We understand that cleaning your home is not fun and it takes a lot of willpower to get going to clean your property; we’ve been there ourselves. On average, someone will spend the following amount of time per day cleaning:
- 13 minutes washing the pots and cleaning the kitchen
- Around 17 minutes washing clothes and doing the ironing
- Just under 30 minutes per day of cleaning inside the house,
- and 7 minutes outside cleaning or doing garden work.
On average, someone spends over an hour cleaning every single day. That’s why we’ve scoured the internet to learn about the best tips and tricks to make cleaning your home quicker and easier.
We’ve put together a list of different things you can do to help make your cleaning days that bit less daunting and dived into how it’ll help you. This is so you can see the benefits you’ll gain from using these techniques. Check them out below!
1 of 40+
Dust From the Top Down
Dusting is a relatively quick job to do but can be frustrating to redo more than once. If you dust from the top of the room down (starting with the ceiling and head downwards) you’ll find that the dust your cloth doesn’t pick up will fall to either more furniture or to the floor.
How Will it Help?
If you dust from the floor upwards, you’ll only knock dust from the higher areas into areas you’ve dusted already. This will save you a job and some hassle!
2 of 40+
Use All Hoover Attachments to Your Advantage
Hoovering isn’t the most fun task and people often tend to whizz over a room to get it done. If you use the attachments on the hoover for their use (for example using a carpet attachment when hoovering a carpet) you’ll get the best results, meaning you’ll have to hoover less frequently.
How Will it Help?
It’ll save you the extra hassle by doing a better job first time around, meaning a cleaner carpet and less frequent hoovering.
3 of 40+
Before You Start, Make a Plan
Think about what you’re trying to achieve when you’re cleaning and how you can get multiple things being achieved at once. For example, you could get the bedsheets in the washing machine while you hoover the bedroom.
How Will This Help?
You’ll essentially do two jobs at once and make twice as much progress, therefore it’ll be done twice as quickly!
4 of 40+
Sanitise Your Sponges
As sponges are used to clean your dishes or your sides quite ruggedly, they’ll naturally pick up bacteria. Put them through the dishwasher or in the microwave for 30 seconds (when they’re dry!) to kill off the bacteria!
How Will This Help?
You’ll kill off any bacteria and germs, essentially making your sponge as good as new. This will save you some money on buying sponges!
5 of 40+
Make Stainless Steel Appliances Shine
A super easy trick you can do with things around the house, simply use a microfibre cloth and either rubbing alcohol, olive oil, baby oil or WD-40 to really make them shine!
How Will it Help?
Save yourself some money and time by not having to go to the shop for fancy cleaning chemicals, and use something you already have at home.
6 of 40+
Good Riddance, Fabric Sofa Stains!
If you have a fabric sofa which has any stains, you can use a really easy tactic to get them out. Simply spread some baking soda on the sofa and let it sit for a while. 20 minutes should be fire, then simply hoover it up!
How Will it Help?
Baking soda is a great tool that breaks down the stains in your sofa, saving you the hassle of buying fancy chemicals or risking damaging your sofa through heavy scrubbing.
7 of 40+
Cleaning Cloudy Glasses
Don’t let your glasses get cloudy or live hidden at the back of your cupboard. A couple of drops of vinegar rubbed in with a paper towel will get them looking like new!
How Will This Help?
Washing cloudy glasses can take up time and be an extra hassle, cleaning them over and over. This is a great one-time trick to get them sparkling again!
8 of 40+
Cleaning a Burnt Pan with 3 Home Ingredients
Water, vinegar and baking soda. These three together can get rid of that burnt gunk from the bottom of your pan by boiling the vinegar and water, then adding two tablespoons of baking soda and letting it cool for a minute or so. Simply wipe away the mess!
How Will This Help?
Save yourself the hassle of scrubbing endlessly to get it looking clean with this handy tactic.
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Oven Cleaning
All the components that live in your oven (such as the grates, drip pan etc) can usually go in your dishwasher. Throw them in and let the dishwasher do the work!
How Will This Help?
Save yourself the time and effort of scrubbing them, and let your dishwasher do the hard work!
