Try These 12 Effective Cleaning Hacks Using Daily Household Things!

You must have seen your mother and grandmother waking up at 5 every morning to clean the house. They cleaned every nook and corner of the house, making it sparkling clean with a broom and mop cloth making your home look guest-ready…ALWAYS.

Today, you have the latest cleaning equipment…scrubbers, glass cleaning liquid, dusters, and heavy-duty vacuum cleaners (perhaps even a smaller vacuum cleaner to clean the bigger vacuum cleaner), yet in a matter of days, it looks untidy again. If you are a working woman, most of your Sundays are reserved for ‘cleaning & completing other household tasks’. Your entire day passes in fast-forward motion, leaving you tired and exhausted. With little time in your hands and so much to tidy up, it gets difficult to keep your house presentable at all times, true? This is why you need some super-easy hacks to clean your house quickly.

12 Cleaning Hacks That You Need to Try

Keeping a house clean is not a one-day goal; it is an endless process requiring rigorous efforts. But if you don’t have hours to spare for cleaning, try these simple house cleaning hacks and clean even the stubborn areas in your house.

1. Use Baking Soda and Vinegar to Unclog Sink

Waking up in the morning to see an unclogged sink is not a welcoming sight, and this is why you need to make use of that box of baking soda and unused bottle of vinegar feeling left out in your kitchen. To unclog the sink, start with pouring vinegar down the drain of the sink, then sprinkle some baking soda on it. Cover it with a drain plug and hold the drain till the fizzing subsides. Let it sit for half an hour and then pour hot water over it. Your sink will shine like new!

2. Wipe off Spills with Makeup Wipes or Baby Wipes

If you have a baby in your house, you are likely to have packets of baby wipes. These baby wipes will come in handy to wipe off dust and stains from kitchen counters, door knobs, and spills on the table. Similarly, you can even use makeup wipes to get rid of any stain from fabric. To remove any strain from fabric, rub a wipe gently on the stain until it wipes off completely. However, remember to use the wipe while the stain is fresh.

3. Win Over Window Blinds with Water and Vinegar

If it has been a while since you last cleaned your window blinds, then you need a better alternative to that dirty old cloth that you use to clean almost everything. Try water and vinegar. Mix the two liquids in equal parts in a bowl and dip a sock into it. Now wear the sock on your hand from inside out and clean both the sides of the window blinds. There – you will have cleaned those grungy blinds in no time.

4. Bid Adieu to Bathroom Grout with Baking Soda and Bleach

You spend hours cleaning your living room, kitchen, and bedroom, and when its time to clean your bathroom, you get so exhausted that you postpone the task to next Sunday. This Sunday clean your bathroom grout first, here’s how! Mix baking soda and bleach in a bowl to form a thick paste. Apply this paste along the dirty lines connecting the tiles using an old toothbrush and let it sit for half an hour (you can even scrub it after 15-20 minutes). After scrubbing, let it sit for some time and then rinse. Your bathroom tiles will look new again.

5. Use a Pillowcase to Clean the Accumulated Dust on Ceiling Fans

Cleaning ceiling fans is one back-breaking task that we avoid for months. Standing on a ladder or a chair, trying to reach the blades with a broom, making sure that the grime hits the dustpan (and not anywhere on the floor tiles) – all this gets too cumbersome that you postpone the task until the accumulated dust from the fan falls on your head! Well, before this situation arises, try this simple trick to clean the blades of your ceiling fan. Use an old pillowcase and gently slide it over the blades individually. Press the pillowcase against the top and bottom of the blade with your hands and then slide it out slowly, ensuring that all the dirt gets collected in the pillowcase. With this simple trick cleaning your ceiling fan won’t be a tiring chore anymore.

6. Hairdryers to the Rescue for Light Dust

Wiping off the pile of dust from those hard-to-reach places, like under your bed or top of the shelves is an onerous task. And if you have guests coming over in a few hours, you don’t want those shelves to look ugly! This is where hair dryers come to your rescue. Use a hair dryer to blow the light dust settled on your shelves and under your bed. In less than half an hour, your place will look sparkling clean!

