Children’s toys are a breeding ground for germs. A dishwasher makes quick work of disinfecting toys that are washable, like hard plastic building bricks. To quickly clean the bricks:
This method also works well for other treasures like seashells, dish brushes, rags and sponges.
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“Taking the garbage out is my least favourite chore because there are so many garbage cans around the house. To make the job a bit easier, I store a roll of garbage bags in each trashcan under the bag in use. This way I can quickly a set up another bag the next time I take the garbage out, and there’s no need to make another lap around the house placing bags in each can.” —Chuck Holzer
Psst—these traditional cleaning tricks don’t actually work.
Everyone knows how annoying it is when you can’t seem to find a dropped pill or the back of an earring. So how do you find these items quickly and easily? Use your vacuum. Here’s the trick: before you turn the vacuum on, cut off the end of a nylon and secure it on the end of your vacuum hose with a rubber band.
Are you making this expensive mistake with your vacuum?
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Every time you sweep, clumps of dust and hair collect at the ends of the broom’s bristles. To solve this problem, hot glue a wide-tooth comb to the top of a dustpan. Just run the bristles through the comb to remove any excess gunk dangling from the broom.
Don’t miss this advice on how to clean vinyl floors.
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The advantages of traditional oven cleaners are power and speed. But for many of us, the disadvantages outweigh the good, specifically, the corrosive chemicals and caustic fumes that this type of oven cleaning can produce. Well, how do you clean an oven then?
A simple, more natural way for cleaning your oven is to place an oven-safe pot or bowl filled with water inside. Set your oven to 450 degrees for 20 to 60 minutes to loosen dirt and grease with the steam. Once your oven is cool, wipe off the condensation and the grease will come with it. If stubborn spots persist, scrub with a paste of baking soda and lemon or vinegar.
This steam-cleaning option doesn’t take as long as pyrolytic cleaning and doesn’t produce smoke, either. It’s a win-win!
Check out these other clever uses for baking soda.
When my bathroom sink gets clogged, I don’t reach for chemicals as a bathroom sink cleaner. Instead, I use a long zip tie. I cut several notches on the zip-ties end. It’ll hook the hair clog, allowing you to pull it out. Problem solved. The size of the eye of the zip tie prevented me from inadvertently pushing the tie past the stopper. —Rick Holmen
Use this secret cleaner to tackle the problem of a clogged toilet.
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Dusting mini blinds is a pain. It’s difficult to thoroughly wipe both sides of the slats without bending them in the process. A pair of kitchen tongs makes it a lot easier. First, cut a rag into two small pieces. Then use twist ties or rubber bands to secure the rags around the tongs. You can close the tongs around each slat and wipe away the dust. —E. Regaldo
To avoid the high cost of air conditioning—and to be more environmentally-friendly—follow these cooling tips.
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In today’s high-tech homes, keeping track of small cords can be challenging. Rather than tossing them in various drawers throughout your house, where they can get tangled or forgotten, try this simple and inexpensive solution.
Next time you need one of your small cords, you’ll know where to find it, and it’ll be free of tangles!
These Marie Kondo organization tips will change your life in minutes.
You’ll always know where your keys are with this spring cleaning trick. To make building brick keychains:
You’ll be so excited to put the bricks on the board that you won’t lose your keys (hopefully) ever again!
These clever kitchen organizing ideas will save your sanity.
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The space between your fridge and the floor is a magnet for pet hair, dust, food crumbs and other small trinkets. And if gone too long without cleaning, it can attract ants and other pests. (Here are the pests that could be hiding in your attic right now.)
To make this spring cleaning tip less difficult, use a hair trap cleaner (also called a drain cleaning zip tool), which sells at home improvement stores for around $5. This hair trap won’t leave scratches on the floor and can reach further than a vacuum cleaner attachment.
Find out how to clean a greasy oven hood.
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Don’t throw away used dryer sheets. There’s another use for them. Wrap a couple of dryer sheets onto the flat head of a sweeper. The dryer sheets pick up dust and hair just as well as name-brand sweeper refills. Say goodbye to those dust bunnies!
Learn how you’re shortening the life of your washer and dryer.
To make this drill brush you’ll need a drill, a washer, a bolt, a long machine screw and a brush head replacement.
