Cleaning Tips Nobody Taught You

Unless you love spending countless hours tidying up your home, cleaning can be a necessary nuisance. Many homeowners choose to hire cleaners to avoid the timely hassle of deep cleaning, but professionals are an added expense for most budgets. Opt out of paying for professionals and learn to enjoy the cleaning process with these simple, yet ingenious hacks every homeowner needs to know! Here’s our top 15 cleaning tricks that professionals don’t want you to know.

Brighten dingy toilets with cola

Did you know that a dark cola works as well as a non-toxic bleach replacement for fighting toilet stains? Pepsi, Coke, or any generic brand of cola is able to remove stubborn toilet buildup with the chemicals from the carbonation. To use this surefire cleaning method, pour a cup of choice cola over the stains and let it sit – the longer, the better. After you flush, you’ll notice this inexpensive trick loosens unwanted toilet grime and makes it easy to wash away. Instead of hiring professionals to keep your bathroom spotless, grab your nearest cola and eliminate those stains in mere minutes for free!

Unclog drains with homemade solution

Clogged drains are one of those nuisances cooks can’t avoid. Whether you create three meals a day or preheat the oven for freezer food a few times a week, clogging your drain and damaging your garbage disposal is an easy oopsie every meal-maker experiences. Don’t waste time with the plumber though. A simple homemade solution of baking soda and vinegar can eliminate whatever substances are keeping your drain clogged. For optimal unclogging, pour a half of cup of baking soda to the drain, then add a mixture of equal parts vinegar and hot water. The solution will fizz and break up unwanted buildup in seconds!

Speed up drying time with tennis balls

Waiting for clothes, sheets, and even pillows to dry can be hard. After all, nothing feels better at night than going to bed under newly cleaned, warm covers. But pillows are difficult to dry fast, especially if trying to avoid clumping. Most bed owners don’t know that you can dry your pillows fast with the use of tennis balls. Just toss a ball into your machine while on the normal dry setting. You’ll be amazed at how expedient the drying process becomes with the assistance of the popular athletic gear!

Banish floor blemishes with steel wool

Knicks, scrapes, and dings appear in wood floors all the time. Children, furniture, and pets all take a toll on our floors. But wait to call in the professionals to refinish the floors. Gently rub out blemishes with a few quick strokes with steel wool. Easily found at most home improvement stores, steel wool is a cheap solution to hide obnoxious floor scratches.

Eliminate water stains with orange peels

Professionals don’t want you to know how to properly clean stainless steel appliances. But with a little finesse and a few orange peels, you can clean stainless steel and remove bothersome water stains like a pro! For best results, rub the orange peels directly onto your stainless steel faucet, fridge, stove, or other appliance. The citric acid and natural oils from the peels will help you create a streak-free finish in minutes!

Remove dust with coffee filters

One of the most tedious house chores is dusting the many surfaces of your home. Even with a weekly deep clean and the best dusters money has to offer, your multifaceted surfaces need continuous dusting. Instead of spending a small fortune on replacing special dusters, consider the cost effective and abundant coffee filter solution. Using coffee filters is not only an economical solution, it’s a solution to lifting dust mites that cling to hard-to-reach nook and crannies. Begone unwanted buildup; coffee filters are here to stay!

Use baby oil for streak-free appliances

After removing water stains from your appliances with citrus peels, add a small amount of baby oil for a sweet-smelling, streak-free finish. While some people use WD-40 for the same results, the lubricant is flammable, toxic, and harsh. It’s simply not ideal for kitchens, the most visited room of the home. To create a flawless stainless steel surface, squirt a dime-size of baby oil onto a microfiber cloth and rub down your appliance. Within minutes, your newly cleaned stainless steel will appear brand new!

Freshen up a smelly kitchen

Every cook knows how unappealing a foul odor can be while in the kitchen. It’s especially annoying when the rest of your kitchen is spotless. Instead of calling the professionals to provide the just-cleaned smell, you can make the sweet aroma yourself. If you own a decent garbage disposal, toss some tiny chunks of citrus into it and grind them for half a minute or so. The orange and lemon peels will give off the freshness of a deep clean without scrubbing your floors and counters for hours! Your guests will be amazed at the pleasant citrus smell you’ve made with minimal effort!

Remove mildew with vodka

There’s no need to call the ever expensive cleaning service to remove mildew or mold in your home. With a dash of vodka, you can permanently eliminate mildew without paying high professional premiums. Pour equal parts of vodka and water into a spray bottle. Spray the mixture onto the toughest mildew and mold spots in your shower, kitchen, or wall and let it sit. After about 15 minutes, use a toothbrush to wipe away the excess. This new trick will revolutionize how you see vodka and its uses for cleaning!

Polish furniture with banana peels

I know it sounds unbelievable but so many cleaning professionals swear by this next trick! Banana peels have natural textures and oils that are abrasive enough to rub out nicks and scratches but gentle enough to keep from making more. To polish leather furniture, wipe down problem areas with the peels and use a microfiber to clean off any remaining residue. Within a few mere minutes of swabbing, your expensive leather furniture will appear brand new!

Apply oil and vinegar to dull wood surfaces

Wood surfaces have the obnoxious tendency of obtaining mysterious scratches and dings. Without calling in the professionals, many homeowners don’t know an effective way to fix their scraped up wood surfaces. Thankfully, a little olive oil and vinegar is just what you need! Using equal parts of olive oil and vinegar – we suggest half a cup of each – combine and rub on those pesky nicked surfaces. With a couple of wipes, your wood cabinets, tables, and floors will look and feel just-bought!

Create a homemade glass cleaner

Professionals make a living from using and selling expensive cleaner for all glass surfaces of your home. But did you know you could easily make glass cleaner at home with the right recipe? With this little trick, you’ll never waste time foraging for excess cleaner again! Simply combine 4 liters of warm water, 100 mL of white vinegar, and 1 teaspoon of your choice of dishwashing liquid into a bucket. Then stir well and transfer the mixture into plastic spray bottles. Having ample glass cleaner on hand will save you trips to the store and a lot of money!

Clean silver with toothpaste

Silver is notoriously hard to handle. Whether you inherited your grandmother’s fine silver or just bought your first set of silver dishware, knowing how to clean the inevitable grime is vital. This is where the easily available toothpaste comes in. After your silver starts to appear filthy, dab a small amount of toothpaste onto your brush and scrub away the grime. It only takes a few minutes of vigorous rubbing to have a brand new set of silver!

Freeze dirty jeans

Forget taking your clothes to dry cleaning! With quality clothes you can’t clean in a typical washer, try freezing them to eliminate odor and germs. Seal your jeans, shirts, dresses, or slacks into a large ziplock bag and then place the contents into your freezer. After a day, once the fabric is stiff, thaw by leaving them out overnight. By the next morning, you’ll have fresh, clean, odorless clothes that’ll have you saying goodbye to the professionals!

Use denture tablets for a gentle clean

After eliminating toilet bowl buildup with the dark cola of your choice, use a gentler substance for weekly maintenance to keep your bowl looking and smelling its best. About once every week, drop a denture tablet into the bowl you want to freshen. After a half hour, use a toilet brush to scrape any remaining grime, and then flush. Dentures are super agents for bleaching due to the same chemical process that brightens exposed dentures. Professionals don’t want you to know how simple and effective using dentures can be for leaving your toilet both polished and new!