30 secret household cleaners (you already own):
Originally published in All You Magazine
These 30 money-saving cleaning tips can help solve almost any household cleaning problem. Just shop your pantry for these secret cleaners to disinfect, polish and shine.
1. Eliminate odors
Try coffee grounds to keep your refrigerator smelling nice and fresh, just as you do with an open box of baking soda. Place them, new or used, in a bowl and remember to replace them every month or two.
2. Wash the dishwasher
To clean the inside of your dishwasher, fill the detergent cups with whichever one of these four products you have on hand: ½ cup white vinegar or a few tablespoons of powdered laundry bleach, Tang or lemon-flavored Kool-Aid (lemon is the only flavor that works). Then run the empty machine through a complete cycle.
3. Chill out
Use ice to cleanse the blades in your garbage disposal and break up the grease that collects on the rotors. Every few weeks, toss in a handful of cubes, turn on the disposal and run cold water. Add some orange, lemon or lime peels to ward off odors.
4. Soften up grease
Get baked-on foods off pots and pans with a dryer sheet. Just place one in a pot, fill with water and let sit overnight, then sponge off the next morning. The antistatic agent weakens the bond between the stuck-on food and the surface of the pan, while the fabric softener works its loosening magic.
5. Absorb grime
Cover the bottom of your trash can with old newspapers. It's an easy way to keep clean and soaks up leaks and odors.
6. Wipe away scuffs
Make scuffs on vinyl flooring disappear by applying a little baking soda with a damp sponge.
7. Gather shards
Pick up tiny slivers of broken glass—the ones you don’t notice until you’ve stepped on them—by gently pressing a slice of bread or a piece of Play-Doh on the area. Be sure to wrap the glass up carefully before throwing it away—you don’t want an animal to eat it or a child to play with it.
8. Zap bacteria
To keep bacteria from taking up permanent residence in your kitchen sponges, rinse them with water at the end of each day, squeeze, then put in the microwave for three minutes. Let cool before touching. Do the same with your cutting boards, if they are microwaveable.
9. Use lemons
Harness the power of citrus to clean your microwave: Cut a lemon in half, squeeze juice into a small bowl of water, add both lemon halves and place in the microwave for five minutes. The fresh scent eliminates cooking odors, and condensation from the steam loosens random splatters that have hardened. Wipe with a damp cloth.
10. Bring back the bling
Polish tarnished copper with this natural solution: Fill a 16-ounce spray bottle with white vinegar and 3 tablespoons of salt. Spray onto the copper, let sit briefly, then rub clean.
11. Floss often
Remove debris from the cutting disc on your electric can opener with dental floss
12. Use a substitute
Try Listerine mouthwash if you’re out of floor cleaner. Add a capful to a gallon of water and mop vinyl or tile—but not wood—floors with the mixture. The same product that kills bad-breath germs also zaps the gunk beneath your feet.
13. Clean in between
Grab a few disinfecting wipes to give faucets, sinks, tubs, toilet seats—you name it—an easy daily touch-up.
14. Pretreat
After going over your bathtub, sink or shower with disinfectant, wipe the area with baby oil or lemon oil. Do this once or twice a month, and it will help dirty water bead and roll down the drain faster, buying you more time before the next cleaning.
15. Scrubbing bubbles
Freshen the toilet bowl with effervescent tablets (denture or antacid) in between scourings. Drop two in the water, let soak for at least 20 minutes, then brush and flush. A can of cola dumped in for one hour also does the trick. The phosphoric acid in the beverage removes rust rings and other mineral deposits.
16. Shine on
Get rid of lime buildup on sinks by soaking an old rag in vinegar, then wrapping it around the faucet and clasping with a hair clip. Let sit for an hour, then take off rag and dry faucet.
17. Lose the spots
Combat mold and mildew on tiles and shower curtains with a paste of equal parts lemon juice and baking powder. Spread on the mixture, leave for two hours, then rinse.
18. Mist away
Fill a spray bottle with white vinegar to clean chrome and stainless-steel fixtures, and to remove scum, grime and mildew from your bathtub, tile or shower curtain.
19. Dust tough-to-clean items
A dry paintbrush (with bristles at least 3 inches long) is great for both the surface and grooves of your collectibles. Dust framed photos with a pastry brush, which is softer than a paintbrush and easier to dip into corners and places that are difficult to reach.
20. Revive canvases
Cut the crust off a piece of white bread, squish the bread into a doughy ball and use it to gently dab the surface of paintings (but not valuable or antique works). Once the ball is covered with dirt and grime, start again with a new slice. Use a pastry brush (or another soft-bristled brush) to clear off any crumbs.
21. De-grime shades
Take a hands-on approach to your mini blinds and venetians. Just slip on a pair of white cotton gloves, dip fingers into a solution of equal parts white vinegar and warm tap water, then run your fingers across both sides of each slat. Rinse gloves as necessary in a bowl of clean water.
22. Remove mud with a spud
Slice a potato in half and gently rub the cut end on a muddy slipcover or comforter. Soak the fabric in cool water, then throw it in your next load of laundry.
23. Go green
Keep air pure with houseplants. Research from NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America suggests that palms, English ivy, ferns, mums and similar plants remove up to 87 percent of indoor pollutants.
24. Freshen foliage
Use a lint brush with disposable sheets to dust lamp shades and plant leaves.
25. Shake it
To wash a narrow vase, pour in 2 tablespoons of dry rice and ½ cup warm water, cover with the palm of your hand, shake vigorously, then rinse.
26. Air dry
Give chandeliers a quick cleaning with a blow-dryer (set on low) or a feather duster. For tougher jobs, fill a spray bottle with one part vodka to five parts water, spritz on fixtures and blow-dry.
27. Practice your swing
Wrap a microfiber cloth over the bristles of a regular broom or around the end of a golf club, secure it with a rubber band and use to get rid of cobwebs or dust in hard-to-reach places.
28. Erase every trace
Did your child use the painted walls as a canvas? Mist them with hairspray and wipe immediately to remove colored marker. For crayon, scrub with a toothpaste-covered toothbrush, or gently massage with baking soda and a damp microfiber cloth.
29. Raid the fridge
Shine brass using a dab of Worcestershire sauce or ketchup. Squeeze the condiment onto a cloth, rub the item, then rinse with water and dry with a towel.
30. Scour scuffs
Use a new tennis ball to wipe scuff marks off tile, vinyl, woodwork—even painted walls. It won’t harm the surface.
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