I'm bored and I was reading something about how some beautiful things would be a nightmare to clean. Well, now I'm bored and I like cleaning, so I want to hear what you guys do to make cleaning easier.
Rules: (Yes I'm A stickler about rules :>)
1. No politics! Why would there be politics in this?
2. No drug dealing or inappropriate stuff. I've had people send dong pics and sell drugs in previous posts. Don't.
3. If you learned a tip from somewhere else, please credit the person. Just for respect.
4. This is about cleaning things and tips to make it easier. Please don't post things that make no sense... Unless you are saying that you do not understand how it works, but it does.
Got any Tips? If I'm being honest I doubt many people will participate in this.
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Borax is a insecticide for all types of bugs. People used to wash their windows with water and Borax to keep the flies away.
Vinegar to wash the floors, walls and mirrors. Doesn't leave a residue and, yes, the smell dissipates.
Wash your walls. They do get grimy, dusty and dirty. If you've cleaned your house and it still smells of dust and stuffy, it's your walls. Plus, once their clean they'll look as good and new as a fresh coat of paint. I like to put a rag on a Swiffer Sweeper to mop the walls. It can cut down the amount of time it takes.
Clean inside your cupboards. Trust me. They get dusty and ... well, use gloves and be prepared for surprises.
You don't need dryer sheets. Instead, dry your clothes on delicates or lower heat. They won't get wrinkled and shouldn't get staticky. I've had less static since I stopped using dryer sheets years ago.
You don't need to use that much laundry soap. Seriously. You're clothes don't need to be smelling of "moonlight breeze" or "springtime morning", and if they do have a scent then a chemical has been left on the fabric that may cause irritations and damage on the materials. Plus, those scent beads can build up in the washer.
Add a bit of baking soda into the drum of your washer and add some vinegar in the bleach dispenser. Add an extra rinse to ensure the fabric is thoroughly cleaned.
Keep your cleaning supplies in a caddy so you can easily carry it around to each room without having to go back and forth.
All those blankets you don't use often, store them in those vacuumed sealed bags. They really do cut down on the amount of space they normally take up.
Dust the tops if your door frames, both outside the closets and inside. The inside doorframes of closets has got to be the most neglected areas of the house.
Vacuum inside your dresser. I mean, take out the drawers and give it a good hoovering. You won't believe what you might find, good, bad and the ugly. Just don't think about the ugly too much.
Clean the inside of your toilet tank and then the inside of the bowl.
Washing porcelain dolls is tricky but necessary. I've discovered to clean their hair just rinsing it in water does the trick. It's not real so it doesn't get oily. Just dusty. The hair dried nicely and stayed intact to the original style.
MANY Tips:
1. If you have an unidentified stain, use a neutral pH all-purpose cleaner. Using solutions that are acidic or basic can cause some stains to set.
2. Extractors are amazing! If you have a spill, use an extractor and put hot water and solution into the device. If you want to clean your couch or mattress that isn't machine washable, this works amazingly.
3. You'd be surprised at how much soap can clean! For normal messes, just use soap (Dawn Powerwash is my recommendation, just use wet rags and continue to wipe until there are no bubbles, and then use a rag to dry it off) and water. There often is no need for excessive cleaners.
4. The best way to get rid of rust is by using vinegar and soaking it, but you can also use baking soda and water to make a paste and leave it on for an hour. You can also use equal parts of toothpaste and baking soda to get rid of rust too. A tablespoon will be enough for small areas of rust. But acids are best.
5. Limescale, hard water, and rust are best removed with acids. Use vinegar (Acetic Acid, about 5% is the thing we use for stuff every day) or toilet bowl cleaner (This is actually acidic) to get rid of that.
6. For ovens and food residue, use basic compounds such as oven cleaners. Oven Cleaner has a pH of 12, making it more effective at getting rid of grease and ashes than soap (Which has a pH of 8).
In case you are wondering, I watch a lot of cleaning videos on Youtube (Those Cleantok + Car Detailing + extreme house cleaning). If you want to know how I learned more about how stains are set if they are cleaned with the wrong pH, watch The Detail Geek on Youtube. If you want to know a lot more professional cleaning tips, watch Aurikatarina (I think that is how it is spelled) on Youtube. If you want more unique cleaning things, just go onto Cleantok or look up youtube videos of Cleantok.
I love cleaning.
You're going to think I'm creepy for this but I'm AFAB. Hydrogen peroxide gets blood stains out of white fabric really well.
Also febreze was originally unscented but people didn't believe it worked so then they added those horrible scents >:(
Some people aren’t on the ball with their laundry and end up forgetting to move finished wash to the dryer. (Me!!) If left too long the wet laundry will stink! I found if I poured a bunch of vinegar in and a whole lot of baking soda with the detergent and ran it through the wash again it smelled just fine. Hate to admit it but I buy a lot of baking soda and vinegar.
I rarely need it, but I found just putting the clothes through a rinse cycle again can work, without need for any more detergent. I would only have left them overnight or something though, and it makes sense if left for longer they might need more. Vinegar and bi carb certainly are the cleaning equivalent of a wonder drug though!
For as long as I can remember, my husband has had an affinity for buying white nikes. He was also a bit lazy when it came to cleaning them and had a horrible habit of just going out and buying another pair whenever they started to look "dirty." So - to save money - I became really adept at cleaning them to the point of looking brand new. Anyhow, here's what I found to work the best over the years:
1. Magic eraser sponges work like a dream on non-porous athletic / casual shoes... especially on the sides of white-soled shoes (which tend to get so dirty that they often still appear stained after cleaning with other methods). Seriously, 99% of everything comes right off!
2. A color-matched scuff cover (which is maybe all of $5 for a bottle that lasts forever) works great to freshen up the areas that are heavily worn or stained beyond hope. It also works great to brighten up stitching that has become dingey. If there happens to be an area near another color that could use a touch up (or a crevice that's hard to reach with the application sponge attached to the bottle), I just use a small craft-style paint brush for application to the area.
3. Laces can often be brightened via a good soak in highly concentrated oxiclean (usually for the time it takes to clean the shoes, but sometimes I leave them for an hour or so if heavily soiled), then rinse, hand scrub / agitate with dawn dish soap (just add a small drop to rinsed laces and vigorously rub the whole wad of them between your hands for a minute or so), and rinse again.
Works every time. Now he only buys new ones when they start looking very worn or falling apart 😆