10 of 40+
Recycle Old Toothbrushes Into Scrubbing Brushes
Toothbrushes are the perfect size for being a small scrubbing brush. Save yourself some money and use an old toothbrush for scrubbing those small little areas!
How Will This Help?
A toothbrush has fine bristles, making it perfect for getting into those small nooks and crannies.
11 of 40+
Microwave Self-Clean Function
Most microwaves don’t come with a built-in self-clean function, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Simply mix equal parts of water and white vinegar in a microwaveable bowl, and add a few drops of lemon juice into the mix. Make sure it’s covered over so it doesn’t boil over, and let it microwave for around 5 minutes. Simply wipe out the inside of the microwave once it’s done and cooled for a fresh smelling and clean microwave!
How Will This Help?
Cleaning the microwave is a bit of hassle and often involves some scrubbing, but no longer. Use this technique to get a nice clean microwave easily!
12 of 40+
Baking Soda on Your Shoes
If you’ve got an old pair of shoes that are smelling worse for wear, you can use some baking soda to take this away. Sprinkle in and around the shoes and let it absorb, before tapping it away. You’re good to go!
How Will This Help?
Save yourself money on chemicals designed to hide the smell and use something in your cupboard already.
13 of 40+
Remove Carpet Stains with Vodka
Most of us have some stashed away in the alcohol cupboard. Simply blot the stain first, then pour some vodka onto the stain and wipe away. It’s that easy!
How Will This Help?
It’ll allow you to dig deep into the stain with something you’ve already got in your cupboard. Quick, simple and cheaper than buying any products!
14 of 40+
Use Rubber Gloves to Pick Up Pet Hair
You might be thinking ‘how on Earth…’, but science is here to save the day. If you have pet hair stuck in your carpet that the hoover can’t fetch, simply rub the rubber gloves across the carpet and the pet hair will stick to the glove. Simply rinse and repeat!
How Will This Help?
You’ll get the pet hair from dug into your carpet away in a quick and easy method, making your carpets look like new.
15 of 40+ – Fully Utilise Your Dishwasher
Your dishwasher has so much more value than just washing dishes, such as cleaning plastic (non-electrical) toys, makeup brushes, flip flops, plastic and metal garden tools and refrigerator shelves. If it can handle the heat and there’s no risk in it getting wet, then it should be good to go in!
How Will This Help?
Save yourself plenty of time from cleaning and scrubbing by letting the dishwasher do the hard work!
16 of 40+
Lemon Oil’s Degreasing Properties
Lemon oil has a secret up its sleeve… It can be used as a degreaser for your oven!
How Will This Help?
It’s a hard-working tool and gets to work on your stains as quickly as you start using it. It’s also relatively cheap to buy which saves you some money but also leaves your oven smelling nice and fresh. It’s a win-win-win!
17 of 40+
Baking Soda & Vinegar to Clean Your Bath
These two mixed together to make a great cleaning liquid for your bath. It’s relatively cheap and removes any pesky stains; all you have to do is mix two parts vinegar to one part baking soda and let it sit in the tub for about 5-10 minutes. Add some hot water, let it sit again and then let is rinse away. Rinse and voila!
How Will This Help?
It’s a cheap and effective way to get a shiny, new-looking tub without the labour of scrubbing. It’s quick and easy, and lets you crack on with other cleaning whilst it does its thing!
18 of 40+
Use a Detachable & Washable Mop
Scrubbing the floor isn’t the hardest bit, it’s the cleaning of the mop afterwards. After a while, the mop will get dirty and over time become less useful for your floor. Get a mop you can throw in the wash and you’ll always have a fresh clean mop ready to go!
How Will This Help?
You’ll have a nice clean mop that is easy to keep clean, making life easier for you.
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Undo Those Scratches on Your Plates
Scratches aren’t the be-all and end-all, especially when it comes to your plates. Over time they may not look great, so if you’ve got guests coming over and you want to impress simply mix water and baking soda to make a paste, then use this to buff out the scratches.
How Will This Help?
