Cleaning hacks to make your home shinier

By Rania Dawud

It feels like no matter how many chores you’ve done around the house, there is always more work to be done. Seriously! There is never a shortage of spots, stains or dust bunnies to be cleaned. 

Luckily, simple household ingredients can be extremely helpful with getting our houses spick and span and they work by removing stains and freshening up certain parts of our homes. 

If you’re finding it hard to clean something in particular, don’t sweep it under the rug! We’re here to help you make cleaning your house easier with these tips. 

Lemon or vinegar remove stains from faucets

Rubbing either vinegar or lemon is a great way to remove stains (including scale) on metal objects like faucets, pots, showerheads or oven wire racks. 

Clean the inside of the microwave 

Pour some water and squeeze nearly half a lemon into a small bowl and put it in the microwave for a couple of minutes. The steam from the water/lemon would then make it easier to wipe down the inside of the microwave, and the lemon helps freshen up the inside as well! 

Tape helps pick up glitter

Since spilled glitter is just part of a household with crafty children, use the stickiness of tape to pick up residue glitter. If you don’t have tape, playdough works just as well. 

Let the blender clean itself

Instead of sticking your hand into the knives of the blender to wash it, pour some dish soap and water into the blender and turn it on for a few seconds. 

Clean out cutting board stains with lemon

If dish soap isn’t doing enough to remove stains from your cutting board, sprinkling salt and rubbing lemon on the board should do the trick.

Toothpaste helps remove silver tarnish

Applying toothpaste to silverware and rubbing it in with a rag or a toothbrush helps reduce the tarnishes. 

Wipe glass surfaces with old newspapers instead of a rag

Using a rag often leaves lint and streaks on surfaces. To avoid that, spray the usual glass cleaner on mirrors, glass tables or windows and wipe them clean with old newspapers instead and voila, no streaks anymore. 

Use a lint-roller on dusty surfaces

A feather duster is not always an effective tool for getting rid of dust, as it mostly seems to spread it around. Running a lint-roller is guaranteed to pick up the dust and get rid of it for good.  

Clean the inside of your dishwasher

After a lot of usage, it’s better to clean the inside of your dishwasher by pouring baking soda at the bottom, adding vinegar and running a cycle. However, you may need to run another cycle with detergent to get rid of the vinegar smell completely.