To clean, fill a bowl or bucket with hot water and dish soap (or the cleaning agent of your choice). Dip the power scrubber into the mixture just enough to saturate the bristles and do not submerge the drill! Now simple point and press the drill to start and let the drill brush do the work.
Find out how often you should clean your bathtub.
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If you own a hummingbird feeder or tall flower vase, you know how difficult it is to clean inside them. A toothbrush is perfect for cleaning those hard-to-reach places. So, when your old toothbrush has retired from duty in your mouth, give it a new job!
Here are more things you should clean with a toothbrush.
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I’m all for dry-erase message boards for assigning chores to my kids, but they’re usually pretty unattractive. So I make message boards using nice picture frames. To make these message boards, grab a picture frame and some paper. Cut the paper to fit the frame and set it in behind the glass. The glass makes an excellent dry erase surface! —Jessie Dawson
You’ll wish you knew these home improvement hacks sooner.
Sometimes you need a little bit of creativity to deep clean hard-to-reach areas. If you have a plastic squeeze top bottle, try fitting the tip onto your vacuum nozzle. If it fits, great, if not, there’s always tape. You’ll have a powerful machine to get rid of dirt and dust in even the tiniest of spaces, like a keyboard, headphone port or for detailing your car.
These are the things that should never be cleaned with a vacuum.
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Everyone who has ever swept the floor with a standard broom and dustpan knows about that annoying line of dust. It’s the line that just won’t disappear no matter how many times you try and sweep it up. To get rid of this annoying line, simply tape the front of the dustpan to the floor with blue painters tape, so no residue will be left on the floor. It will seal and cover the gap between the floor and your pan.
This handy hint also works great for sweeping up dangerous items like glass. The dustpan and tape combo will ensure that all of those little glass shards will be in the pan and not on the floor.
These quick spring cleaning tasks will take you less than a minute!
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Don’t worry—that permanent marker stain on your laminate countertop need not be permanent! Dab some cooking oil onto a paper towel and then lay the paper towel over the stain that refuses to budge. Wait a few minutes while the oil works to dissolve the stubborn stain. Finally, remove the towel and rub away the stain in circular motions (with some force) with another paper towel dipped in oil. When the stain is gone, wipe the area clean with soap and water.
Got some non-stick cooking spray handy? These clever uses for cooking spray can save you time, money and effort!
Got stubborn coffee stains on a pot, vacuum flask or mug? Denture cleaner is the best solution we’ve ever found for these tough stains.
How to remove coffee stains from a mug or thermos:
Discover the best way to clean any water bottle.
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Hanging a dish towel from an oven or dishwasher door makes sense. The towel is in a convenient location, and the oven’s warmth quickly gets rid of dampness. However, the one drawback with hanging your towels here is that they are constantly falling off!
Here’s a way to keep the towel from slipping off:
No more towels on the floor!
Don’t miss these forgotten cleaning tips from the past!
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Have you ever cooked something and totally scorched the pan? The burnt remnants seem impossible to clean. Dryer sheets and dish soap to the rescue!
To make it easier to wipe away the burnt-on grime, follow these simple steps:
Note: Once you’re done cleaning with the dryer sheet, use soap and water to wash the pan as usual.
Psst—here’s why you shouldn’t wash dishes by hand.
Wonder how to get rid of annoying flies around your home?
Note: The better the bait, the more effective these fly traps will be. Any type of decomposing fruit or vegetable will work, too. Try different ingredients to see what’s most effective in your house. Because you are using rotting food to attract and trap the flies, make sure to place the homemade fly trap in a place where the smell won’t bother you or the neighbours.
Find out how to get rid of disgusting house bugs.
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Borax, or sodium borate, is a naturally occurring substance and is an ingredient in many household cleaning products. If you have a smelly garbage can, deodorize it with equal parts borax and water. For our small garbage can, we used 1/2-cup of water and 1/2-cup of borax. Let it soak and then rinse it out. Sprinkle some borax in the bottom once it’s dry, to keep bugs away and to absorb any future odour-causing moisture.
Here are more brilliant uses for Borax.
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If streaky mirrors and glass tug on your nerves, we’ll show you how to get a streak-free glass with a couple of items already lying around your home. To get started, you’ll need a window cleaner and newspaper. Spray window cleaner on your dirty glass and then scrub in a circular motion, using the newspaper. Switch to a vertical, and then a horizontal stroke until all the liquid has dissipated and you’re left with shiny, streak-free windows!
