- More Baby & Kid
- More Cars
- More Electronics
- More Health & Fitness
- More Hobby & Crafts
- More Home & Garden
- More Other
- More Outdoor
- More Pets
SolidGuides.com may get an affiliate commission when you buy through links on our website. Read More.
I used to think allergies caused my breathing problems until I found out that mold is the culprit. Since then, I clean my living space often.
If you want to avoid health problems, keep your home clean! I will teach you how to do it quickly and stress-free. I will also show you that you can clean your home without spending a fortune on expensive chemicals by following my simple home cleaning tips.
It doesn’t matter whether your guests wipe their feet when your doormat is dirty.
My first recommendation is to use two doormats; one outside the door, the other inside. Two doormats take a few more minutes to clean, but they keep the indoor free from the debris that can be brought in on shoes.
Use a water hose to clean the outdoor mat and leave it to air dry. You should vacuum the indoor mat on both sides. Make sure to be thorough because plenty of dirt gets trapped inside of doormats over time.
I used to avoid cleaning the ceilings in my home until a friend pointed out five or six cobwebs.
While most of the spiders don’t bother humans, it is a smart aesthetical choice to remove their webs.
I use an extendable duster when I clean my ceilings. It is easy and effortless. Focus on the spots you’ve been avoiding: ceiling fan, recessed and hanging lights, acoustic bumps, moldings, etc.
It shouldn’t take you more than a few minutes, and you won’t have to deal with the embarrassment of having a ceiling that looks like a hotel for spiders.
Plastic, rubber, and stuffed toys can house many germs, which is why it is essential to clean them now and then. I have had the best cleaning results with a dishwasher.
You only have to place the toys inside the dishwasher and run a quick cycle without the heated drying.
If you want to clean stuffed toys, use your regular washer. Check the tag on the toy because it tells you which temperature is the right one for washing. Put the toys inside of a pillowcase and put it in the washer.
Open up your closet and take a good look at the clothes inside. You will notice shirts that you haven’t worn for ages, pants that don’t fit well, worn-out shoes, and more. My advice is to donate the clothes you no longer wear. Use worn-out t-shirts as cleaning rags. You can use other worn-out clothes during cleaning and yard work.
After you have made sure that the clothing items left are the ones you will wear, you can start the cleaning process.
Clean everything with a damp cloth and make sure that there are no signs of moths. I like to be prepared, so I hang lavender bags in my closets. If you want to avoid moth problems, place lavender, mint, thyme, or rosemary around the house. The mentioned plants are an excellent natural way to prevent a moth infestation.
I remember wasting hours trying to make my mirrors shine. The result of my hard work was always the same — visible streaks.
Avoid my mistake by using paper coffee filters to clean your mirrors. Coffee filters are lint-free and absorbent. Most importantly, they are cheap.
Dip the filter into a bucket of water mixed with a window cleaner, wipe the mirrors and then dry them with a new filter.
You can do the same thing with old newspapers, but note that you might get ink stains on your hands.
I always have a can of compressed air on standby because I like to keep my computer clean. I have learned that compressed air is a great ally when I need to clean fragile vases and intricate figurines.
You should always keep the compressed air can in an upright position and use short bursts of air to clean candles, vases, carved wood pieces, etc. If you feel the can getting cold in your hand, put it down and wait a bit before using it again.
Whenever you want to clean an irreplaceable item, remember that a can of compressed air can save you a lot of time and headache.
If you don’t clean your couches and sofas regularly, you may need to hire a professional. Upholstered furniture is a breeding ground for dust, grime, and mold.
The best way to avoid spending money on cleaning services is to clean upholstery regularly. There are no ifs and buts about it; it is a task you will have to force upon yourself.
When you sit on a sofa, you grind dust and dirt deep into the fabric, which is why you should vacuum it often.
Don’t wait for the dust and grime to build up, try to vacuum your sofas and couches at least once a week.
It might seem logical to wash windows on a bright day. After all, sunlight helps the glass to dry. Unfortunately, bright sunlight also promotes streaks on windows.
My mother told me to wash windows on a cloudy day or in the evenings, and I haven’t noticed any visible streaks since then.
If you want to add extra shine to your windows, add cornstarch to the water you use for cleaning. Wash your windows with a squeegee and then dry them with a microfiber cloth.
Dust blinds gather dirt fast, which is why you need to keep them clean.
I found that the fastest way to clean dust blinds is with soft cotton gloves. You can buy a pair at a low price anywhere, and they will serve you for a long time.
Put on your cotton gloves, use a small amount of dusting spray on them, and then glide your fingers slowly over the dust blinds. This method ensures that you do a thorough job by allowing you to see the amount of dirt on your fingers.
