What Not to Clean With Fabuloso (and What to Use Instead)

Fabuloso is a cleaning product that lives up to its nombre. It degreases and cleans, leaving behind a pleasant, if strong, scent. I use it for pretty much everything, which the discerning nose knows within seconds of entering my apartment—but there are some things you shouldn’t use it on, so before bulk-buying, consider this. 

What Fabuloso is good for cleaning

First, the positives: Fabuloso can be used to clean sinks, toilets, tubs, and other ceramic and tile areas within your home, like floors. Sealed wood is also fine, so feel free to put it on floors and furniture. If you’re mopping with it, you do want to dilute it, so mix a fourth cup into a gallon of water. For your bathrooms and other surfaces, apply it straight to a sponge. Its real skills are in its ability to degrease, so anything sticky, gooey, or messy can be tackled easily with the stuff.

Clean your walls or greasy kitchen fixtures with it by adding one-eighth of a cup into a spray bottle full of water, dump a splash into your toilet bowl before hitting it with the brush, and don’t forget your doorknobs, which can be touched up with a little bit on a sponge.

When not to use Fabuloso

That said, while this stuff can do a lot, it can’t do it all. First and foremost, don’t use it on anything porous. This means no unsealed wood and no granite or marble countertops, especially ones with a weakened or non-existent sealant. Cleaning granite and other porous surfaces is a lot more involved than just spraying on an all-purpose cleaner because chemicals can seep in and cause lasting damage. A little bit of soap and water on a soft cloth is all you should use for standard granite cleaning. Stone tiles, marble, and unsealed wood are the same: They’re porous and require special cleaning.

Try instead: Fabuloso microfiber cloths (five packs of eight for $24.95), but just with soap and water.

Don’t use Fabuloso for any kind of fabrics, either. Despite what you may see on TikTok, it’s not designed for use in the laundry machine. The same goes for leather couches and chairs, because fabric violates the no-porous-materials rule. It could stain easily, the liquid could seep into the upholstery and cause some bad scents, and it’s too abrasive for leather.

Try instead: Gain + Febreze Aroma Boost laundry detergent ($10.33 for a two-pack) and Weiman leather cleaner and conditioner wipes ($3.49 for 30).

The brand is also very clear that this product should never be heated. Not only does that mean you should avoid using it on ovens, air fryers, toasters, and other appliances that can heat up, it also means you should totally disregard all the viral videos suggesting you simmer it on the stove to make your house smell good, just as you should disregard the ones about boiling air freshener wicks.

Try instead: Easy-Off heavy duty oven cleaner ($3.70) and Air Wick plug-in scented oils ($16.99 for two warmers and six refills).

And finally, I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: Fabuloso does not go in your toilet tank. This hack is big on TikTok, where (possibly well-intentioned but definitely misguided) people advise you to stab a hole in your bottle and stick it in the back of the toilet, ostensibly so you clean with every flush. Not only does this lower your toilet’s flushing power by taking up valuable tank space, but the cleaning solution can do damage to the parts that keep your toilet working over time. Having purple toilet water and the ever-present scent of Fabuloso in the bathroom are not worth damaging your toilet.

Try instead: Lysol Click automatic toilet bowl cleaner ($4.47 for a pack of six gel stamps).

Oh, and don’t mix your Fabuloso with anything else. Conventional wisdom and viral videos may suggest that mixing it with another cleaning product will double its effectiveness, but the outside of the bottle says very clearly not to do that, as does the company’s FAQ page.