Professional house cleaners know that daily maintenance goes a long way in keeping their clients’ homes clean. You can get twice as much use out of them by cutting sponges, dryer sheets, magic erasers, and more into smaller pieces.
Cleaning products can be expensive, but you may find that pantry staples like baking soda and vinegar work just as well — for less. Try these ingenious DIY cleaning hacks to keep your home and wallet happy.
Work from Top to Bottom
Keeping your home clean can be easy with the right schedule, products, and hacks. From homemade cleaning solutions to clever organization tricks, a cleaning business will save you time and money regarding household chores.
The best part is that many of these ideas are simple, affordable, and easy to implement. You might even be surprised at how much you can accomplish without buying expensive products or tools.
For example, you can use a rolled-up cloth and an old toothbrush instead of purchasing a high-dusting tool or disposable options. You can also repurpose items around the house, like socks and towels, for dusting or mopping. This reduces waste and can save you both money and the environment.
Empty Coffee Grounds into Your Garden or Compost
Coffee grounds can help boost soil nutrients by providing nitrogen. They are also known to repel slugs and snails. The ground’s abrasive texture and caffeine are believed to deter these pesky garden pests.
Many coffee shops are happy to give away their used coffee grounds for free. You can collect your own from home or look for local take-back programs to recycle these organic waste products.
You can add coffee grounds to a basic salt scrub to enhance its exfoliation effects. They can also absorb odors in refrigerators, gym bags, or smelly shoes. They can even be sprinkled around plant containers to eliminate caked-on mud. Instead of pouring coffee grounds down the drain, use them to sanitize gardening tools and clean outdoor furniture. This can prevent clogged pipes.
Clean Your Bath with Grapefruit
If you have hard water stains or soap scum in your tub, skip the harsh chemicals and use grapefruit instead. The citrus fruit is a natural antibacterial, degreaser, and stain remover that smells great.
Sprinkle salt onto a stained area and squeeze grapefruit juice on top. Leave for about an hour, then wipe away with a sponge. The mixture will kill mold, mildew, or bacteria and prevent it from reappearing.
Getting dust off your ceiling fans can be tedious, but this hack makes the task much faster and easier. Slip a pillowcase over each fan blade and rub the dust into the fabric. The pillowcase will catch the dust and can be easily washed or discarded.
Pour Baking Soda and Vinegar Down Your Drain
Many people use baking soda and vinegar as a natural way to clean their drains. But this cleaning hack may be ineffective and could even damage your pipes. The chemical reaction between the two ingredients creates carbon dioxide gas that can build up in your pipes and cause them to crack or break.
Instead, pour a pot of boiling water down your drain to loosen any grimy sludge, and then follow it with a half cup of baking soda. This will agitate the gunk and clogs, causing them to fizz and foam. Then flush the drain with another pot of hot water. This trick will keep your drains clog-free without the toxic chemicals in store-bought clog removers. You should do this drain cleaning maintenance weekly.
Use an Old Electric Toothbrush
Cleaning a home can be messy, time-consuming, and expensive. With the help of house cleaning services, it can make the process easier and less costly.
Instead of buying expensive, all-purpose cleaners often containing harsh chemicals, try whole-ingredient homemade solutions. A spritz of olive oil is great for buffing stainless steel and cleaning the base of sink fixtures. Alternatively, lemon juice and water are excellent for removing light to moderate oxidation from glass, while baking soda is great for clogged pipes.
Reusing old towels and cotton clothes as rags reduces the need to purchase disposable microfiber cloths and keeps waste out of landfills. Cutting sponges, dryer sheets, and magic erasers into smaller pieces also gets more use without wearing them down or wasting a whole one.