If you want to use a natural dusting spray, mix one cup of water with ¼ cup of vinegar and two tablespoons of olive oil. You can add a couple of drops of lemon essential oils if you want to make your blinds smell naturally fresh.
Oil paintings get filthy over time. The biggest problem is that the dirt accumulates slowly. You might not even notice that your pictures are dirty because you’ve gotten used to the almost unnoticeable dust.
This home cleaning tip might seem silly, but doughy white bread can clean your paintings in an instant.
Cut a piece of bread in half, exposing its soft interior. Rub the soft side of the dough over the painting gently. You will notice that the piece of bread manages to pick up all the dust and dirt. Use another slice of bread to make sure that the painting is immaculate. Finally, use a soft bristle brush to remove breadcrumbs from the painting.
Kitchen sponges are an ideal breeding ground for microbes.
You might want to throw away sponges after only a couple of uses, but I think that’s wasteful. Save your money by using your microwave to kill the microbes on your sponges. Put the sponges in the microwave for a few minutes, because heat kills bacteria. Make sure to keep an eye on the microwave to avoid destroying your sponges.
If your cookie sheet looks like it went through a warzone, don’t fret. You only need two common ingredients to make your cookie sheet sparkle like brand new: hydrogen peroxide and baking soda.
Flip the cookie sheet so that it lays with backside up. Sprinkle baking soda all over the backside of the sheet and then add some hydrogen peroxide. Cover everything with another layer of baking soda.
Let the mixture sit for a couple of hours, and then wipe it away together with all the grime and dirt.
Take a look at your kitchen cabinets. Focus on the area around the handles, and you will notice plenty of grime that you should eliminate.
Save the money you would spend on cleaning agents by using two ingredients you have in your home: coconut oil and baking soda. Mix one part of coconut oil with two parts of baking soda and apply the mixture to your cabinets with a cloth. You can use your hands if you think it would be more comfortable.
If you can’t use the cloth or your fingers on hard-to-reach grooves, you can use an old toothbrush.
In the end, your kitchen cabinets will look almost brand new, but, more importantly, they will be free of accumulated grime and bacteria.
I used to think that removing the grime between the double pane window on my oven is an impossible task. Luckily, cleaning that hard-to-reach area is easier than you think.
You will need an old wire hanger, soft wipes, and a couple of rubber bands. Wrap the wipes around the hanger and secure them with rubber bands. Slide the wire hanger through the slots in the bottom of the oven door and move it back and forth.
You might need to bend the wire a little bit, but cleaning between oven glass is worth the effort.
If you notice a strong smell while doing the dishes, the garbage disposal is most likely the culprit.
You can save the money you would spend on expensive drain cleaners by using lemons.
Lightly grate the skin of the ripe lemon, but try not to grate the white part of the skin since you only need the yellow parts.
Run the grated lemon skin through the garbage disposal and follow it with cold tap water. The result will surprise you!
Stained microwaves look ugly, and they also harbor many germs. I will share a neat cleaning trick that will help you make your microwave as clean as it was on the day you bought it.
Grab a large microwave-safe bowl and pour one cup of water inside. Add chopped lemon, orange, or lime to the water, and top it all off with a few tablespoons of vinegar.
Place the bowl inside your microwave and turn it on high for a couple of minutes. You will know that the process is finished when the microwave window is steamy.
Let the microwave cool down for a couple of minutes before you open the door. Remove everything from the inside and wipe it with a sponge.
Calcium and limescale buildups affect the quality of the coffee.
If you want to enjoy delicious coffee without sacrificing quality, you should descale your coffee maker approximately every three months.
Fill the water reservoir with a 50:50 mixture of water and vinegar. Start the brewing process, but stop it halfway. Let the mixture sit for half an hour, and then rinse everything by repeating the brewing process with clean water.
Oil and grease spatter whenever you cook, leaving your stove burners with a disgusting coating that is hard to scrub.
Don’t waste your time and patience on scrubbing your stove burners when you can eliminate the problem with this home cleaning trick!
Put the stove burners in separate Ziploc bags and add ¼ cup of ammonia in each of the bags. Leave the bags in a safe place overnight, and the ammonia fumes will dissolve all of the grease and oil. Wipe the burners with a sponge, and your stove will look as good as new.
Take a look at your wooden cutting boards. Are they stained with residue from beets, bloody meat, or blackberries? If your answer is yes, then you need to clean them if you want to avoid bad smell buildups.
Sprinkle the entire board with salt (historically, butchers used salt on their chopping boards to avoid bad smells.)
Cut a lemon in half, and then rub the entire board with the cut side of the lemon.
