We’ve compiled a list of the 35+ best deep cleaning tricks that you wish you knew before. Let’s take a look, shall we?
1) Cleaning brooms
It’s often the things that we use for cleaning that end up being the dirtiest. The same can definitely be said for brooms! After each use, it’s best to use some disinfectant to get rid of funky smells. You can thoroughly clean your broom by soaking it completely in warm water mixed with dish soap. Let it air dry and your broom is as good as new!
2) Clean fabric sofas with dish soap
Apparently, dish soap absolutely works wonders on fabric sofas if you let it work for a couple of minutes. Squirt a moderate amount onto a nasty stain, and wipe it off with a damp cloth after a couple of minutes.
3) Keep iron pans in good condition longer
Iron skillets are a must-have in any kitchen, but a disadvantage is that they’re really hard to clean. You’ll often spend a couple of minutes scrubbing all the dirt off, and using strong acidic soap negatively affects the pan’s coating. Instead of thoroughly rinsing which is bad for the pan, use sea salt instead. It’ll do a great job at getting rid of residue and you’ll only need to rinse lightly.
4) Make kitchen cabinets shine again
Over the years, kitchen cabinets tend to get darker in color and absolutely covered in stains or fingerprints. The remedy is surprisingly simple: just use a dish brush with some dishing soap to make your cabinets shine again. Not a fan of using soap? A one part vegetable oil and two parts baking soda mixture will do the trick just fine.
5) Window blinds
Window blinds tend to gather a lot of dust, and it can get tricky to remove it all with regular cleaning tools. Luckily, you can just use an old sock instead. Dip it in a 50/50 mixture of vinegar and water and your blinds will sparkle again.
6) Oven cleaning
Because of the high temperatures, large amounts of grease and many delicious meals, thorough oven cleaning is an absolute must, even for self-cleaning devices. Create a mixture of 4 teaspoons of baking soda, 5 teaspoons of vinegar and a little bit of dish soap and cover the inside of your oven with it. Wait a few hours to let the mixture do its job, and grab a wet cloth to finish the job.
7) Instantly clean your lint filter with a vacuum
Did you know you can just a vacuum to get rid of the dust in your lint filter? It’s essential to clean these filters often because they increase the risk of a severe household fire. A simple guideover here will show how to clean the duct with a simple brush and your vacuum.
8) Easily clean PC screens
Screens and certain notebook enclosures are true fingerprints and dust magnets. Instead of a cloth, try using a simple coffee filter to clean your screen and get rid of annoying smudges.
9) Magnetic cloth to clean bookshelves
Dust makes its way onto just about everything, but a magnetic cloth is a perfect tool to deal with that. It’ll easily attract dust from hard to reach places and items, making it ideal to clean the top of books and bookshelves.
10) Organize your desk
Okay, this probably isn’t a groundbreaking tip – but it’s an important one that is easily overlooked. Organize your desk, get rid of everything that doesn’t need to be there and away to get rid of stains and other dirt. Be sure to take your desk’s material into account when picking cleaning products.
11) Give kitchen sinks new life
If there’s one place in the kitchen where tons of dirt amasses, it’s the kitchen sink. Grab one cup of baking soda and pour in down the drain along with two cups of vinegar. Let it rest for five minutes and rinse with boiling water.
12) Fridge makeover
Cleaning the outside of your fridge is relatively straightforward – use a damp cloth with a touch of baking soda, and those stains will quickly disappear. The real makeover happens on the inside, however. Pull the electric plug, empty your refrigerator and pull out all of the loose shelves, boxes, and racks. Use water and regular dishwashing soap to clean the inside walls, and don’t forget to scrub the shelves as well.
13) Ironing as a carpet cleaning method
Dealing with some annoying carpet stains? If you think you’ll never get those stains out, think again. Spray a mix of 1/3 vinegar and 2/3 water on your stain, cover it with a wet cloth and steam directly on top for half a minute. It’ll be as if the stain was never there!
14) Let the blender clean itself
Blenders are typically hard to clean because the blades make it hard to reach certain spots, but you can just avoid cleaning it by hand altogether. Simply fill it up halfway with water, and add one drop of dish soap. Turn the blender on and it’ll be completely clean in a few seconds. Don’t forget to rinse with clean water.
