TikTok's Favorite Grandmother Shows Off Incredible Home Hacks With A Bag Of Charcoal

After scrolling through video after video of drama and negativity on social media, it's nice to see someone that brings a dose of optimism and comfort to the feed. That's where TikTok creator @brunchwithbabs comes in — a woman who has earned the title of "everyone's grandmother" after sharing her wholesome and helpful content with her nearly 4 million followers. Fans might be instantly drawn in by her sunny disposition and positive attitude, but her tips and tricks, like her recent video on additional uses for charcoal briquettes, ensure that they learn something, too.

In this video, she demonstrates how charcoal can help to remove odors and generally serve as an all-round house hack — something that's especially helpful if you find yourself with a few bags of leftover briquettes after peak barbecue season. While these hacks might seem a bit strange at first glance, they are all based on scientific fact, meaning their success rate is likely much higher than some other ideas you might see during your daily scroll.

The first hack @brunchwithbabs shares in her video is to use charcoal briquettes to keep your fridge smelling fresh. Despite their usually clean appearance, fridges are often filled with smelly leftovers, past-its-prime produce, and the occasional splash of juice from a leaky pack of meat. All of this combined might leave you with an overall fragrance that leans more pungent than pleasant when you open your door to grab a snack.

To combat this, first give your fridge a good wipe down and clean out anything that seems to be the source of the odor. Then, fill a small bowl with a few pieces of charcoal and leave it in the door or on one of the shelves in your fridge. After a bit of time, you should notice a reduction in any lingering nasty smells, thanks to the high porosity of charcoal and its tendency to soak up whatever is hanging in the air.

For this next idea, it's time to travel to some different areas of the home. Charcoal is able to absorb odor, but it's also great for sucking up excess moisture in the air, meaning it's a solid option if you're in need of a DIY humidifier. In her video, @brunchwithbabs places a few pieces of charcoal in a jar with holes in the lid, but she also notes that you can use an old sock as your vessel if you have one lying around.

Once you've made your dehumidifier, place it anywhere that feels a bit damp and musty. Bathrooms are one of the more common areas, but it can also help to reduce humidity in laundry rooms, damp basements, or closets that tend to get a little funky from sweaty workout gear. Once you feel like it's not working as well, replace your briquettes to keep everything feeling dry.

For her last tip, @brunchwithbabs shared something slightly different than her two other ideas for using charcoal around the house. Instead of simply placing cut flowers in a vase of clean water, she recommends dropping in a small piece of charcoal as well. She claims that this will help filter out any impurities in the water, meaning the cut flowers will stay fresh for longer.

This train of thought makes sense — water filters frequently contain activated charcoal to help purify the water that runs through them — but very little research has been done to assess whether or not this tip actually works to extend the life of your blooms, per Water Filters Australia. Because of that, take this hack with a grain of salt. Trying it out likely won't hurt, but it's still best to frequently replace your flowers' water and drop in a bit of flower food to guarantee that you're left with more positive results.