46 Expert Household Cleaning Tips

Start With These Household Cleaning Tips:

1. My spray on general purpose cleaning and sanitizing solution.

I make my own general purpose, sanitizing cleaner. We use it everywhere. The only thing we don’t use it on is the showers and bathtubs.

Recipe: mix slightly less than 1 gallon of purified water, 1/2 pint of 70% rubbing alcohol, and a 1/4 teaspoon of Dawn dish washing detergent. Add a little more Dawn if needed. Fill a spray bottle with this cleaner.

2.  Put together a caddy of your most commonly used cleaning products.
You can easily carry your cleaning products around in a cleaning caddy.

This makes cleaning faster. Our caddies are mesh so that water can run through and not pool in the bottom of the caddy.

3.  I prefer cotton cloths to microfiber cloths.

4.  Plastic mesh scrub pads

Our company uses scrub pads that are covered with plastic mesh. The mesh won’t damage what you scrub it with, but it cleans really well. These scrub pads can be found on Amazon.

Kitchen Cleaning Tips

5.  To get an electric stovetop clean

• Remove any grates or drip pans / bowls.
• Prop up or, if possible, remove the burners.
• Most electrical stove tops lift up so that the area under the drip pans can be easily cleaned. Lift if possible.
• Scrub out the drip pans as best as you can. If you need to, drip pans are inexpensive to replace.
• Wipe off any debris on the stovetop.
• Using a very wet, soapy plastic mesh scrub pad, scrub down the stovetop. If it is really dirty let the stovetop soak for a while.
• Wipe the stovetop dry and then use our polish to make it shine.
• Pull the temperature knobs off the stove top, clean them and clean the area behind where they sit and then put the knobs back. The area behind the knobs is usually very dirty. You might as well get that area clean too.
   

6.  To get a gas stove top clean

Getting a gas stove top clean is similar to electric stoves except you remove the grates and spray those clean. The stove top does not lift up.
 

7.  Use Easy Off on burned on food and stains on your stovetop.

Stovetop stains can be remove by spraying them with Easy Off oven cleaner. Let the Easy Off sit for a while. Keep the Easy Off wet with spray cleaner or add more Easy Off. Wipe clean the Easy Off and if needed, scrub the stain with a scrubber sponge. Repeat this process if needed.
  

8.  Making the dishwasher get dishes really clean.

Throw in 1/2 cup of bleach before starting the dishwasher. This works great for over-filled dishwashers or older dishwashers that aren’t working as well as they did. Warning: Don’t let bleach sit in the bottom of your dishwasher as it will ruin the rubber and plastic parts.
  

9.  Kitchen and bathroom countertops

To get kitchen and bathroom countertops clean & shiny use a very wet, soapy scrub pad and use that pad to scrub the counter until it feels clean when you run a hand over it. Dry, then polish the counter using our cleaning solution.
 

10.  Use a putty knife to clean countertops

If a counter top is not coming clean with the soapy scrub pad, use a plastic (not metal) scraper (putty knife) and scrape the surface clean. Re-scrub the countertop then dry and polish with window cleaner.
 

11.  For a really trashed microwave oven 

Spray the inside of the microwave and inside of the microwave door heavily with our cleaner and then let it soak for 15+ minutes. If the debris doesn’t wipe out easily, wait for a longer period of time.
  

12.  Older stainless steel appliances

If you have an older stainless steel fridge and / or dishwasher it is fairly likely their doors never come really clean. To make them shine like new you need to remove the built up kitchen grease from the doors.

Start with a somewhat wet, soapy, plastic mesh sponge. Pour a generous portion of powdered cleaner on the sponge. Use that to clean 1/4 of the fridge or all of the dishwasher door. Wipe the fridge or dishwasher dry where you’ve been scrubbing occasionally to see if it’s clean yet. It takes a while and some elbow grease to get these surfaces free of grime.

When the surfaces are clean and dry, polish them with our cleaner and a clean dry cloth.

13.  How to get fridge and oven door handles clean

Use a damp soapy scrubber to scrub the handles. When clean, dry with a clean cloth. This is quick and easy.