15) Easily remove shower wall stains
Black stains or mold spots on shower walls, they’re not exactly very fun to deal with. Create a 50/50 mixture of vinegar and regular dishwasher soap and scrub everything thoroughly. The next time you take a shower, make sure to wash everything with warm water first.
16) Clean the inside of your closets
When is the last time you’ve taken out all of your clothes and gave the inside of your closet a thorough cleanse? Use a damp cloth, some simple all-purpose cleaner and you’ll be done in no time. It may not be fun, but your clothes will thank you for it.
17) Lint rollers to the rescue
Lampshades are tricky to clean, especially because the dirt just seemingly wants to go everywhere. A lint roller really does wonders here. For the base of the lamp, a regular piece of microfiber cloth will suffice.
18) Clean your washer
Washing machines need to be cleaned on occassion, otherwise, you might end with nasty smells and an underperforming machine. Use the two secret ingredients vinegar and baking soda to thoroughly rinse the inside. If you can, also clean filters as much as needed.
19) Mattress cleaning
Everybody knows that you regularly have to wash your pillowcases, blankets, and sheets but mattresses need some thorough cleaning as well! First, use the special vacuum nozzle to get rid of dust and hair. The more thorough stains and odors can be removed with an upholstery cleaner.
20) Clean up your baseboards
It may seem unimportant or just another small thing, but all of the small things certainly add up and the little differences matter too. You can use a sponge dipped in soapy water, that’ll do a great job of eliminating dirt and even scuffs off wooden baseboards.
21) Give the garage a cleaning overhaul
If there’s one room in the house that would need a spring cleaning session the most, it’s the garage. It’s often the only place in the house that’s never completely empty for a cleaning session, so it’s best to just make a habit of it and give it a thorough cleaning. Scrub the walls with a bit of soap, and the floor will most likely need some mopping as well.
22) Let faucets sparkle as good as new
Shower and sink fauchters just never seem to sparkle well, but a little bit of baking soda can truly do wonders. Grab an old toothbrush, dip it in some baking soda and scrub with some water until the faucet is shining as bright as you want to.
23) Clean up the attic
If there’s one place in the house where you’ll find the most dust, it’s the attic. That usually isn’t too much of a problem if you don’t go there often, but a buildup of dust can negatively affect your things such as furniture or records. If you’re doing some deep cleaning, get rid of cobwebs with a vacuum hose and clean up the floor as well.
24) Clean your lightbulbs
Did you know that too much dust on your lightbulbs can result in a lower overall brightness? Unscrew your light bulbs, and use a microfiber cloth to pick up any dust. It’s a small thing that does wonders!
25) Electric stoves
It’s no secret that the burners of electric stoves can get dirty – and it’s really tough to make them shine like new again because of all of the grease. Luckily, baking soda performs like an absolute miracle. Create a mixture with some water, and apply the paste to smudges for about half an hour. Scrub, dry and you’re done!
26) Effortlessly clean glass cooktops
But what if you’ve got a glass or inductive cooktop instead? Once again, baking soda is the true life-saver. Throw a rag in some soapy water, and sprinkle baking soda all over the cooktop. Feel free to apply a generous amount. Grab the rag and squeeze all of the water out. Scrub everything away after a quarter and your cooktop will look super clean.
27) A secret ingredient to clean stainless steel
While baking soda is praised as one of the most essential cleaning products, there’s one product that is particularly useful for cleaning stainless steel appliances. Apply a little bit of tartar cream along with a splash of water onto a sponge, and scrub away until your kitchen appliances start shining gloriously again.
28) Wooden cutting boards
If you’ve got a couple of deep cuts in a wooden cutting board, you’re probably aware that dirt likes to assemble there and it’s a bit of a pain to remove it. The next time you’re dealing with a nasty smudge, grab coarse salt which will eliminate all funky odors. The second step is to cut a lemon directly in half and rub it all over the cutting board. You’ll not only get rid of the stains, but your board will smell fresh and nice too!