Note: for vinyl windows, we’ve found that the newsprint leaves a mark on the white frame. Avoid rubbing the window frame with newspaper and stick to the glass.
Here are the things you should never clean with vinegar.
All you need is an old toothbrush and a little toothpaste to learn how to clean sneakers and get your old sneakers looking like new! Non-gel white toothpaste works great for cleaning white-soled sneakers (coloured toothpaste may stain rather than clean sneakers). Apply toothpaste to an old toothbrush and then work the paste into the dirty spots. Leave the toothpaste on the shoes for about ten minutes, and then wipe it off with a damp towel. Repeat the process if necessary.
Important: The ingredients in toothpaste may vary from brand to brand, so make sure to try this method on a small unnoticeable spot on your sneakers before applying it to the rest of the shoe.
Here are more amazing ways to clean your white sneakers!
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I modified my kitchen soap dispenser inlay by adding plastic tubing into a gallon of soap that rests beneath my sink. To make this clever contraption, start by attaching plastic tubing that is slightly bigger than the diameter of your soap dispenser head. Next, thread the plastic tubing through the soap dispenser inlay into a gallon of soap. This clever kitchen hack ensures that my soap supply lasts well over a year so I hardly ever have to change it out. —Steve DiLuigi
Here’s how to clean a smelly kitchen sponge.
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When gum freezes, it gets brittle and easily breaks apart. So, if you have gum stuck in your carpet, freeze it to remove it quickly and neatly.
Do yourself a favour and try these clever uses for ice cubes.
If you are all about ease and convenience when it comes to washing the dishes, check out this DIY Mason jar dish scrubber. It even has a soap-dispensing handle. First, punch a few nail holes in the jar’s lid. Trace the lid onto a sponge and cut it out. Hot glue the sponge to the inner rim of the screw-on part of the lid. Fill the jar with soap, screw on the sponge and you’re set!
Prefer not to wash dishes by hand? Here’s the one ingredient you should always add to your dishwasher.
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Prevent your bathroom mirror from fogging up after a hot shower with car wax. Apply a small amount of car wax to the mirror, let it dry, then buff with a soft, dry cloth.
Then, try these other genius uses for car wax all around the house.
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It can be difficult to keep spray bottles and other cleaning supplies from falling over and making a mess under your kitchen sink. To keep your cleaning supplies upright, hang them from a short tension rod inside your cabinet. Another clever idea is to slide a paper towel roll through the tension rod for easy access and is also a great place to hang dish-drying towels and rubber cleaning gloves.
Forget wiping baby bums! Here are the extraordinary uses for baby wipes you never thought to try.
If you own stainless steel kitchen appliances, you may want to consider using car wax to clean them rather than a surface cleaner. Simply apply a light coat of car wax to the appliance, allow time to dry and buff clean to resist fingerprints and smudges. No more kiddy fingerprints on the fridge!
Don’t miss these easy tips for cleaning your microwave, stovetop and oven.
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Furniture gets beat up over time, but you don’t have to live with the unsightly scratches. In fact, you can remove years of damage with a simple snack food: walnuts.
Simply rub a walnut over a scratch in wood several times. Then, with your fingers rub the scratched area. This will help the wood absorb the oil from the nut. Lastly, use a soft cloth to buff the area. Now the scratch is sealed and gone! This handy hint works on light scratches and not deep gouges in wood.
Here’s expert advice on how to repair scratched car paint.
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Use this handy hint if there’s a funky smell lurking in your couch or upholstered chair: Sprinkle a generous amount of regular baking soda onto the fabric and let it sit for at least 20 minutes. The baking soda will help to release odours and break up some light stains in the fabric.
After about 20 minutes, remove the baking soda—and the funky smell—with a handheld vacuum or a hose attachment for your large vacuum.
Find out how to get rid of that musty smell in your basement.
I used to think dropping a loaded paintbrush on the carpet meant replacing the carpet until a former foreman told me this little spring cleaning tip. Pour some denatured alcohol onto a rag and scrub away the paint. Use a rag that is as close in colour to the carpet, as the alcohol can transfer some of the rag’s colour to the carpet. –Tom Gerdowsky
Here’s how to make your own DIY cleaning products for every room in the house.
