Thinking about cleaning your entire house, especially deep-cleaning that may make you feel overwhelmed. The good news, these cleaning hacks will make it easier to keep your home nice and clean without exhausting yourself. Some things you can do may not cost you a cent.
1. Make Your Oven Glass Top Gleam
You’ve likely spent minutes and maybe an hour scraping and cleaning your oven to get the grime off. And it’s always tricky with glass because you don’t want to scratch it.
This Dawn soap, which we all know is handy for a multitude of things other than washing dishes, is your new secret oven-cleaning weapon. Grab a bottle and squeeze it over the entire glass top of your oven.
Now, head to your bathroom and get the peroxide. Squeeze a little of that over the Dawn. You’re going to feel like a mad scientist, but it will work.
Now, you’re going to add a sprinkling of baking soda over that. Admire the mess for a second, then grab a dish brush. Make sure it’s not super bristly, so you don’t scratch your glass.
Scrub the grime from the glass top. Then, take a damp cloth and wipe the whole mess away. You’re left with a shiny, brand-new glass top.
2. Dazzle Dishwasher Vents
Have you ever taken a good, hard look at your floor and ceiling dishwasher air vents? Go look at them. You may be surprised at the buildup of dust and dirt.
However, you can clean these with little to no effort. First, use a screwdriver to remove the vents.
Next, make sure the vents are not plastic. Once you discover that they’re metal, make sure they aren’t chipped so you can use this cleaning method without damaging anything.
Now, put the vents in the dishwasher by themselves. DO NOT add any soap.
Just put them through a cycle and let the dishwasher do its job. That being said, if you don’t feel comfortable putting them in the dishwasher, you can hand wash them with a small bristle brush, like a paintbrush.
Throughout the year, use a duster to keep them free of dust and debris until it’s time to wash them again. This is a small thing, but it can make a difference, especially if you or your family have allergies to dust.
3. Maximize Mold Removal in the Shower
Especially if you have an older tub, mold and mildew can settle into the cracks of your tub corners. Avoid this by using a bleaching gel.
Instead of breaking your back scrubbing and scrubbing, simply squeeze a bleaching gel that’s meant for tubs or toilets (you can use it on either) into the cracks and corners.
Let it sit for a few minutes, then you can rinse/wipe it away. You’ll be surprised what a great job this does, and you don’t have to scrub a thing.
4. Sink Stains Are History
Do you know those orange-looking stains that form a ring around your sink over time? This is due to the hard water.
These make your sink look dirty even when you clean it, no matter what you use. However, there’s something you likely already have in your home that will do the trick.
Mix 1 cup of Epsom salt, ½ cup of baking soda, and ¼ cup of liquid dish soap. Dawn usually gets the job done, so go with that if you have it.
Use this mixture and a scrub brush to remove these hard water stains. Once you have scrubbed the stains, rinse the sink. It may not remove 100% of them, but you’ll see a marked improvement.
5. Remove Water Stains from Wood
No matter how many times you remind your family members to use a coaster on the coffee table, they don’t. Then, you end up with an unsightly water ring on your pretty wood table.
However, you can remove these rings pretty quickly with an everyday household product – toothpaste.
Squeeze a bit of non-gel toothpaste onto the ring. You don’t need to use too much, and you don’t even have to let it sit.
Rub at the toothpaste with a soft cloth, and the stain will disappear.
6. Get a Scum-Free Sink
Grime, gunk, whatever you want to call it, the buildup around the sink drain is unsightly. And no matter what you use, it won’t go away.
That’s likely because you have never thought of this easy hack. Denture tablets!
Yes, denture tablets are the secret to whitening the ever-present ring around your sink. To get the job done, fill the sink with an inch of hot water.
Drop-in a tablet and let it sit for around 15 minutes until the water changes from bright to clear.
Drain the sink, rinse it out, and wipe the sink with a soft cloth, and the ring will be gone.
7. Handmade Grout Cleaner
Gross grout is one of the fastest ways to make your whole bathroom look dirty. But, you don’t have to spend extra money buying cleanser just to tackle this task.
Make your own grout cleaner that’s just as effective. And, it only takes two ingredients to make a powerful, cheap cleaner that will keep your grout sparkling.
You’re literally just going to mix ¾ cup of baking soda and ¼ cup of bleach and clean the grout until it’s white again. This may take a while, but the job will get done.
Once you apply the mixture, let it sit for the best results.
Safety note: always wear eye and hand protection when you work with bleach. Also, open a window or wear a respirator, as inhaling these can be harmful to your health.
8. Microwave Magic
It’s super easy for your microwave to get dirty. A few splatters here, a splash here, and once you use it a few times once it’s dirty, messes become caked on and hard to remove.
To make your microwave magically shine, follow these steps. Put two cups of water in a bowl, then add 2 tablespoons of vinegar. Stick it into the microwave.
If you don’t like the way vinegar smells, you can add a drop of essential oil. Place a toothpick in the water to keep it from boiling over.
Now, microwave the bowl for five minutes. The key is to leave the bowl inside the microwave for a few extra minutes.
The steam is combining with the vinegar to make it easy to wipe away gunk from the microwave.
Remove it, remove the tray, and sponge off debris and gunk.
9. Clean Cabinets
It may not be instantly noticeable, but your cabinets are likely dirty. This is from fingerprints, grease, and regular use.
Make your cabinets squeaky clean with yes, you guessed it, good old Dawn soap. This is super easy and only takes a minute of your time.
All you have to do is grab a bowl, fill it with warm water, and add a few squirts of Dawn soap. Use a soft sponge to rub your cabinets, then dry them with a cloth. Goodbye grease!