7. Get Rid of Hard Water Spots with a Slice of Lemon

If you reside in an area with a supply of hard water, mineral deposits on faucets and soap scum on shower head must be a common problem. These hard water stains are hard to scrub away, so what do you do? The easiest way to clean these stains is by using a lemon. Rub a lemon slice on the bathroom fixtures where you see hard water stains, let it sit for 15 minutes and then rinse. Your faucets will shine again and smell lemony fresh, too! Alternatively, you can spray lemon juice on the build-up scale near faucets and shower head and rinse it after 10 minutes.

8. Clean the Couch/Sofa with Baking Soda

The couch in the centre of your living room is always a favourite spot of all the members of the family – whether it is to unwind, to cry, to binge-watch a sitcom, or to spend precious time with friends, but when was the last time you cleaned that couch? Ages ago? You don’t want to imagine how dirty it might be…, but it’s not too late to clean it. To clean your couch, wipe the couch with a clean, dry cloth. Next, sprinkle baking soda on the couch in a generous amount and let it sit for at least 20 to 30 minutes. Later, use a vacuum cleaner with a brush attachment to clear the baking soda. Baking soda will remove the bad odours from the couch and break the stains, too.

9. Use Kosher Salt and Lemon to Clean a Wooden Chopping Board

Although a wooden cutting board is sanitary and sturdy, it needs cleaning too. It may not appear dirty, but with its continuous usage, it will surely stink. So, what do you do to clean it? If you are thinking of placing the board under a running tap, then you have got it wrong! To sanitize your chopping board, first, wash it with water and soap. Next, sprinkle some kosher salt on it and spread it on the board. Then rub half a lemon on the board, squeezing it slowly. Leave it for an hour, then scrape off the salt. Lastly, use a damp cloth or a wet sponge to clean it thoroughly.

10. Mouthwash is Not Just for Your Mouth…It Works for Your Toothbrush Too!

We don’t feel the need to clean our toothbrush, do we? You brush your teeth, place the toothbrush under running water, and you think it is clean…but that’s not true! Your wet toothbrush gives germs the perfect condition to thrive and this is why you need to disinfect your toothbrush every few days. To disinfect your toothbrush, dunk it in a glass of mouthwash for a few minutes and rinse it thoroughly before use.

11. Smelly Shoes and Fridge? Get Old Newspaper to Get Rid of the Smell

Using newspapers to dry shoes is an old trick, but did you know that newspaper can be used to get rid of bad odour from your shoes and refrigerator, too? If you haven’t had time to clean your fridge for a while, it must be smelling bad (perhaps reminding what you had in the past couple of weeks). To get rid of the smell, stuff wads of newspaper in the vegetable drawer and shelves of your fridge, and close the door. It will absorb the stinky smell, and later you can wipe the shelves with a mixture of water and vinegar. Newspapers can also be used to clean windows, mirrors, TV monitors, etc.

12. When Life Gives You Lemons, Clean Your Garbage Disposals

You don’t need to make lemonade with lemons always; lemons can be put to other good uses, too! Taking out that garbage disposal from your house is an errand you hate doing, but you won’t anymore if you try this simple trick! Cut a lemon into small pieces and put these pieces in ice tray moulds. Later pour vinegar in each mould and place the tray in the freezer. Once the cubes are frozen, store them in a plastic bag. Throw a handful of these frozen cubes in the disposal every few days and your trash won’t stink.

These were some simple hacks that will come in handy to spruce up your beautiful abode even more. These super-effective tricks have been used for a long time now and will surely make your life easier. So, try these methods and applaud yourself once your house looks spick and span. Those guests can come over any time of the day, now.

Also Read:

Tips for Cleaning Kitchen Electronics
Tips for Cleaning your Sofa, Mattress and Pillows
Amazing Pre Diwali Home Cleaning Hacks