You’ll save money on having to go to the store and buy more plates if you need some, and you’ll also impress your guests with having nearly new looking plates every time!
20 of 40+
Dust With a Lint Roller
Use a lint roller on any fabric furniture that you have, such as sofas, chairs and more. It’ll stick to the dust and pull away any dirt that’s sat loosely, leaving the hoover to pick up the harder to grab bits.
How Will This Help?
If you’re in a rush this is a great way to dust any fabric furniture of your home. It also gets rid of the easy to get dust, saving your hoover from filling up too quickly.
21 of 40+
Use Vinegar in The Bathroom
Vinegar is a fantastic way to dig deep into streaks or watermarks, so it’s great to be used in the bathroom. Simply fill a bag with water and put the showerhead in, leaving it to soak up overnight. By the morning you’ll find that most grime will wipe away easily, and if you look with a microscope the germs will be gone too!
How Will This Help?
It’s a great way to keep your showerhead clean, but it also comes with hygienic improvements. It helps to kill off germs that could pose risk to your or your family, so by killing them off, you’ll be minimising the risk of becoming ill.
22 of 40+
Let Your Blender Do The Hard Work
Using a blender is a great way to get some delicious smoothies, but it can also be a bit of a chore to clean. Fortunately, the blender is well equipped with the tools to give itself a good clean. Simply put some hot water in and some soapy washing up liquid and let it spin away. It’ll just need a quick wipe and a rinse and it’ll be good to go!
How Will This Help?
Save yourself the job of washing and cleaning the blender, saving you effort when it comes to the washing up.
23 of 40+
Clean Your TV Screen The Right Way
There are all sorts of chemicals out there advertised as ‘screen cleaner’. When it comes to your TV, keep chemicals far away from the screen is always the best idea to ensure that it doesn’t cause any significant damage. Simply use a dry cloth and very gently wipe over the screen to wipe away dust or any debris, and use a slightly (we emphasise slightly!) damp cloth for any marks that may still be there.
How Will This Help?
You’ll keep your TV looking clean and tidy, whilst making sure that there’s no risk of damaging the screen. This can save you lots in the future, in both costs and headaches!
24 of 40+
Don’t Cram Your Dishwasher Full!
If you fully fill the dishwasher and squeeze that last plate or glass in, you could risk preventing the dishwasher from properly doing its job. Keep it filled up how it should be and if you have the odd glass you need cleaning, either scrub it yourself or wait till the next round.
How Will This Help?
Your dishwasher is only designed to cope with so much to clean, and if it gets too much then it’ll end up spreading dirt and grime around all of your plates. Avoid the headache of having to put through another cycle by preventing it from being overfilled.
25 of 40+
Use Blu Tack For Those Small Cracks
Blu Tack is a fantastic way of digging deep into those small little cracks to get the dust-out. It’s sticky, but not too sticky that it’ll leave any mess and makes for a smudge and chemical-free clean!
How Will This Help?
You’ll find yourself easily getting into those smaller cracks and removing any mess that’s left behind with minimal effort, saving plenty of time when it comes to a deep clean.
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…And Use Blu Tack on Your Keyboard
Blu Tack gets its way in everywhere, which makes it the perfect tool to use to give your keyboard a good clean. If you’ve ever looked between the keys you’ll see dead skin, hairs, dust and more in there. Blu Tack helps take care of that!
How Will This Help?
Blu Tack is a sticky material which gets deep into wherever its set. It’s a fantastic tool to prise into places where the bristles on a brush may not reach!
27 of 40+
Use Lemon and Salt to Clean Your Chopping Board
Lemon and salt work well together, giving an acidic, strong and fragrant clean to your keyboard. You’ll simply need to pour salt all over the chopping board (once you’ve wiped it clean and it’s dry of course!) and use half a lemon to wipe over the chopping board. This will dig deep and kill any nestled bacteria without the need for any chemicals!
How Will This Help?
You’ll save yourself some money and time on buying fancy chemical cleaners, and still achieve the same results.
28 of 40+
Hairdryer-away Those Water Marks
Using a hairdryer on any water stains on your table, you’ll heat up the wood and help to bring it back to life. Simply use some olive oil after it’s heated up and it’ll bring it back to its former glory!
