9 Cleaning Hacks

I’m not a huge fan of cleaning. Don’t get me wrong, I love being in a clean house, I just don’t want to do all the work. I still haven’t found a cleaning fairy, but would be thrilled if you sent one my way!  Here are a few hacks that I’ve found and I’m always up for help when it comes to cleaning.

1.  Clean your Coffee Maker – Coffee grinds can sometimes be hard to clean out completely.  You can run 1 part vinegar and 1 part water through a brew cycle in your coffeemaker. After that run just water through the cycle twice to make the vinegar smell go away.

2. Clean a pan – Soak a non-toxic and biodegradable dryer sheet in a pan to remove baked-on food.

3. Clean and brighten your grout – Make an easy homemade grout cleaner by mixing baking soda and hydrogen peroxide into a runny paste and scrub. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes and then rinse it off.

4. Clean your blender – Blend soap and water to clean a blender – Press a button and you’re done.

5. Clean your sink – Lemons and salt are all you need to make your stainless steel sink shine.  Plus, after you have wiped out the sink you chop up the lemon and run it through the garbage disposal if you have one.  Your garbage disposal will be clean and your kitchen will smell wonderful.

6. Clean your Stove Burners – Drop a couple of drops of vegetable oil onto a paper towel and rub it across greasy gunk. The oil removes the gunk without the use of harsh chemicals. Once you’re done removing the greasy mess, just go over it with an all-purpose cleaner if you want or you can leave it – the oil makes it really shiny and helps to make cleanups in the future really easy.

7. Clean your blinds – Mix together equal parts of water and vinegar in a bowl and put an old sock on your hand. Just dip the sock in the vinegar and water mixture and then run it over your blinds. You can also use a second old sock to wipe away the dampness after you have cleaned each slat in the blind.

8. Clean and Remove Water Rings – Did you know you can get those water rings off your coffee table? If you (or others in your home) aren’t using coasters, condensation from glasses, bottles and cans can leave a nasty little whitened ring that can be very easy to see from clean across the room. Before you decide to replace or refinish those tables however, try this little hack for removing those water rings. Just hold a blow dryer on high close to the ring and you should see it disappearing after just a few minutes. Once it’s gone, you can add a bit of mineral or olive oil to recondition the wood.

9. Clean Carpet Stains – Make a mixture of 1 part vinegar and 2 parts water. Mix them together in a spray bottle and spray it over the stain. Cover the stain with a damp rag and put your iron on the steam setting. Just iron the rag for about 30 seconds or so, depending on how bad it is. You may have to repeat if the stain is really dark but this will work wonderfully to remove common foods and dirt from your carpet and the vinegar is a good odor eliminator as well so it works really well on pet stains.