10. Sanitize Toys
You know, after your kid has a cold and you feel compelled to literally spray every surface with bleach, hand wash toys, and Purell everything your kid has touched in the last week?
Make your life tons easier by tossing it all in the dishwasher instead. Use a mild, natural soap on the gentle cycle. You can wash plastic toys, blocks, and anything that doesn’t have batteries or fabric parts.
This saves time, and it’s not half as much of a pain as cleaning toys individually with wipes or spray cleaner.
11. Crock-Pot Air Freshener
Got a stinky house? Maybe candles and sprays just mask the smell, or you don’t have anything in the house to use right now and haven’t planned a trip to the store.
If you have a crockpot or an instant pot, then you can solve this problem. Fill up your crockpot with water and add a few tablespoons of baking soda.
Turn it on and leave the lid off. This alone can neutralize odors in the air, but if you like, you can customize the scent by adding cinnamon or lemon.
12. Sanitize Your Stove
If you don’t have a glass top stove, chances are it gets pretty dirty and grimy. You can use a similar approach to cleaning a regular stovetop as you can a glass top.
All you need to do is generously sprinkle baking soda all over the stovetop. Then, fill a spray bottle with vinegar. Spritz the vinegar all over the baking soda.
Use a wire-free scrubber to remove grime, then use a damp cloth to wipe the mixture away.
13. Sparkling Cookie Sheets
Over time, cookie sheets get burned and dark, making them look dirty and no longer new and shiny.
Give your cookie sheets a facelift with this cleaning hack. Once again, baking soda is the star of the show.
Add a generous amount of baking soda to cookie sheets. You can even make a paste with baking soda and peroxide, or add peroxide to a spray bottle and spritz the sheets.
Allow the sheet to sit for a while.
Use a scrubby sponge or brush to clean deeper and remove layers of gunk. Rinse the sheets and pat them dry.
14. Double Panes No Longer a Pane – Clean the Oven Door
A double-pane oven door presents a unique challenge. There’s just no easy way to get between the glass panes to clean them.
Well, here’s a hack that you probably didn’t think of, but it can and will work! Head outside and find a slim stick that’s just the right size to fit in between the panes.
Wrap the stick with paper towels, and use tape to secure. Spritz the paper towels with glass cleaner, then squeeze the stick in between the panes and gently clean the glass.
Inventive, creative, and best of all, it works!
15. Remove Pet Hair from Cars and Carpet
When you are a pet owner, there’s somehow pet hair everywhere, even places your pets don’t frequent (like your car).
All you need is a simple squeegee to sweep pet hair into a manageable clump you can remove before vacuuming.
This tip is useful for car seats, stairs, or even furniture.
16. Gleaming Oven Glass
The glass on your oven door is one of those easy to neglect areas of the kitchen. But one day you look at it and notice it’s super dirty.
17. Carpet Clean-Up
A big carpet spill can severely impact the way your carpet looks and smells. Somehow, oil-based spills are even worse.
To remove a gross, oily, greasy mess from your carpet and lift out stains, concoct your carpet cleaner that performs miracles on messes.
First, you’ll have to soak up the spill with baking soda. Then, mix two cups of water with a tablespoon of dish liquid (Dawn, once again to the rescue) and a tablespoon of white vinegar.
You’ll use a microfiber washcloth like this to apply the mixture to the stains. Once you’re done, sponge up the excess.
18. Toilet Tablets
Do you know how you feel rejuvenated after using a bath bomb? Let your toilet have that same experience with DIY toilet bombs!
You’ll mix 1 cup of baking soda, ¼ cup of citric acid, 1 tablespoon of dish liquid, and a silicone tray like you’d use for ice cubes.
Mix it all up then press the mixture into the tray. Let them dry for a few hours, then store them in a jar with a lid. Toss one into the toilet on cleaning day; no scrubbing required!
19. Tackle the Trash Can
Get that kitchen trash can smelling fresh. All you need to do is head outside with a hose like this.
Use a long-handled scrub brush and some detergent (after putting on gloves) to give the inside of the can a good scrub down.
Using the hose makes it easier for you to reach all the corners and crevices. Let it air-dry or wipe it dry with a big towel.
20. Sponge Soak
Let’s face it; sponges are gross. So, let’s clean them! Stick your sponge in a bowl of vinegar and let it soak.
Then, squeeze out the vinegar. In less than five minutes, your sponge is sanitized.
21. Give Your Top Loader Some Love
If you have a top-loading washing machine, you may not think it needs to be cleaned, but it does.
To clean it, you’ll need to run a bleach cycle, let it soak for an hour, then run a vinegar cycle. You’ll use the vinegar inside to clean the interior parts.
After a regular cycle, your machine will be fresh and clean.
22. Free Your Shower Head of Hard Water
Take a look at your shower head. Chances are, it’s chock-full of hard water stains. Cleaning them can make a big difference.
Fill a sandwich bag with white vinegar, then add a few drops of essential oil. Use an elastic tie to submerge the showerhead into the bag of vinegar and leave it on overnight.
In the morning, remove the bag and wipe the head with a microfiber cloth.
23. Swiffer Socks
Your kids probably have a ton of ‘cozy socks’ sitting in their sock drawers, or you may have some without a mate.
Swiffer pads are expensive, so make DIY washable ones by merely slipping a fleecy sock over your Swiffer. Voila! Instant washable duster!
24. Easy Oven Rack Cleaning
Once again, baking soda and vinegar are the unsung heroes of cleaning. Take your oven racks out and place them in the bathtub.
Spray them with vinegar, sprinkle them with baking soda, and use hot water and a scrub brush or sponge to remove gunk.
Rinse them, and enjoy clean oven racks!