How Will This Help?
You’ll be able to get your furniture looking like new again without the need to spend money or make much effort!
29 of 40+
Clean All Sides of Your Grater
It’s always been a mystery of how to clean all sides of your grater, especially as some of them are so fine and difficult to get into. Use a raw potato to get rid of any left behind bits of cheese!
How Will This Help?
Potatoes have little to no fragrance, leave little mess and are full of water. Grate them on the sides of your grater that you need to clean and they’ll pull up most of the cheese that’s stuck there. Simply rinse it away and you’ll have a nice, clean grater!
30 of 40+
Use Foil to Clean Glass Baking Dishes
Cleaning glass baking dishes can feel like a chore and you may find that over time there are a lot of stains and marks that won’t go. Use a ball of foil to dig deep and pull away from the marks with ease!
How Will This Help?
Keep your baking dishes looking like new with this simple and cheap cleaning tactic!
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Blu Tack vs Spilled Glitter
Glitter can be a real burden and can get everywhere. Hoover’s can get the most part up, but it won’t get everything up, unfortunately, which is where some handy Blu Tack comes in.
How Will This Help?
A cheap and easy way to prevent finding glitter appear on your clothes and around your house for the next 6 months, whilst keeping your young ones happy!
32 of 40+
Toothpaste on Your trainers
Toothpaste is a fantastic way of cleaning your shoes, especially trainers. Simply use a small amount of toothpaste on a scrubbing cloth and rub away at any faded white rubber parts to bring them back to life!
How Will This Help?
Save yourself the cost of cleaning products and the time you’d have spent scrubbing them, and get them looking like new in a jiffy.
33 of 40+
Use Shampoo to Clean Your Hairbrush
Shampoo is a product designed to clean hair and remove any grease that may be lurking in there, which works well when cleaning a hairbrush. It cleans the hairbrush from any dead skin or dirt that’s found its way into the bottom of the brush.
How Will This Help?
It gets rid of anything that would hold the hair in place and allows for it to be easily removed.
34 of 40+
Shoe Polish Can Save Leather Furniture
If you have some old leather furniture that has some scratches, use a small amount of shoe polish to work wonders and get it looking like new. Be careful not to use too much polish and make sure you match the colour of the polish to the furniture!
How Will This Help?
You’ll be able to get your furniture looking like new again, without any hassle.
35 of 40+
Broken Glass Can be Picked Up With Bread
Bread has a spongy characteristic which makes it perfect to pick up any tiny shards of broken glass. Once the big bits are up and out of the way, use a slice of bread and be careful with your fingers to press on where the glass was smashed, allowing you to pick up the tiny bits of glass still remaining.
How Will This Help?
You’ll keep your home safe from any nasty little bits of glass that could have got caught in someone’s finger or worse, in food. It also saves having to throw away a perfectly good sponge too, so you’ll be keeping costs to a minimum (apart from a new glass!).
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Canned Air Helps Dust the Hard to Reach Places
If you have a small area that keeps filing with dust and you can’t quite get to it with Blu Tack, or it’s something fragile, then a can of air could do the trick. It’s highly pressured to release a jet of air through the direct nozzle, allowing you to aim it where you need to.
How Will This Help?
You’ll be able to blast away any dust that’s slowly filling up. A great place for this is your computer fan, as the more dust, it collects the slower it spins, which could mean your computer overheats one day.
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Get Your Silvers Shining
We’ve praised baking soda so many times already, but another great use is to get your silverware looking sharp again. Simply wash the silverware, line your sink with foil and fill it with boiling water and add baking soda in the ratio 16 parts water to 1 part baking soda. Make sure it is definitely silver to avoid any damages!
How Will This Help?
You’ll get your finest cutlery looking like brand new again.
38 of 40+
Dustpan and Brush for Small Toys Around the House
Small toys find themselves everywhere, but there’s a really quick and easy way to pick them all up. Simply use a dustpan and brush to scoop them up and put them back into the toy box!
How Will This Help?
