Nightly Cleanup
Waking up to a toy-strewn living room is rarely going to give your day the positive start it needs. And with each passing day, the mess only grows more daunting. Becky Rapinchuk (Clean Mama), founder of CleanMama.net, sets a timer for 5-10 minutes before bedtime as her family races to collect as many toys as they can. “You’ll be surprised by how much you can get done in just a few minutes when a timer is involved,” she says.
Color Coding
To guarantee that the cleaning cloth used to clean the bathroom doesn’t end up on the kitchen counters, Danessa Itaya, vice president of Maid Right, suggests using a color-coded cleaning system. Keep red cloths reserved for the bathrooms, blue for the kitchen and green for bedrooms. This way, you’ll know for sure that you’re not transferring germs from one area of your house to another.
Cloudy Glasses
There’s nothing like a stained drinking glass to swiftly undermine your cleanly reputation. For hard-to-clean lipstick smears and coffee stains on glasses and mugs, Meg Roberts, president of Molly Maid, is a huge fan of vinegar. Just soak the glasses in warm soapy water and add half a cup of white vinegar, she says. If they’re extra tough to remove, soak them overnight and use a nylon net to remove the film.
Silverware Stains
They may be fresh out of the dishwasher but you wouldn’t know it, thanks to those unsightly water stains left on the silverware. An easy way to be free of them? Fill a cake pan with aluminum foil and then fill with water. Add 1 tbsp. of baking soda per 2 cups of water. Heat the pan to 150 degrees in the oven and then lay silverware in the pan so that it’s touching the aluminum foil and fully immersed in the water mixture. Check the silverware after five minutes and the stains should be gone, says Roberts.
Pots & Pans
To rid pots, pans and casserole dishes of burnt food stains, just pop open a can of Pepsi or Coca-Cola. According to Roberts, the combination of phosphoric acid and carbonation are a best-kept secret when looking for an easy alternative to scrubbing your cookware. Just pour in the soda, let sit overnight and wipe the stains off the next day.
Crayon Markings
Though the kids meant well by adding their artistic flair to the walls, crayon markings don’t have to be a permanent fixture in your home. To remove, add a squirt of non-gel toothpaste to a scrub brush, which will act as an abrasive that removes markers or crayons from walls or cabinets, says Roberts. Apply as much toothpaste as needed to fully cover the wall and gently wipe the crayon remnants away.
Designate Days
Rapinchuk has discovered that saving all of her cleaning for one day rarely makes her home as clean as she wants. Instead, she’ll allocate larger cleaning tasks to specific days (For example, Monday is bathroom day and Tuesday is dusting day). “This method keeps the house tidy most of the time and assures you that you won't waste a whole day cleaning,” she says.
Garbage Be Gone
To give your garbage disposal a proper cleaning (and a far more pleasant scent), let it grind up a few ice cubes. "The ice doesn't harm it and crunching it up will dislodge bits of grease and buildup," says Itaya. Follow with a lemon (cut into quarters), which will fully clean and deodorize the disposal.
Do Laundry Daily
To maintain a regular rotation of clean sheets, towels and clothes, Rapinchuk advises against waiting until the hamper is overflowing to start the washer. "Doing a load of laundry every day is my secret weapon to staying on top of that dreaded chore," she says. "I find that if I have baskets and baskets of laundry to fold and put away, it's just too overwhelming and it will most likely continue to sit unfolded."
Sparkling Toilets
While you have that can of Coca-Cola open, pour some in your toilet. Let it sit for 10 minutes and then use a toilet brush to scrub off the rust rings, which should easily wipe away thanks (once again) to the phosphoric acid, says Itaya.
