Cleaning your house may not be as fun as playing your favorite online games with an Intertops casino bonus but you can use these cleaning hacks to make your job easier and faster and will save you money to boot!
Glass
Use newspaper and vinegar to clean glass and mirrors. Cleaning glass with cloths results in streaks, lint and smudges from the cloth but the soft fibers found in newspaper make it non-abrasive so it’s the perfect solution for wiping down glass. Also, there’s no reason to spend money on special glass-cleaning solutions when there’s vinegar available.
Use an empty spray bottle for the vinegar. Spray the vinegar on the window just as you would a window cleaner. Wipe it with the newspaper until the window is completely dry.
Faucets and Shower Heads
In some areas of the country, there’s calcium or lime deposits in the water that causes a build-up in the showerheads and faucets. The deposits build up over time which interferes with the proper flow of the water.
To get rid of those deposits, fill a sandwich bag with vinegar and baking soda. Submerge the shower head or faucet handle in the sandwich bag and close it tightly with a hair tie or a rubber band. Leave the bag on for 2 hours and then take it off and turn on the water. The water should flow freely and your faucet/shower head will be bright and shiny.
Kitchen and Bathroom Stains
Stainless Steel surfaces and faucets get stained from hard water that dries on the chrome. Citric acid from lemons combined with salt will give you a scrubbing formula that will cut through the grime and leave that stainless steel looking like new.
Sprinkle salt around the stainless steel and use a lemon or grapefruit half to rub the salt around the chrome. Rinse with warm water and you’ll have a streak-free, shiny finish.
You can do the same with bathroom sink or bathtub stains – easiest way in the bathroom is to sprinkle the salt directly on the lemon or grapefruit half. You should also sprinkle salt on the area that you want to clean. Then use the lemon/grapefruit half to scrub around the sink or tub. The rind is good for the tough stains.
This is a good way to get the areas clean and get your kitchen/bathroom smelling nice. However, salt and citrus aren’t an anti-bacterial so when you need an anti-bacterial solution, you’ll need to purchase a product.
Upholstery
To get rid of unwanted odors from any type of upholstery, a carpet or rug, curtains or a pet bed, use baking soda to absorb the odor. Brush the piece that you want to clean to remove any debris or dirt. Sprinkle baking soda over the area and leave it for 20 minutes. Vacuum up the baking soda and any lingering smells will be gone.
Toilet
Coca cola contains carbonic and phosphoric acid and that makes it a good cleaning solution, especially for toilet stains. To clean your toilet, make sure that everyone in the house knows that the toilet is going to be “occupied” for the coming hour. Then pour the cola around the rim of the toilet so that it flows down into the toilet bowl. Let it sit for an hour (more if possible). Use a toilet brush to scrub it and then flush.
Voila, sparkling clean for pennies. You can even toast your success with a cup of cola…..if you’re still drinking the stuff!
Laundry Stains
There are plenty of stain removers sitting in your kitchen cupboards. They include:
- Coffee stains – pour vinegar on the stain and then scrub with baking soda. Wash as usual.
- Wine stains – sprinkle salt on the stain and then pour boiling water over it. Wash as usual.
- Sweat stain – grind up aspirin and rub it into the stain. Wash as usual.
- Ketchup stain – sprinkle baking soda over the stain, cover with detergent and then rub vinegar into the mix and scrub. Wash as usual.
- Blood stain – soak in hydrogen peroxide and then wash as usual
- Stain from an iron – spray peroxide on a dryer sheet and lay it on the piece of clothing and iron.
- Discolored item – pour boric acid into a bowl with water and soak the discolored item in the solution
- Faded item – add salt to laundry detergent in the wash to refresh color
Baked on Grease
Getting baked-on grease off your pot or pan can mean serious time investment in scrubbing. Try sprinkling salt on the crud and then rubbing it with a half lemon. Then, wipe it down.
Carpet
Vacuum cleaners don’t always get the hair out of your carpet. Use a bathroom squeegee to scrape up dust and hair that the vacuum cleaner doesn’t catch. Squeegees are also good for getting into the corners of the rooms.
Silverware
A nice set of silverware can add panache to a dinner table but who has time to polish the silver? Silver tarnishes easily and to keep it shiny you need to tend to it. You can clean the tarnish off multiple pieces of silverware at once by lining a pot with aluminum foil (shiny side out) and then putting the silverware into the pot.
Add boiling hot water to the bowl plus one heaping tablespoon of baking soda (1 ½ tablespoons baking soda for every gallon of water). Let the silverware sit in the solution for half an hour and then remove from the pot. Rinse well to make sure that all the baking soda is removed.