You’ll be able to clean the house and get the toys back to where they belong much quicker than you may have been able to before.
39 of 40+
Invest in a Handheld Hoover
Handheld hoovers typically cost more than a standard hoover, but they give you the freedom to easily go over a room or the stairs if you ever need to.
How Will This Help?
You’ll save so much time when hoovering, you’ll be done in half the time!
40 of 40+
Invest in Microfibre Cloths
They’re a little more expensive than a standard cloth, but they’re fantastic at what they do. With a little bit of water, they’re capable of diving deep into your home and pulling away any dirt and/or dust.
How Will This Help?
Make dusting easier for your home with these cloths and save yourself so much time. Simply wipe over the area once and you’re good to go!
Why 40+?
You may have spotted the little ‘+’ throughout. That’s because although 40 tips are great, we know that it’s important to save money. We’ve scoured the web and taken some examples from the above to find the best ways for you to save money. See our top 5 money savers below!
All-Purpose Cleaner
Simply mix a quarter of a cup of white vinegar, a tablespoon of baking soda and a litre of hot water for a cheap but great all-purpose cleaner. Put about half a lemon (the more lemon you put in the more fragrant it’ll be) in as well to give yourself a fresh and fragrant home.
Glass Cleaner
Mix together half a cup of rubbing alcohol, a third of a cup of white vinegar, some water and some essential oils. Give them a shake and use in a spray bottle for a cheap and effective glass cleaner, leaving your windows and mirrors streak-free!
Brushes for Cleaning
Cleaning brushes can come in all shapes and sizes, and for this reason, they can also come at all prices. There are a few brushes you can recycle at home to achieve the same goal, simply save any old paintbrushes and give them a good rinse, along with old toothbrushes.
Toothbrushes are fantastic for getting deep into any grime in your bathroom or kitchen and paintbrushes are great for any stubborn dust that doesn’t want to move, helping to get it moving in no time.
Sponges
Save yourself any money that you would normally have spent on buying new sponges and simply microwave the old ones. Kill off your bacteria and reduce the number of sponges you buy, keeping money firmly in your wallet or purse.
Coffee Rings on Wooden Furniture
Mixing together white, non-gel toothpaste with baking soda (in a 1:1 ratio) will give you a great paste to get those rings to disappear. Simply wet a cloth, add the toothpaste mixture and rub over the coffee circle. Use a dry cloth to wipe away the excess and polish, and see the magic happen!
Our Top 3 Things to Have
There are a number of different tools that are incredibly useful when it comes to cleaning. Our top three are:
Lemon Juice
Lemon juice is naturally acidic, which makes it a disinfectant as well as a great cleaning tool. Lemon juice is also proven to have antibacterial qualities. Not only does it keep your home clean, but you can also be sure that any food preparation services are safe too. Some interesting facts are:
- The highly acidic characteristics of lemon make it great for cleaning but pose little risk to your furniture
- Lemons are a hybrid between a citron and a sour orange
- Lemons are naturally antiseptic and antibacterial, which makes them great to use around the home. (Source)
Baking Soda
Baking soda comes infinitely useful in the world of cleaning. You’ll have noticed that there are plenty of different methods of cleaning that involve baking soda so it’s a handy one to keep hold of. See some facts below:
- Its scientific name is Sodium Bicarbonate
- It typically consists of 1.2% hydrogen, 57.1% sodium, 14.3% carbon and 27.4% oxygen. (Source)
Salt
Salt is a naturally occurring chemical that contains comes in useful all around the world for various things. It’s naturally hard state makes it great for scrubbing, but it also contains antibacterial properties which make it great for killing off bacteria as well. Check out some interesting facts below!
- Salt wasn’t always as easily obtainable, and it was sometimes used to pay soldiers in ancient Rome. The word ‘salary’ derives from the Latin word for ‘sal’, which means salt.
- It comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, the most common being table salt, or Sodium Chloride
- Salt is often used to preserve food, keeping it from going spoiled for longer. Similar characteristics can be found when cleaning with salt! (Source)
We hope you’ve found the above useful, now go and save some money whilst getting a nice clean house in half the usual time!
