I've got a friend who lives to clean. I'm not playing. When she's in a good mood, she wants to clean. When she is totally pissed off, she wants to clean. So, in her world, there is no need to really spring clean because she does it on the regular. Then there's me. Don't get me wrong, my place is in good shape; still, I pretty much have a cleaning day (which is either Thursday or Friday) and there are definitely a few times a year when I'll spend a good three days just going ham on my place. One of those times is during the traditional spring cleaning season. During then, there are some particular hacks that I will apply.
That's what I'm gonna share with you today. Whether you're like my girl and you clean on steroids or you're more like I am and you seasonally go off the charts, here are 15 things that can make getting your house in order so much easier, cheaper and even healthier (because they most don't contain any chemicals) to do.
1. Naturally Increase Your Laundry Smell With This DIY Epsom Salt Laundry Booster
Do you want to make your laundry smell amazingly fresh without the use of any dyes and chemicals? One of the easiest, safest, and most effective ways to do that is to apply a blend of Epsom salt and your favorite essential oil (or oils) to your machine. All you need is one cup of Epsom salt and 20-30 drops of an essential oil (depending on how potent you want your laundry to be). Combine the two ingredients in a bowl, let them air dry for a couple of minutes and then transfer everything to a mason jar. Add about a tablespoon of the homemade booster to your machine before you add laundry and start to wash. You'll wonder what took you so long to add this tip to your wash day routine.
2. Clean Your Kitchen Sinks Naturally with Baking Soda and Hydrogen Peroxide
If it's time to give your sinks a deep cleaning, all you need to do is sprinkle some baking soda onto them and use a sponge to rub it in. Then pour some hydrogen peroxide to deeply penetrate and remove any residue. Ever wonder how to clean your iron? For the record, baking soda and hydrogen peroxide are also unstoppable in cleaning the back of irons too (and we all know that can be a headache!). Mix two-parts baking soda with one-part hydrogen peroxide.
Then heat up your iron on a low setting to soften up some of the gunk that's on it. With a wooden spatula, remove as much residue as possible. Then turn the iron off, let it cool and apply the baking soda and hydrogen peroxide paste. Let it sit for 20-30 minutes and scrub the iron with a scrubbing cloth. Then rinse with cool water and repeat as often as needed.
3. Restore Wood Furniture With Olive Oil and White Vinegar (or Beer) as Homemade Cleaner
Do you have hardwood floors or some wooden furniture that has some surface scratches in it that you would like to remove? A combination of one-part olive oil and one-part white vinegar can do the trick. At the end of the day, you're just making some homemade furniture polish sans the unnecessary chemicals. You can even add a little bit of fresh lemon juice for good measure. Something else that works pretty well on wood is beer. Just pour a little bit of it on a soft rag and rub your furniture down. You might want to test this on a little corner of a table or chair first, simply because some beer is stronger than others; yet if you're looking for an easy way to make your wood shine, ale will do it.
4. Here’s How to Clean and Fluff Your Pillows
Lawd, why don't pillows ever stay white 'n fluffy? If yours are that old dingy pale yellow color, soak them in the washing machine, two at a time. Then pour a couple of capfuls of hydrogen peroxide and white vinegar to your machine's drum and wash them in a light cycle. That should whiten them right on up. As far as the fluffy part goes, before throwing yours in the trash and getting another set, why not toss them into your dryer on low for about 10 minutes? Sometimes, that's all that's needed to spruce them back up a bit. Word on the street is, if you put a tennis ball into the dryer as well, it will help to pound out any lumps that your pillows may have.
5. Put Some Lemons in Your Dishwasher to Clean
Is your dishwasher giving your glasses that spotty look? Oftentimes, that's due to nothing more than calcium deposits. A simple workaround is to cut up a few slices of lemon and let them go through your next washing cycle. Your glasses should come out crystal clear if you do.
6. Use Mineral Oil to Degrease Your Stove
Is your stovetop all sticky 'n stuff? It might sound odd but the way to actually get the stuck-on oil off is to put some mineral oil on it. Literally pour a little bit of mineral oil on the area that you want to clean up, let it sit for a couple of minutes and use a cleaning rag to remove the stickiness. It tends to glide off even faster if you warm the mineral up a bit first.
7. Clean Your Dirty Cast Iron Skillet With a Coarse Salt and Potato Scrub
One of my favorite cooking items is my cast iron skillet. The only thing that sometimes drives me crazy about it is the fact that it can sometimes not be the easiest to clean. A cool hack for cleaning your cast iron skillet is to preheat your oven to around 350-400 degrees. Pour some coarse salt on the pan and then slice a potato in half so that you can rub the skillet with it. Do so in a circular motion and then rinse and pat the pan dry with some paper towels. For tips on how to season the pan following cleaning it, click here (which is where I got the hack in the first place).
