Cleaning can be such a drag. If you're anything like us, you're always looking for housekeeping shortcuts. Thanks to all the allergens in the air lately, spring cleaning has been on our minds, so we went searching for a list of the best, most surprising housekeeping tips out there. Take a look at our compilation below.
-Deodorize garbage disposals with an orange peel. Just stick the orange peel in and let the disposal do its thing!
-To clean and deodorize a freezer, pour a little pure vanilla extract on a cotton pad and wipe it down.
-While we're on the subject, a great concoction for cleaning and deodorizing the fridge is a solution of 50% vinegar and 50% water.
-Need to vacuum small spaces like underneath the sofa or fridge? Stick an empty paper towel tube on the end of your vacuum cleaner for a collapsible extension.
-Use a coffee filter to dust television and computer screens.
-Dab olive oil on a terrycloth towel to clean stainless steel appliances.
-To unclog a drain, use a mixture of 1/2 cup baking soda and 1/2 cup vinegar. Pour it down the drain, cover with a wet cloth, and wait five minutes. Then flush with steaming water.
-Grease spot on light-colored upholstery? Cover it with cornmeal and let sit 15-30 minutes. Vacuum to remove.
-Use a dryer sheet dampened with a few drops of water to clean soap scum from a shower door.
-In a sticky situation with labels that won't budge? Blast them with a hair dryer to melt the adhesive, and they'll come right off!
-A seam ripper is the perfect tool to untangle those pesky threads and strings from the roller on your vacuum cleaner.
-Use a walnut to fill shallow scratches on wood. Just rub it over the scratch, and voila!
-Could your dishwasher use a washing itself? Put some lemonade Kool-Aid (the only flavor that works for this) in the soap tray and run it through a cycle. Lemony fresh!
-To keep dust from flying everywhere when you clean ceiling fans, use a pillow case. Just fit the case over the blade and pull. The dust stays in the case instead of in your eye.
-If your coffee grinder needs a good cleaning, fill it with dried rice and mill it like you would with coffee beans. The rice cleans the residual grounds and oil.
-Clean that coffee maker to match your newly gleaming grinder. Just run a mixture of water and vinegar through as though you were brewing coffee. It might be smelly, but it's worth it!
-Use an electric toothbrush to make scrubbing grout easier.
-Get rid of odors on your plastic or light wood cutting board by rubbing it with half a lemon.
We can't wait to try out our new slew of housekeeping tips! Do you have any other tried-and-true tricks that work for you? Let us know in the comments below!