14.  Two commonly missed areas in the kitchen that are really dirty

The area under your stove and under the fridge is probably really dirty. For cleaning under the stove, remove the pan drawer and clean the floor where the drawer was. If you have a gas stove you may need to pull the stove away from the wall to clean under it. To clean the floor under the fridge, pull the fridge forward until you can get behind it. Clean the floor and then push the fridge back into place.

15.  The top of your fridge

The top of your fridge is really dirty. You never see it (unless you’re quite tall) but the grime and dust is there. Consider cleaning that area yearly. Perhaps make it a spring cleaning project.
  

16.  Whirlwind clean the kitchen (or the bathroom for that matter)

If your kitchen isn’t too dirty, spray everything with my cleaning spray and then clean, dry and polish everything at the same time. Go fast enough so that you don’t have to reapply the cleaner. The kitchen will be clean in less than 5 minutes.
  

17.  Cleaning the kitchen, living room and dining room all at the same time

For our housecleaners who are working on the kitchen, we have them start by cleaning the laundry room, the living room coffee table, and end tables. We also have them clean the dining room table and pull out the dining room chairs and barstools so the floor under them can be cleaned. Doing this saves a ton of time and gets a lot cleaned all at once.

Window Cleaning Tips

 18.  To get windows really clean and streak free

Scrub the window with soapy water then squeegee. After you have squeegeed the window, dry the edges and bottom of the window. Next spray with window cleaner or our spray cleaner and then polish the window with a clean dry cotton cloth, again paying close attention to the edges of the window.
 

19.  Minimize the chance of scratching your windows when using a metal razor blade scraper

Do you have “stuff” stuck on your windows? You can buy plastic razor blades on Amazon which can be used to scrape most of the debris off windows. Anything left can be removed by a metal razor blade. Make sure the area is wet before using the razor blade.

20.  Two methods to easily remove hard water stains on windows

First method: Get a plastic mesh scrubber very wet with vinegar. Wipe the vinegar onto the hard stain and then scrub with the plastic mesh scrubber. Rinse and dry. You may need to do this a few times.

Second method: Put on rubber cleaning gloves. Generously pour original blue label Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner on a mesh scrubber (You don’t really want any water on the window or the scrubber). After getting the hard water stain wet with toilet bowl cleaner, scrub the stain for 30 seconds to a minute. Rinse well with water and then dry.
 
Don’t use this method more than two times in a row, because the toilet bowl cleaner has acid in it. You don’t want to damage anything, including etching your window. Rinse off any Lyso that may have spilled.

21.  Want to go overboard on cleaning the window tracks?

If your window slides open to the side you can lift out the window that slides. You’ll see a white piece of plastic that bulges slightly (a slide rail). The slide rail is usually dirty and the area under it is usually dirty. Use a screw driver to pry the slide rail out on the sides then clean under the slide rail. The hardest part is getting the slide rail back in place. It has to snap down completely or the window won’t close or open.
  

22.  How to get your slat blinds really clean

Warning: If the blinds are old, be gentle using the following method, because the strings will have deteriorated and could break.  If the blinds are real wood, they will need to be dried by hand with a dry cotton cloth immediately after cleaning them.

Outside in the yard, spread out a large plastic painters “drop cloth.” Have a bucket of soapy water and a bristled scrub brush handy. Also have a hose with a sprayer available. You will need clean dry towels.

• • With the blind all the way down remove the blinds from the windows (look this up on YouTube if you’ve never done this before). You may want to have two people doing this.
  • Take the blind outside. Lay it on the painter’s cloth. Scrub it with the soapy water and scrub brush. Turn it over and do the other side.
  • Rinse the blind off and lay it somewhere clean. I’ve used my car. Dry the blind with a cotton cloth. You need to do this by hand rather than air drying because if you don’t you’ll leave hard water stains (drops).
  • If you fill pump spray bottle with purified water and spray off the window blind with that water to rinse off the hard water, you can let the blind air dry.
  • If the blind is wood, dry it off right away and rehang inside.

