We sure do love owning a house and decorating it exactly like how we had imagined it in our dreams. But when it comes to taking care of our homes, how many of us take the backseat and run in reverse gear?
We give all sorts of excuses to not be the one dusting the corners of our homes. While some of us are lazy to clean our homes, there are a few genuine souls who really can’t make enough time off their busy schedules to pick up the broom.
What if cleaning was easy? What if it was fun? No! We aren’t talking about buying the latest vacuum cleaner from the market shelves or splurging on a sophisticated cleaning device that might burn a hole in your pocket.
We’re talking about some easy-peasy tricks that are foolproof and affordable.
These will help you tidy up your homes in a jiffy. We scoured the cyberspace and found these extremely easy tips to help you clean up your dream homes with the things that are easily available in all households (budget-friendly hacks you see). Read on and thank us later.
1. Dryer Sheets
If you think dryer sheets were meant for laundry usage only, think again! You can use them to buff off those water spots or wipe your dashboard clean. You could also use it to clean pans that have food stuck on them. Place a polyester dryer sheet inside the pan and fill it with hot water, and leave it overnight. The silicone coating of the dryer will soften the food. The next morning, you could just wipe off the food with the same dryer sheet.
2. Vinegar (Acetic Acid)
This can be considered as a gold liquid. It not only helps in storing those grandma-made pickles but can also do wonders if used as a cleaning agent. From cleaning your fruits and veggies to cleaning your toilet, it can clean ‘em all. Make a concoction of vinegar and water in the ratio of 1:3 in a spray bottle. Spray this on the fruits and vegetables to clear them off from all the chemicals or pour it along the edges of the toilet bowl and let it sit for a couple of hours. It kills all the bacteria. The best part is, it is also a soap-free cleaning solution.
3. Lemons
Lemon with some kosher salt is ideal to clean and sanitize the chopping boards. A stinky garbage bag at home is pretty embarrassing. Make lemon ice cubes and use them to keep your disposal smelling fresh.
4. Baking Soda
These are easily available in all households and trust us, it can be used to keep all those stubborn stains in the kitchen at bay. Mix baking soda with water to get a fine paste. Coat your stained oven with an even layer of this mixture and let it sit overnight. Take a damp cloth and wipe off those ziddi stains the next day. You can try this on your stove top as well.
5. Salt
We know it makes food taste like how it’s supposed to, but it can do wonders when used for cleaning as well. An Iron box is a part of every woman’s arsenal, but what do we do when the iron has scorch stains? Just sprinkle some table salt on a piece of paper. Run your hot iron over it and wipe it clean with a damp cloth once the iron cools down.
Similarly, you can clean your cast iron pans with kosher salt. Just dump in some kosher salt in the pan and scrub all the way. All the stubborn residues and dirt will stick to the salt. Wash it off with some water. So, the next time you’ve made lasagna at home, you know how to clean the pan.
6. Grapefruit
You could go all fruity and zesty with cleaning too. Cleaning a bathtub is a pain. And we are scared to resort to chemical products whose names we can’t even pronounce. So, let’s go natural with cleaning our bathtubs. Squeeze some grapefruit juice in your bathtub, then sprinkle some salt over it and scrub it with the grapefruit itself. You will find that all the dirt has vanished. After you have taken a good look at the sparkly clean bathtub, run some lukewarm water to get rid of the salt and the residual juices.
7. Magic Eraser
Yep! It works like magic while cleaning. Be it the coffee or tea stains, the stained Tupperware, or the greasy pans, the stains on your smartphone, or even those blood stains on the wall from the mosquito you squashed the other day (yikes), this eraser will clean them all.
8. Vodka
No, we’re not drunk to say this. But this potent spirit can be used to clean and disinfect all sorts of things at home. It can be used to polish jewelry, cutlery, and all things porcelain. It can also be used as a room freshener; mix one part of vodka with three parts of water and spray in your hallway to get rid of any weird stinks. Time to clean away by saying, “Cheers! ”
We are sure these cleaning hacks came as a surprise to you. These were our discoveries; let us know if you have any innovative ideas like these in the comments below.
