
It is non-toxic, vegan, and made from natural ingredients.
It claims to be perfect for cleaning grime, stains on saucepans, cooker tops, sinks, BBQs, glass shower doors, and more without scratches.
You’re supposed to apply it with a soft cloth or sponge and then remove it with hot water.
It doesn’t make any mention of dwell time on the package. But, many of the reviewers I watched on YouTube let the product sit on the surface for 10 – 15 minutes before removing it. I did the same.
Where To Buy
You can buy The Pink Stuff from a number of retailers including Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, and Menards just to name a few.
A small 17-ounce tub like the one I used can be purchased for around $6.00.
It claims to remove stains, grease, and grime from just about anything including stoves, kitchen floors, marble, wood, silverware, jewelry, glass shower doors, glass stove tops, sinks, bathtubs, and stainless steel just to name a few.
It also claims not to scratch delicate surfaces and can remove crayon, pen, paint, and even permanent marker.
In addition to the paste, Star drops also sells The Pink Stuff Multi-Purpose Cleaner in a spray, a Bathroom Foam Cleaner, and a Cream Cleaner.
They’ve also recently released a line of laundry products including an OXI powder stain remover, wash up spray, and OXI stain remover spray.
For my tests, I used only The Pink Stuff paste.
Influencer Hype
Even though this product has been around for quite some time, cleaning Tik Tok really put it on the map.
The power of social media really is incredible.
This hype trickled over to people demonstrating how they use it on Instagram Reels and YouTube. That’s where it found me.
I was immediately intrigued, and frankly, had a number of problem areas around my home that this claimed to be able to clean. So I wanted to try it out.
Problem Areas
As I said, I have several problem areas throughout my home. All are either the result of hard water or baked on grease.
With the exception of the hard water spots on my shower door, I typically only tackle these areas twice each year during my deep cleaning routines.
1. Stovetop
Let’s start with the stovetop. Here I have baked on rings of grease that refuse to lift. I have a gas stove with a glass cooktop beneath. I’ve tried a number of scrubs including Comet, Mrs. Meyers Vinegar Gel Cleanser, and baking soda with Dawn dish soap to name a few.
No matter what I do, I can never remove all of the baked-on residues.
So this was the very first area I wanted to test after seeing others successfully clean their glass stovetops with The Pink Stuff.
Below is a photo of my stove before. You can see that from a distance it appears to be clean. But as you get closer, you’re able to see a lot of baked-on grease on the glass top.
2. Kitchen Sink & Faucet
My stainless steel kitchen sink was spotty and dull. The base of my faucet had a ring of hard water deposits built up on the granite countertop below. The chrome faucet was dull with hard water spots that never wiped clean with my daily all-purpose countertop spray.
But, worst of all was the calcium build-up on the faucet itself. Particularly where the faucet is designed to swivel and the sprayer pulls out.
3. Bathroom Shower Faucet
Another spotty mess. My bathroom shower faucet didn’t have a lot of chunky calcification, but it certainly had lots of hard water spots.
4. Glass Shower Door
We all know what happens to glass shower doors when you have hard water. There’s no need to explain this.
Our shower door isn’t any different from anyone else. It’s a spotty, cloudy, mess if you don’t stay on top of it.
From a distance, much like the stove, the shower appears to be clean.
But up close, it’s a different story.
In the photo below you can see how bad the water spots. Here you can see my son playing in the bathtub on the other side of the door.
5. Bathroom Sink Faucet
Finally, the bathroom sink faucet was the last area I wanted to test with The Pink Stuff. There was a lot of calcification on this particular faucet. You can also see a rim of hard water deposits forming along the base of the faucet where it meets the countertop.
Putting The Pink Stuff To The Test
The Pink Stuff and Scrub Daddy
Let’s get started with the magic formula. The Pink Stuff + Scrub Daddy Sponges are a match made in cleaning heaven.
These are the only two things I used to conduct clean my problem areas.
For each area I tested, I applied a liberal amount of The Pink Stuff to the area and let it sit for 10 minutes before I started scrubbing with the sponge.
The Scrub Daddy Sponges are hard and more abrasive when they’re used dry and softer when wet.
Here’s the thing… I tried not to get the sponge wet to achieve maximum scrubbing power. However, it’s hard to do this if you’re trying to clean multiple areas.
So, for me, my natural inclination was to rinse the kitchen sponge after I finished with the glass stovetop.
Unfortunately, this meant that when I used it for the kitchen sink, it wasn’t as rough. As a result, I had to use more muscle to scrub the hard spots.
After Cleaning with The Pink Stuff
Now time for the results. Here’s what the glass stove top looked like after scrubbing with The Pink Stuff.
It did pretty well on the left side of the stove. But not great, frankly, on the right side. I’d definitely need to repeat the process another time or 2 to completely remove that baked-on grease. But, I think it will get the job done.
Next are the kitchen sink and kitchen sink faucet. The Pink Stuff did a great job on the stainless steel sink.
I can see the stains lifted, it has a nice shine to it, and it even removed little suction cup marks that were left from the sponge caddy.
As for the faucet, I think it did a good job here as well. It wasn’t able to remove the ring at the base of the faucet. I suspect the seal on the granite has been damaged at this point.
However, on the faucet itself, it removed about 90% of the hard water build-up.
A second round and it will be all gone.
Frankly, if my sponge hadn’t gotten wet and softened, it probably would have taken it all off on the first application.
Now let’s move on to the bathroom. Here I was eager to see how it would do on the shower door.
I’ve used several different methods in the past to clean the hard water spots from the glass door successfully.
For me, I find that spraying the door down with lemon juice first and then coming in with a baking soda scrub or other abrasive scrub works best.
But I wanted to see if The Pink Stuff lived up to the hype on my door.
And while it did do a good job, it would require a second round at least to remove all of the spots.
Here are the before and after photos.
Because I wasn’t fully satisfied, I asked my daughter to queue up the lemon juice spray for me. I sprayed the door down. Went back in with just the scrub daddy sponge, and here’s what it looked like in the end.
Last but not least, here’s a look at the bathroom sink faucet. I think I was most impressed by this one because I discovered something I never knew was there.
The Pink Stuff scrubbed away enough of the calcification on the faucet that it unearthed a crack in the base of the faucet.
We’ve lived here for 4 years, and I never knew that damage was there. That’s how long we’ve been looking at this hard water build-up!
I ran into the same issue here as I did with the kitchen faucet where my sponge was no longer hard once I rinsed it. So there are some areas where those hard water deposits remain. But I have no doubt, it will be removed completely after a second cleaning.
The Pink Stuff served a big win on this one.
Final Thoughts
So, as far as The Pink Stuff goes, it does work well and I will be repurchasing it. After running through all of these tests I found myself at the bottom of my small tub. I suggest getting one of the larger sizes if you have a lot of areas to clean.
If you’re familiar with Mrs. Meyers Baking Soda Vinegar Gel, I think this works better than that product.
Comet would also work well for some of these areas, but it’s much less pleasant smelling and contains bleach.
I can see why this particular product is so popular.
For under $6.00 go ahead and throw it in your cart the next time you’re on Amazon.
Make sure you add the Scrub Daddy Sponges too! They work amazingly well and make easy work of an otherwise tough scrubbing job.
Conclusion
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