29) Use a screwdriver as a cleaning tool
Most of us have probably never thought about using a screwdriver as a cleaning tool, but it actually makes perfect sense. This is a great tip for cleaning up the toilet in particular, as you’ll be able to reach the quite deep into the porcelain with a damp wipe. Simple, yet effective!
30) Give your pillows a rinse
Yellowish and dirty pillows, that’s definitely something you don’t want under your head every night. Put two or three pillows in your washing machine, and add a cup of bleach and detergent. That’ll get rid of the yellow color and make them clean again. After they’re done washing, put them in the dryer along with a few tennis balls. This is necessary so that the pillows won’t lose their shape.
31) Properly take care of window tracks
Window tracks can accumulate so much dirt, but due to the uneven surface, it’s also a major pain to clean thoroughly. The dynamic duo of vinegar and baking soda works brilliantly here as well. Sprinkle baking soda on the dirtiest places, and let it soak in a bit of vinegar. Wiping over it with a rag will do the trick, or just use an old toothbrush for the hard-to-reach areas.
32) Cleaning toilets just became easier
Did you know you can just use a can of regular Coca-Cola to clean the toilet? Admittedly, strong chemicals will do the trick just fine, but they’re quite polluting. Instead, just pour in a normal, red coke. Let it soak for a while and clean with your toilet brush. Flush one time and the porcelain will sparkle again.
33) Lifehack your vacuum cleaner for hard-to-reach spots
Sometimes, you need a little bit of creativity to thoroughly deep clean the entire house. If you’ve got a squeeze top bottle laying around, try fitting the top piece onto your vacuum nozzle. If it fits (there’s always duct tape if it doesn’t), you’ll have a powerful machine to get rid of dirt and dust in even the tiniest of spaces.
34) Give leather furniture a second life
Leather furniture is comfortable and it definitely looks good – but worn out, scratched or scuffed leather isn’t really appealing to look at. Want to get rid of these leather marks? Olive oil is your friend. Grab a cloth with some olive oil on it, and rub it over the damaged areas. Dry for an hour and clean it with a new cloth. The difference will be stunning. Also works great on leather shoes!
35) Easily get rid of ring stains
A wet glass and furniture? Those two things often don’t blend well together. Coasters are important, but forgetting to use one happens all the time. Ring stains on furniture tables might seem permanent, but there’s a nifty lifehack you can use. Grab a hair dryer, set it on a fairly high setting and aim on the ring for a bit. With some olive oil in hand, these rings will be gone – or at least much less visible – in just a couple of minutes.
36) Donate unnecessary items
Found some old clothes? A piece of furniture you’ll never use again? Outdated toys for the kids? Instead of letting them collect dust, why not donate them to a local thrift shop or charity? You’ll have some extra space and you’ll make people happy with it. Win-win!
37) Grease stains? Chalk to the rescue
Dealing with some greasy stains on your favorite clothes? A simple piece of chalk does a great job at absorbing the fat in the stain. Rub a bit of chalk on the stain (with a old toothbrush, if necessary), let it absorb the fat for a few minutes and wipe with a cloth. The next time you throw it in the washing machine, that greasy stain will be history.
38) How to wash shower curtains
They may look clean, but chances are a ton of bacteria reside there. In other words, it’s important to wash shower curtains – even if they’re plastic. Simply throw them in the washer with your usual detergent, but add a bit of baking soda. Also, throw in a few towels in the mix so the curtain won’t be too wrinkled.
39) Freshen up your toilet wand
Here’s another great tip for the bathroom: freshen up your toilet want with a spalsh of pine-sol. Add a bit inside the holder for the toilet brush: it’ll not only help with cleaning, but it will also create a fresh smell in the entire room. Be careful not to drip the pine-sol when you’re taking the brush out of the holder, though.
40) Clean your vent covers
You could always try and reach for the hard spots around and inside your vent covers, but it’s easier just to remove them completely. Grab a piece of paper to get most of the dirt off, but throw the vent covers in the dishwasher for a thorough cleanse. Don’t add any soap – just water will do!
These tricks for deep cleaning the entire house will definitely come in handy. You can always save or bookmark this page for future reference!