Wipe off the excess salt and pour mineral oil all over the board. Rub the oil into the wood by following the grain. Leave the oil on for ten minutes, and then wipe the oil off.
If you want your stainless steel sink to look immaculate, try using flour.
You should wash your sink thoroughly like you usually do and then dry it with a clean towel.
Sprinkle the sink with flour, and then use a paper towel or a soft cloth to buff the flour into the sink. Be thorough, try to polish all of the smallest grooves because the dirt loves hiding in them. Don’t forget to go over the drain, rim, handles, and the top of the sink.
Nobody enjoys cleaning the toilet, but it must be done. I will help you do it without spending money on specialty cleaners.
Drop two antacid tablets into the bowl and let them dissolve for 20 minutes, then use a toilet brush to scrub the bowl.
If you don’t have any antacid tablets, you can use vitamin C tablets.
You can also pour ¼ cup of mouthwash into the toilet bowl, wait for half an hour, and then scrub the bowl before you flush everything.
Finally, you can use cola to clean the bowl. Empty a can of cola into the bowl, let it sit for half an hour to an hour, scrub the bowl, and then flush.
While you probably keep your bathroom tiles clean, I can bet that the grouting between the tiles isn’t as spotless as it should be.
The grouting between the tiles houses dirt and germs, and it is hard to clean. Fortunately, I have a way to clean the grouting with almost no effort.
Combine one part borax, two parts baking soda, and one to two parts water. Use an old toothbrush to scrub the mixture onto the grout. You can rub away the grime with pencil erasers because they can reach narrow spaces.
Finally, scrub everything down with a mouthwash that contains a tooth-whitening agent.
Glass showers, mirrors, and other bathroom surfaces look horrible when they are covered with water spots. Luckily, you can solve that problem in under half an hour.
Pour two cups of salt into a gallon of hot water. Let the salt dissolve and then add ½ cup of vinegar, one cup of ammonia, and ¼ cup of baking soda.
Use the solution to go over everything covered in water spots. Let the solution sit for 15 minutes, and then scrub it off before rinsing the previously dirty surfaces.
Most of us live in areas where water quality is lacking, which leads to blocked showerheads.
If you want to remove the mineral deposits from your shower head, you will only need vinegar.
Remove the showerhead and let it soak in white vinegar overnight.
If you can’t remove your showerhead, pour white vinegar into a plastic bag, and then tie the bag so that the showerhead is immersed in vinegar.
Finally, clean out the showerheads with a needle or a piece of wire.
Shower curtains are often in contact with water, which makes them a perfect home for mold and bacteria.
Grab an old spray bottle and pour 16 ounces of bleach into it, and then add two tablespoons of dishwashing liquid. Use the mixture to clean your shower curtains, but make sure that you let the mixture sit for a few minutes before rinsing.
I have noticed that most of my friends don’t wash their bath mats as often as they should.
Bath mats are often wet and covered in dead skin, which makes them an excellent breeding ground for all sorts of bacteria.
The best way to wash your bath mats is to throw them in the washing machine. Don’t forget to clean your bath mats next time you wash your towels.
Bath toys accumulate a lot of bacteria, despite being soaked in water most of the time.
Fortunately, you can easily clean and disinfect your kids’ bath toys with white vinegar. Mix half a cup of white vinegar with a gallon of water, and then use the mixture to clean the toys. White vinegar will destroy bacteria and dirt buildup.
If you have metal cans and containers in your bathroom, then you know that they tend to rust.
You can avoid scrubbing away the rust by utilizing this simple cleaning tip.
Paint a coat of clear nail polish over the rusty parts and let it sit for a while. Wipe away the nail polish, and the rust will follow.
Most of the bathroom mirrors I have seen tend to have water stains and dust.
Cleaning your bathroom mirrors is easy if you have black tea! You only need a few bags of black tea and boiling water.
Let the tea bags sit in boiling water until the water is cold, and then use the mixture to clean your mirror. The tannic acid in black tea dissolves dirt and grease, which is why this home cleaning tip leaves you with a shiny mirror.
If your faucets and other metal surfaces are noticeably dirty, you can restore their shine by using baby oil.
Use warm water and a cloth to wipe down dirty metal surfaces. After the preliminary cleaning, pour a small amount of baby oil onto a paper towel. Use the paper towel to coat the metal surfaces in baby oil. Finally, use a dry paper towel to buff the metal surfaces until they shine.
By following my 30 home cleaning tips, your home will be a healthier place to live in, and it will look more presentable to the guests.
How do you clean your home? Have any tips to share? Let me know by leaving a comment below. If you like my article, share it with your friends and family.