23.  Dusting blinds

Use a slightly damp sock as your dust rag. You could easily rub the top and bottom of the blind at the same time. It might be easier to clean closer to the strings too.

Bathroom Cleaning Tips

24.  “Guests are coming” toilet cleaning

• • After putting on gloves, take everything off the back of the toilet and pull everything out that sits on the floor around or behind the toilet.
  • Wipe the toilet paper dust off of the toilet paper holder.
  • Using a toilet cleaner (I like Lysol toilet bowl cleaner) and a toilet brush thoroughly swish the bowl clean.
  • Using my cleaning spray, spray every surface of the toilet including the hidden, back parts, the floor and the baseboards around the toilet.
  • Using a cotton cloth (not microfiber) wipe clean and dry the baseboards, the floor around the toilet, and the hidden parts of the toilet. Then wash clean and dry the other parts of the toilet.
  • Use (your husband’s toothbrush – kidding!) a toothbrush to clean all the hinges and edges of parts that didn’t get clean yet. Wipe dry and clean.
  • Now polish the toilet by spraying lightly all areas of the toilet with my spray cleaner. Use a clean dry cotton cloth to polish the toilet to a bright sheen.

  Your toilet should now look brand new

25.  Don’t use pumice on your toilet

Pumice creates small scratches in the porcelain. This allows hard water stains to build up even faster and larger. It’s a vicious circle that can only be stopped by replacing the toilet.

Best: Clean your toilet bowl with a toilet brush at least once a week. The 25 year old toilet in my bathroom has never had a hard water ring build up because it gets cleaned frequently.
 

26.  Two areas you may miss when cleaning your bathroom.

If you’ve just cleaned the bathroom counter, wash the outside of the soap dispenser and the toothbrush charger. You may not be aware of these items on a day-to-day basis, but I believe that subconsciously we are aware of dirty items in our homes.
 

27.  How to get mirrors really clean

Clean the mirrors twice. Pay special attention to the edges of the mirror and the area on the mirror near the faucets.

28.  3 different ways to get bathroom floors really clean.

• • Sweep under the cabinets to remove hidden debris, then use a wet towel to hand-clean all the corners of the bathroom. Bathroom corners are often pretty gross.
  • Using a wet towel, hand clean under the cabinets. Make sure to get the corners and then finish by mopping the floor.
  • If the bathroom isn’t too big and you want “spotlessly clean” hand wash the entire floor. Depending on how dirty the floor is you may want to clean it twice this way.
      

29.  Toilet brush thought

After cleaning your toilet bowl set the bristle part of the brush on a towel to drip dry, while you clean the rest of the toilet. When you are done cleaning the toilet go ahead and place the brush in the toilet brush cup holder. If you put the brush back into the cup holder right away you’re putting gross toilet water in there to fester. Ugg.
 

30.  Do you have a slow bathroom drain (sink, tub or shower)?

Use a hair removal tool that you can buy on Amazon or ask for the tool at your hardware store. You use it to pull out hair and other debris from the slow drain. You’ll be amazed and a little grossed out at what you pull out of there.

31.  Cleaning grunge off of shower pans and tub bottoms (maybe)

The best thing I have found to clean these areas:  Wet the bottom of the tub or shower. Spread on a large amount of Comet cleanser. Scrub, scrub, scrub the grime. There is about a 50% chance you’ll be able to get the area clean. This depends on how long it’s been since the bottom of the tub or the shower pan have been cleaned.

I’ve tried everything I could think of that might be easier including using Easy Off oven cleaner. Nothing but elbow grease and Comet worked, sometimes.

Floor Cleaning Tips

32.  Getting carpeting as clean as possible (vacuuming)

To vacuum carpets really clean buy the vacuum cleaner that is most recommended on the house cleaning forums (do a google search). Don’t go cheap on this purchase. Spend at least $175. My current vacuum of choice is a Shark Navigator. It’s light, quiet, and does an excellent job. I own 5 of them.
 

33.  Mopping hard floors

It is well worth the cost to buy a professional mop handle, professional string mop head, and a professional mop bucket with a squeeze ringer to dry your mop. Altogether you might spend $100 to get these items that you’ll have your entire life.

