Home Cleaning Tips & Tricks

Spring has finally arrived in my part of the country so it's time for a little Spring Cleaning. Here are a few cleaning tips and tricks to make this process easier for you!

• RainX-Use RainX (or a similar product) on all your glass, window, and mirrored surfaces. This works wonderfully on glass table tops, shower doors, and windows (both indoor and outdoor surfaces).
• Car Wax-Lightly coat wood surfaces with car wax to help keep fingerprints, dirt, and dust from accumulating on these surfaces.
• Aluminum Foil Scrubbie-Keep your outdoor grill in tip top shape by cleaning the cooking grate with used balled up foil. This scrubbie also works on other unfinished metal surfaces.
• Foam Shaving Cream-Prevent bathroom mirror fog ups by wiping it down with foam shaving cream (not the gel shaving cream).
• Hip Trash Bags-Make cleaning a room easier by attaching a plastic grocery bag to your pants belt loop. When you come across trash, toss in the bag. After you're done, snip the handle loose from your hip and toss with the regular trash. I also put on on my vacuum cleaner's handle to make vacuuming easier.
• Clothes Basket Organizers-Use several clothes baskets to organize things as you clean a space. Designate one basket for each child or whatever your needs are and then just drop items in as you go through a room.
• Natural Home Deodorizers-Plants act as an air purifier and also help add humidity to a room. We have very low humidity in my area so static build up was a real problem until I started adding more plants to our home. Now we can sit on our couch without an electric shock!
• Dust Sucks-Use your vacuum cleaner's upholstery attachments to suck dust away as opposed to stirring it up with a feather duster. My end tables have lots of grooves and funny lines in it's design making it a nightmare to dust and clean. My vacuum cleaner's attachments makes cleaning my end tables so much easier.
• Baby Oil Goo Remover-Baby oil safely removes goo and adhesive on many surfaces. Goo Gone works great but why buy it if you already have baby oil on hand?
• Baby Oil Polish-I haven't tried this one but, have been told by a friend of mine who uses baby oil to clean & polishe stainless steal appliances.
• Foil Liners-Place a sheet of aluminum foil in the bottom of your oven after you've cleaned it to catch any future spills.
• Disinfectant Spray-Mix 2 tablespoons of alcohol with 32 ounces of water to disinfect many surfaces safely.
• Shower Head Cleaner-Mix one quarter cup of baking soda and two cups of vinegar (watch out for foaming) in a sandwich bag. Place the bag over the shower head so it is submersed in the solution. Tape the bag to the shower arm and leave for a couple hours. Remove the bag and turn the shower on for a few minutes to clear the deposits and solution from inside the shower head. Use the left over solution to scrub the bathtub!
• Dishwasher Maintenance-Run an empty dishwasher through a wash cycle with 1/4 cup baking soda followed by a vinegar rinse cycle. This should help clean the inside of your dishwasher. Also don't forget to check for debris stuck in the drain traps. Check with your dishwasher's user's manual for other maintenance tips.

What are some of your favorite cleaning tips?