7 Quick Cleaning Hacks to Make Your Life Easier

Unless you’ve made the decision to hire out your household cleaning duties, making sure your home is clean is your responsibility!

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Whether you like to clean, hate it or your feelings on the topic fall somewhere in between, you’re sure to welcome these quick cleaning hacks that will simplify your life. Not only can you use these hacks for routine cleaning, they can also come in handy if you must clean up quickly for unexpected visitors.

1. Quick Toilet Cleaning

When it comes to cleaning the bathroom, the toilet bowl definitely needs your attention. If you’re in a rush to get your toilet bowl cleaned, try multitasking. First apply toilet bowl cleaner to the inside of the bowl and then go do something else for five minutes. Once five minutes is up, come back and give the inner surfaces of the bowl a quick scrub down with a toilet brush. To clean under seat and on top of the seat, use disinfectant wipes. You can also clean the bottom of the bowl with the wipes.

2. Remove Floor Marks

Hardwood floors are beautiful, but they can be subject to scuffs from shoes and other objects. To restore your hardwood floors to the former glory, all you need is a clean sock or a new tennis ball. Rub either of these on the scuffs to remove them. If that doesn’t work, you can dampen a soft cloth (or use the sock) and sprinkle a small amount of baking soda on the cloth or sock. Rub the baking soda on the scuffed area to remove. Then, wipe the residue away with a clean, damp cloth.

3. Freshen Up Your Garbage Disposal

If you have a garbage disposal installed in your kitchen sink, you know how wonderful it is to be able to quickly dispose of unwanted scraps or dirty dish residue. Unfortunately, at times, your garbage disposal can develop a funky smell due to food residue that may collect. A quick fix is to slice up fresh lemons or limes and run them through the disposal. This hack will have your kitchen sink area smelling fresh in no time.

4. Blind Dusting

While this hack won’t work well for blinds that haven’t been dusted in a long time and have accumulated a thick layer of sticky dust, it will work if you regularly dust your blinds. All you have to do is completely close the blinds. Then, take a clean microfiber cloth and starting from the top of the blind, quickly wipe from side to side to remove dust. Then, turn the blinds the opposite way and repeat.

5. Deodorize Without the Fancy Products

With the plethora of fancy products out there that claim to help deodorize carpets and pet beds, you might think you have to jump on the bandwagon and buy a special product to achieve a fresh smell. Not so. Instead, all you need is a box of baking soda. Sprinkle the baking soda on rugs, carpets and pet beds. Leave for approximately 15 minutes and then vacuum the residue up. It’s really that easy to deodorize those less-than-fresh areas of your home.

6. Clean the Inside of a Food-Caked Microwave

Has the inside of your microwave seen too many food explosions, leaving you to scrub dried-on food from the walls of your appliance? Here’s a quick hack that will have the inside of your microwave looking clean and shiny once again with minimal effort. Chop up a fresh lemon and add it plus three tablespoons of vinegar to a cup of water. Microwave the mixture on high for several minutes or until you see steam forming on the window. Leave the mixture in the microwave with the door closed for approximately five minutes. Then wipe down the surfaces with a hot, damp towel. The grime should break loose and wipe away easily. If you don’t have a fresh lemon, substitute 10 to 15 drops of lemon essential oil.

7. Give Stainless Steel Appliances a Shine

Stainless steel appliances can give a kitchen a clean, modern look. But when they are streaked with fingerprints, they don’t look so good. Instead of investing in expensive and often hard-to-find stainless steel cleaners, you can use olive oil or coconut oil. Simply put a bit of either oil on a soft cloth and buff away the offending fingerprints. Add more as needed to the cloth, but don’t overdo it or you’ll have a greasy mess.