40 cleaning hacks that will make your life so much better

We all know the feeling: you’re exhausted, and pressed for time, but your house is in desperate need of cleaning. The thought of spending your precious weekend hours making everything spick and span may sound as unappealing as it can get, but there are definitely some steps you can take to speed up the process. Intrigued? Read on!

For your bathroom:

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1. Clean your shower head with one cup water and one cup vinegar. Pour the solution into a plastic bag, then secure it over your shower head for thirty minutes, then rinse!
2. Get rid of water spots on your chrome fixtures with lemon, or baby oil. Just rub it over, and voila! Sparkling clean.
3. Use lemon to get rid of other strange odours in your bathroom as well. Rub it against surfaces that smell a little funky to work its magic.
4. Keep cleaning buckets with all your supplies under the sink. Sounds like a no-brainer, but it’s sure to save you a lot of time and effort when you start the whole cleanup process.
5. Instead of using toilet cleaner, opt for a mix of vinegar and baking soda instead! It’s gentle on your skin, and easier on your wallet as well.
6. Shaving cream doesn’t just ensure a clean and nice shave, it can be used to defog and clean mirrors as well. Rub a dime sized amount of shaving cream on a paper towel, then apply to the surface. Wipe it all off with a wet paper towel after to witness miraculous results!
Mouldy shower tiles? Just mix equal parts bleach and vinegar and water in a spray bottle, and spritz away at the offending areas. Let it dry before rinsing off to reveal squeaky clean tiles!

For your kitchen:

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8. Clean your blender by filling it with a combination of warm water and a drop of dish soap. Press a button to turn it on, then rinse out after. Done!
9. Your sponges will appear squeaky clean with this fun tip: simply pop it in the microwave for thirty seconds to fry all the bacteria on it.
10. Use tape to pull crumbs and dust off tabletops and other surfaces.
11. Stainless steel appliances looking a little grimy? Clean them off with olive oil.
12. Use salt and lemons to clean off your cutting boards instead of resorting to chemicals.
13. Stovetops can be cleaned with vinegar and baking powder as well! Simply distribute the vinegar all over your stovetop, followed by baking powder, which creates a fizzy cleaner that loosens up dirt and grime on the surface. Wipe it all off with a rag.
14. Vinegar can be used to clean your microwave as well. Pour one cup of it into a measuring bowl, and microwave it for five to ten seconds. The steam from the water and vinegar will loosen up splatters and spills so it’s easy for you to clean it away with a sponge, after!
15. Remove unsightly grease stains by mixing four parts alcohol with one part salt. Rub the mixture into the stain, let it dry, then vacuum up the remaining salt particles.
16. Clogged drained from stuck food particles? Fret not. Vinegar, baking soda, and water should do the trick.
17. Use a hair dryer to blow hot air at water rings to remove them.
18. Sea salt helps clean up iron based plates and dishes with ease.
19. Vegetable oil and baking soda helps clean kitchen cabinet doors! Work at the stains and grease with a toothbrush.
20. Graters can be cleaned by grating at raw chunks of potato.
21. Save some money by cleaning off all your silverware with baking powder instead.
Broke a glass? Don’t go reaching for your dust pan just yet. Grab a piece of bread, and press it over the area where the glass shards are concentrated. That should help pick up little shards and pieces you might otherwise miss!

For your bedroom:

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23. Have blinds in your room? Clean them with a solution of equal parts water and vinegar. Dip a rag in it, then run it over the slats to get rid of dust and dirt.
24. Stains on your bedsheets? Get rid of them with salt.
25. Use a lint roller to dust lamp shades, shelves, and mantles instead.
26. Carpeted floors are privy to stains, so keep them away by rubbing baking powder into aforementioned stains.
27. Clean the bottom of dirty sneakers with a old toothbrush.
28. Slide pillowcases over your ceiling fan blades, one at a time. Then, wipe with a rag, so the dirt ends up in the pillowcases instead of the ground.
29. Opt for baby wipes to clean down any areas that contain fabric, such as your sofa chairs!
30. Clean off your iron by sprinkling salt on the ironing board and ironing over it.
31. Have a pet who sheds fur? Don a pair of rubber gloves, dampen them, then run your gloved hands over your bedroom surfaces.
32. Use cotton buds to clean out any small, hard to reach areas of your bedroom.
33. Your laptop keyboard is probably filthy, so clean that up by placing a condiment lid over your vacuum to suck up dust!
34. Tipped over a bottle of nail polish on your rug? Rubbing alcohol and a microfibre cloth will help remove all traces of it.

For your living room:

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35. Baking soda works as a great solution to cleaning out fabric covered sofas! Sprinkle some on the sofa, let it sit for twenty minutes, then vacuum it up.
36. Have a leather couch instead? Use shoe polish to clean and bring it back to high shine.
37. Tie a towel at the end of a broom to dust and clean at high, hard to reach places.
38. Wrap stockings around the head of a broom and use the handle to go for spots under your furniture. The static cling from the stocking should suck all that dust and dirt right up.
39. Buff wooden furniture with a few drops of apple cider vinegar and a quarter cup of olive oil.
40. Fill a pot with two thirds water, and add lemon slices, a few sprigs of rosemary and half a teaspoon of vanilla. Let it simmer for a fresh, natural scent to waft through your living room. There you go, a instant room deodoriser.