There’s nothing better than accomplishing a ‘do it yourself’ task, especially when it saves you time and money. However, with the growth of social media there is a fine line between the expert and non-expert and confusion over who to trust.

Whether you’re a landlord hoping to spruce up your property or a tenant wanting to inject your personality into your new home, we’ve listed our top five DIY viral hacks you absolutely should avoid. We simply recommend leaving it to the professionals!

Confused.com conducted research on Tiktok’s most popular DIY trends and advised the hashtag #diy has over 107 billion views on the platform. Keep reading to find out some of the viral hacks to avoid and it might even give you a laugh!

Water leak

A Tiktok video has circulated advising its viewers that if you need to fix a water leak simply put an epoxy ball into the pipe to stop the leak. An epoxy ball is a two part adhesive that forms when you mix epoxy resin and hardener.

Professionals have advised to avoid this hack for two main reasons - it can lead to water contamination and once you put the ball in the pipe there’s no way of controlling it.

Stick on tiles

Stick on tiles seem to be a popular hack that can be used in most areas of the property, from the bathroom and kitchen to the living room. However, this is a hack we should all avoid as the adhesive on the back of the tile can wear down and cause irreversible damage.

For example when placed on the fireplace, the heat emitted can interfere with the glue. If stick on tiles are used in the kitchen and bathroom the high moisture from cooking, cleaning, bathing and general work can cause the tiles to peel and if stuck onto old tiles underneath this can increase the risk of the original tiles falling off.

Painting fails

There are so many painting hacks, we could dedicate an entire blog to them!

However, the two worst hacks we’ve found is firstly, using a sock to paint those hard to reach areas…yes, a sock! (Don’t be tempted to pull out one of your dad’s Christmas or birthday presents) We can truly imagine the awful finish using a sock would leave on your walls, unless a fuzzy wall is what you’re going for?

Secondly, painting your worktops and sink. It’s understandable replacing your kitchen can be expensive and time consuming so content creators have been offering tips and tricks on giving a new lease of life to your kitchen. However, the combination of preparing food, cleaning dishes and water is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria. The durability won’t last long from this hack too and that initial project you attempted to avoid will have to happen regardless. Stick with getting a new kitchen if you need to!

Heating air fresheners

A hack that’s been floating around social media is people spraying air freshener inside their radiators. The idea is that the pressure of the spray will push the dust out so it’s clean and the fresh scent will linger.

Not only will spraying a concentrated amount of air freshener potentially damage the walls of the property but the label of the product clearly states ’keep away from heat, hot surfaces, sparks, open flames’. Acting on this hack could result in a fire.

If you’re looking to keep your property smelling fresh, there are products specifically for sitting discreetly on radiators.

Ironing sheets on the bed

A lot of properties come fully furnished, which includes a bed and mattress. A hack that was made popular by fans of the cleaning influencer, Mrs Hinch, was to iron their bedsheets whilst they’re on the bed.

This is a hack we do not recommend, not only will you iron crinkles into the sheets as it’s not a stable and flat surface, but you can damage the mattress. So, if you’re a tenant you might be saying ‘bye-bye’ to your security deposit or, if you’re a landlord, it’s down to Ikea to buy a new one!