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Have your walls been redecorated with some original crayon masterpieces? Don’t lose your cool. Just grab a rag, dip it in some baking soda and lightly scrub the marks. They will come off with a minimal amount of effort and give your young Picasso a fresh, new canvas.
Here are more brilliant baking soda hacks.
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Fabric lampshades are magnets for dust and pet hair. You can’t just throw them in the washing machine, so what do you do? I’ve found that a lint roller works really well. Be careful though, as lampshades are fragile and can even become brittle. A torn lampshade is worse than a dirty one.
Here are more things you can clean with a lint roller!
My kitchen drawers used to be an absolute wreck; pans and dishes crammed in however they’d fit. And nearly every time I needed something, it was always at the bottom of the drawer. My solution was to cut a piece of 1/8-inch pegboard to the size of the drawer bottom and attach dowels using screws from underneath. Now my pans are organized and easy to access. The 10 minutes it took to build was easily made up for with how much frustration it has saved me. — David Taylor
Beware of these common kitchen items that are secretly toxic.
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No need for a special tool to give your window blinds a deep cleaning, just slip a soft (and clean!) sock onto your hand. Your hand is the perfect tool for wiping over, through and under the blinds to get every nook and cranny that collects dust. Spray a bit of all-purpose cleaner onto the sock for added disinfecting umph.
Find out more mistakes everyone makes when cleaning with bleach.
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Being a self-confessed klutz, I’ve needed to learn how to treat clothing stains. For a grease stain, I turn to white chalk. Just rub the chalk on the stain and the chalk powder absorbs and lifts out the grease, so it’ll come out in the wash. –Jean Reeves
Here are more helpful hints on how to remove sweat stains.
Ditch the time-consuming iron or handheld steamer to get wrinkles out of a shirt or slacks. Throw a few ice cubes or a wet washcloth in the dryer with your wrinkled clothes. As the ice melts and the water turns to steam, it will remove the wrinkles. This trick isn’t as effective with heavier clothing but is a miracle for lighter fabrics. The best part is that you don’t have to set the dryer for longer than 10 minutes for it to work.
Here are more dryer hacks that will save you time, money and effort.
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Who hasn’t accidentally written on a white board with a permanent marker? Luckily, it’s easier to remove than you think. Simply draw over your permanent marker artwork with a dry erase marker, and then wipe the marks away with an eraser or dry cloth. Your dry erase board will be good as new!
Got a chalk marker handy? Try this clever hack and you’ll never miss another oil change.
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To make it easier to clean hard-to-reach spots, use a leftover wrapping paper tube as a vacuum cleaner extension. (While you’re at it, take a peek at these clever new uses for wrapping paper.)
All you have to do is attach the detail accessory that comes with a vacuum cleaner to the end of the hose extension. Next, fasten the wrapping paper tube over this attachment. And for more suction, you can tape it to the end to the hose. You can also fold the other end of the tube for an “edge” like a hose.
Check out the 40 brilliant home organizing hacks you’ll wish you knew sooner.
When a trash bag fits tightly around the rim of the trashcan, it forms a seal. This leaves a new bag bubbled up and hard to fill, and makes a full bag hard to remove. A few 1/4-inch holes drilled into my plastic trashcans makes solves both problems. –Jim Manning
Check out these money-saving ways to repurpose common household items.
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“Furnace filters are often hard to get hold of. Before installing them, I make a ‘grip tab’ on the corner to make them easy to pull out and replace.” —Bill Williams
Don’t miss these clever new uses for aluminum foil.
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“In a pinch, a vacuum cleaner bag is actually reusable. The bottom end of the bag is usually folded over a few times and glued shut. To reuse a bag, unroll its end, being careful not to tear it, and then empty the contents into the trash. Refold the end and staple it back together. This hint definitely deserves a cheapskate award, but it works when you need it to.” —Travis Larson
Check out these tricks to make stuff last longer.
Want to make any rug feel extra plush and luxurious? Add a layer of carpet padding underneath your rug—it’s thicker and cheaper than a typical rug pad. The next time you wash that pile of dishes in the sink, your feet will thank you.
Next, check out our handy spring cleaning checklist to make sure you’ve got every spot covered.