9 Housework Hacks for a Cleaner Home

Now that you’ve made a resolution to make 2016 a neat and tidy year, you could probably use a few tips to make that job a little easier. Having a clean home is nice but who wants to spend all their time keeping it that way. These housework hacks will take some of the chore out of tidying up.

• Use a pillowcase to clean ceiling fan blades. The dust will collect inside the pillow case instead of raining down on you.

• Heat a sponge in the microwave for 60 seconds to zap it clean. This will help disinfect the sponge and also clean the microwave. Be sure to use an oven mitt to remove the sponge from the microwave. It’s going to be very hot!

• Get gas range burner grates clean by placing them in a plastic bag with 1/4 cup of ammonia. Let the burners soak in the bag overnight. They’ll wipe clean with little effort the next morning.

• Use a dryer sheet to pick up pet hair from upholstered furniture. And while you have that pack of dryer sheets in your hand, drop one in the bottom of the garbage can to keep it smelling fresh.

• For a little extra sparkle and to prevent future fingerprints on stainless steel appliances, use a little baby oil. Simply squeeze a small amount of baby oil onto a cloth and apply to the stainless steel surface.

• Clean toys (and just about anything else) in the dishwasher. See this Kenmore Community post for more information.

• Use a lemon to freshen the garbage disposal. Cut a lemon into small pieces, drop in the disposal and hit the switch. Goodbye icky smell. Hello lemon freshness.

• Place a sock on the end of a vacuum cleaner hose to pick up small items without sucking them into the vacuum. You can also use this method to dust furniture without fear of scratching it.

• Clean the inside of your dishwasher by emptying a packet of lemonade Kool-Aid into the detergent compartment and then running the dishwasher through a normal cycle. (Make sure you do this with an EMPTY dishwasher.) The citric acid in the mix wipes out stains and lime deposits. (Via Real Simple)

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