8. Need to Pick up Stubborn Pet Hair? Try a Carpet Rake for Pet Hair Removal
If you've got a pet that constantly sheds on your carpet and vacuuming never seems to get all of their hair up, invest in a carpet rake. The long-short of it is it's basically a broom for your carpet in the sense that it does the same job that a broom would do on your tile floors, except the rake is made out of much stronger bristles. If it's something that you'd at least want to read more on, you can check out a list of some of the top carpet rakes on the market by clicking here.
9. Pour Some Kool-Aid into Your Toilet as a DIY Toilet Scrub
Listen, don't shoot the messenger because I wouldn't be surprised in the least if you never saw Kool-Aid the same way after what I'm about to say but it's actually a really great product for scrubbing your toilet. The citric acid that's in the lemonade flavor one is so potent that you can use it to deep scrub your toilet. Just pour the packet in, let it sit for a couple of minutes, and use your toilet brush to clean as usual. Your toilet will sparkle in a way you never thought a popular drink brand could make it do.
10. Unclog and Clean Your Showerheads with Vinegar and a Ziploc Bag
Is it time to unclog your showerheads? Get yourself a Ziploc bag (one that is big enough to cover your showerhead up) and pour some white vinegar into it. Then wrap the bag around the showerhead with a rubber band and let it sit for an hour. Remove the bag, run the showerhead and you should notice that water is flowing from it better.
11. Clean Your Mattress Naturally with Baking Soda and Lavender Oil
Did you know that you can vacuum your mattress? Yep. And if you want to make it fresher, sprinkle some baking soda on it and let it sit for 10-15 minutes before you do. If there happen to be stains on your mattress, a combo of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide can get those out. Just remember that hydrogen peroxide can "bleach out" colors, so using it is best if your mattress is white.
If you simply want to deodorize your mattress, mixing one cup of baking soda with 20 drops of lavender essential oil and then putting everything into a mason jar that has a shaker lid, will make it possible for you to easily sprinkle the mixture (it'll smell amazing too!). And what if you sprinkle too much? Your mattress can pick up the extra. Just make sure to let it all sit for about 20 minutes first.
12. DIY Clean Your Microwave with Some Fresh Lemon Water
Sometimes microwaves can get a little gunky. If yours is basically at that point and you want to give it a thorough cleaning, all you need to do is squeeze 1-2 lemons worth of lemon juice and then add some water to a microwave-safe bowl. Put the bowl into the microwave and let it run on high for about three minutes. It will help to penetrate the gunk so that it's easier to wipe off.
13. Pour Windex on Your Carpet to Remove Stains
If you've got kids and you don't have any Windex in your house, let this serve as a PSA to get some as soon as possible because it's a great way to remove stains. When it comes to ones that may be on your carpet, spray some directly onto the stain and let it sit for a couple of minutes. Then put a lightly colored rag over the stain and your medium-low heat iron on top of the rag. If you let the iron remain long enough, you should see some of the stain coming through the rag. If you repeat as often as necessary, most of the stain should go away.
Just remember to always keep the iron on the rag and get a new rag, if necessary. Oh, and if you've got a toddler who thinks your walls are their canvas, spraying some Windex onto their masterpieces should easily remove the crayons. As far as the carpet goes, only use the blue Windex brand if you've got nothing else. Sometimes, the ironing process can leave a hint of blue behind, if you're not careful.
14. DIY Some Homemade Lemons/Lime Slices Cubes To Clean Your Garbage Disposal
Does your garbage disposal currently smell like, well, garbage? That's what can happen when months of old food residue is stuck inside. A great hack for removing the odor is to make some DIY cubes out of lemons and lime slices. Simply cut them up into small cubes and place them into your ice trays. Then fill the trays up with white vinegar and some lemon or orange essential oil drops. Place them into the freezer for 24-36 hours. Then run some hot water down your kitchen sink for a couple of minutes, pour 1/3 cup of baking down the drain and then place a cube inside and turn the disposal on (remember to move your fingers out of the way). The citrus and vinegar of the cubes will nix the odor and the ice will help to sharpen the blades of your disposal. How cool is that?
15. How to Clean a Painting? Dust Your Paintings with Bread.
Something that I started collecting more of in my mid-late 30s was art. Sometimes paintings can get dusty. Well, here's something that's super off the chain. Rather than trying your luck by trying to dust your painting with a rag, pull out a piece of bread instead. It's gentle enough to not affect your art and yet "spongy" enough to remove the dust at the same time.
Hey, don't knock it 'til you tried it, chile. Welcome to spring cleaning season, sis.
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