There are two huge benefits to owning and using these tools: 1) You can easily and completely rinse and squeeze the mop dry in the mop bucket as you clean your floors.  2) You can remove the mop head and wash it in the washing machine. Both of these benefits mean no more spreading dirt on the floor while you mop.
 

34.  How to get hard floors really clean using a special vacuum

We use a special hard floor vacuum called a mighty mite (Eureka) to vacuum the floors in the houses we work at. When you’ve used this vacuum once, you’ll see why we recommend it for cleaning hard floors.

Additional Information: 

I’m a Cleaning Editor, and These Are the Most Life-Changing Tips I’ve Learned Over the Past 10 Years – RealSimple.com

A little here, a little there: More Cleaning Tips

35.  Scents and a clean home

We have found that for a home to feel really clean there needs to be a slight cleaning smell when we leave. We

use Mr. Clean Frebreze in our mop water. Not very much, just enough to leave a clean smell in the home.

36.  Dusting and what I’ve learned

We used to use stick dusters like Swiffer Dusters. There were two problems with this: 1. It was easy to do a less then complete job of dusting, and 2. They left dust in the home.

We now use slightly damp cloths (rinsed often) for all of our dusting. We don’t use furniture polish because that leaves streaks and an area for dust to settle and stick. 

37.  Furniture oils

I’m sure a lot of people will disagree with me on this, so let’s just say I’m planting a seed for you to eventually see things differently.

Most furniture and cabinets are sealed. Usually with polyurethane. There is no way for the furniture polish to reach the wood. If the surface of the wood is very smooth and slick it’s been sealed. It’s possible you will feel the wood grain under the seal but that doesn’t mean the item hasn’t been sealed. Don’t waste polish on these items.

38.  While cleaning, carry a damp clean towel with you.

I put one in my pocket. You could keep one in your caddy. This way if you come across anything that was missed or needs special attention you are ready.
 

39.  Invest in a ceiling fan brush cleaner on an extendable pole.

You’re going to have this brush for the rest of your life, so don’t go cheap.
  

40.  Cleaning grout

There are two thoughts:

1. Grout can be cleaned, but not made to look new, with bleach and a toothbrush. Pretty self-explanatory process. I’ve never been able to get grout “new-looking” clean.
2. I haven’t tried this, but have watched many videos and looked for these products at Home Depot: Grout paint and grout sealer to seal the grout paint in. I think this would be worth trying. Try a small hidden area first.
    

41.  Put away the clutter easily

Use a plastic bin to place clutter items in. Anything you don’t use weekly or monthly goes in the bin. The bin is marked with a permanent marker to let you know what’s in it. Put the bin in an area designated for storing those bins.
 

42.  Cleaning baseboards

We use a ceiling cobweb remover to dust all of the baseboards in a home. This is done at each cleaning. This keeps dirty sticky gunk that would need to be hand washed, from building up on the baseboards.
 

43.  Use a timer to clean your home in half the time

Not for everyone, but in our business we use the timer on our phones to help our new people learn to clean faster. We set the timer to go off every 15 minutes, then we start cleaning. We always do a faster job.

Things I haven’t tried, but make total sense

44.  Use an cookie sheet at the bottom of your oven

You can buy an oven liner for the bottom of your oven to catch stains. It can easily be removed and cleaned. I don’t think I would put it directly on the bottom of the oven. Most ovens have three racks. Take one of the racks and put it in the bottom slot of the oven. Cut the oven liner to fit over this rack. Food drips go onto the oven liner which can then be easily removed and cleaned.

I have been using this concept for years. When baking, I put a large cookie sheet on the rack below the rack that the food is sitting on. Spills go on to the cookie sheet instead of on the bottom of the oven.
 

45.  Pay yourself to clean.

Paying yourself motivates you to do housecleaning. When you’re done cleaning, you can do something fun with your cleaning money.
 

46.  Vacuum your bed mattress.

Think of how much hair, grime, microscopic bugs, and their feces are on your mattress and its patterns. Vacuuming the mattress just makes sense. I might try rubbing in a bit of baking soda before vacuuming.