Woman Makes 'Mind-Blowing' Discovery When Scrubbing Floor of New House

🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.

A woman made an unexpected discovery while cleaning a floor in her new home, and her video has racked up over 12 million views on TikTok.

At first glance, Ellie Gilroy (@ellielgilroy) assumed her bathroom floor was supposed to be dark gray, but she soon realized it was not. Gilroy, 24, a salon owner in England, told Newsweek: "I thought I would scrub the floor to see if I could get anything off and then discovered the floor was really dirty."

In total, Gilroy spent about three hours on her hands and knees cleaning the floor with a scrubber that was not much bigger than a toothbrush.

Scrubbing floor
A bathroom floor is seen before it was cleaned and during the scrubbing, which took hours. TikTok/@ellielgilroy

"I felt gross at first but found it satisfying once I had finished," she said. The text layered over the clip states, "The difference is mind blowing."

In less than a week, the video has received over 816,000 likes and more than 4,200 comments.

Some people said that Gilroy scrubbed the color away. But one viewer, who got 75,400 likes, urged others to look behind the toilet to see the floor's original color. As it turns out, the color matched the cleaning's result.

"Guys she didn't take the color off the floor. She was scrubbing so lightly. It looks so much better!" said another user.

A third commenter said, "This is my biggest fear."

Despite Gilroy's best efforts, some users aren't convinced. One said: "Why did it look better dirty?"

Floor
Ellie Gilroy wiped the bathroom floor after hours of scrubbing it, with this result. TikTok/@ellielgilroy

A survey by Wakefield Research for the American Cleaning Institute, which involved 1,000 American adults, revealed that the most dreaded cleaning tasks are tackling hard-to-reach or inaccessible areas, such as behind or underneath furniture and appliances (49 percent), and cleaning filthy spaces (38 percent), including bathrooms, vents and basements.

Seventy percent said that a spring cleaning gives them a sense of accomplishment, and more than half (66 percent) said can it boost their mood.

Newsweek previously spoke to professional cleaner Jacqueline Stein, 28, who revealed the top five cleaning mistakes.

"Cleaning doesn't have to be hard or boring," she said. "I think you can always find good products, put music on and have a dance while doing it."

Stein, who has over 500,000 followers on TikTok (@home_reimagined), also provided tips such as always checking the expiration date of products. "The disinfectant no longer works, so it is very important to make sure everything is maintained by checking," she said.

She also encourages people to always remember the small areas of their home, as the corners of coffee tables, machines and small rooms are often overlooked.

If you have a personal dilemma, let us know via life@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice on relationships, family, friends, money and work and your story could be featured in Newsweek's What Should I Do? section.

About the writer

Lucy Notarantonio is Newsweek's Senior Lifestyle and Trends Reporter, based in Birmingham, UK. Her focus is trending stories and human interest features ranging from health, pets and travel. Lucy joined Newsweek in August 2022 and previously worked at Mercury Press and Media and other UK national newspapers, the Australian Women Magazines and The New York Post. My focus is human-interest stories ranging from relationships to health, fitness, travel, and home. I am always on the lookout for relationships that go against the "norm" such as age-gap ones along with incredible weight loss stories aimed to inspire and motivate others. Languages: English She is a Derby University graduate You can get in touch with l.notarantonio@newsweek.com.


Lucy Notarantonio is Newsweek's Senior Lifestyle and Trends Reporter, based in Birmingham, UK. Her focus is trending stories and human ... Read more