1. To avoid having to bend, use a microfiber mop to clean your shower or bathtub.
2. Used dryer sheets also make a great bug remover from the front of your car, truck, trailer, or motorcycle. Wet the item to be cleaned, wipe with the sheet. Let it stand for a minute. Then just wipe them off.
3. Cut a lemon in half, squeeze the juice into a bowl then fill the bowl with water. Place the bowl in the microwave and cook on high for at least 5 minutes. The steam from the lemon water will loosen all the gunk from the inside of the microwave making it super easy to wipe clean.
4. To avoid cross contamination, color code your rags; orange rags for toilets, yellow rags for dusting, green rags for windows and glass, etc.
5. Sprinkle some baking soda in your sneakers at the end of the day to keep them from smelling. Just tap out the excess before putting them back on.
6. Throw some lemon or orange peels into your garbage disposal and run for a minute, flushing with water and you’ll eliminate any sour odors from in there. Throw in some ice and run to sharpen those blades.
7. Clean your kids stuffed animals with a lint roller. Or throw them in a mesh laundry bag and wash them in the gentle cycle in the washing machine.
8. To clear a slow drain; put a ½ cup baking soda and a ½ cup vinegar in the drain, cover with a wet paper towel and after 5 minutes, flush with hot water.
9. Stinky sponges? Wet them and place in the microwave on high for two minutes. When it’s done, the odors will be gone (so will all the bacteria that have accumulated). Be careful of the hot sponge; let it sit in the microwave for a minute or two to cool off before touching the sponge again.
10. Use your dishwasher to clean more than your dishes! Kids plastic toys, glass light fixture bulbs, toothbrush holders, etc. Just use the gentle cycle and turn off the heated dry.
11. Wait for a cloudy day to clean your outside windows. Cleaning them in direct sunlight can cause the cleaning agent to dry onto the glass before wiping off making them look dirtier than when you first started.
12. Use two doormats; one on either side of the door to trap more dirt from entering your home. Be sure to shake them out weekly or better yet, if they’re carpeted; vacuum them to get embedded dirt out.
13. Don’t forget to dust your drapes; take them down and put them right into the dryer on ‘air only’ cycle for 15 minutes. They’ll be dust free and ready to hang back up. Hang them right away to avoid wrinkles.
14. You can remove stubborn pet hair from furniture by using standard rubber kitchen gloves; slightly dampen the gloves then go at that hair.
15. Furniture impressions in your carpet? Put ice cubes on the impressions and once they start to melt, use a plastic utensil to fluff them back up. You can also use an iron. Hold the iron just above the dents in the carpet and use the steam blast and voila!
16. Melted candle wax on your carpet? Cover with a paper towel and use place a hot iron on the towel for 8-10 seconds. The warmed wax will transfer itself from the carpet to the towel.
17. Gunk build up on your kitchen (or bathroom) cabinets? Use a paste of baking soda and coconut oil. Apply the paste to the gunky areas, scrub with an old toothbrush and wipe clean with a microfiber cloth.
18. Remove grime from pots and pans by soaking in a solution of baking soda and peroxide. Allow an hour for the solution to penetrate then wipe clean.
19. Use an old pillow case to clean your ceiling fan blades. This will keep any dust inside the pillow case and not all over the floor (or bed) below.
20. Dirty stove burners? You can clean them without scrubbing! Remove the burners from the stove, placing each one in a Ziploc bag. Put a tablespoon of ammonia in each bag then seal the bag. Allow the bags to sit overnight and then wipe clean with a microfiber cloth. The fumes from the ammonia are what cleans and loosens the burned on food, grease, etc from the burners. No need to soak or use caustic chemicals to clean.