Welcome to the last post in the Simplified Cleaning Series! We’ve decluttered, created our cleaning routines, and simplified our products and tools. Now, onto some fun “hacks” that help make cleaning quick and easy!
Tips & Tricks for quick and easy cleaning:
- If you have a baby or small toddler that wants to be held, snap on a baby carrier like an Ergo and go to town with sweeping, vacuuming, and mopping floors. It’s typically the only way I’m ever able to tackle my cleaning for the day, and I’ve also found it to be a tried and true way to get a baby to sleep with the motions, win-win!
- Whenever you are doing something in the kitchen, whether it’s waiting for coffee to brew, bread to toast, etc., use that couple of minutes to tidy up or go through a cabinet to see what you might be able to part ways with. You’d be surprised how much you can get done with just a few minutes here and there!
- Spray some homemade all-purpose cleaning solution (recipe here) onto a paper towel and then wipe down your cell phone to disinfect it.
- Create a DIY liquid fruit fly trap by filling a small cup or bowl with apple cider vinegar and then adding 3-5 drops of liquid dish soap. This is our favorite way to get rid of fruit flies in our home, it works like a charm every time.
- Clean out your coffee maker by filling the water reservoir with a mixture of half water and half distilled white vinegar. Turn on and let several cups run through, and then turn it off and let it sit for an hour. Then start the coffeemaker again and let the remainder of the mixture in the reservoir run through. Then discard the vinegar mixture and run just water through the coffee maker a few times until the vinegar odor disappears.
- Use kosher salt to clean burnt food off of stainless steel cookware – an awesome tip from Mixing Maroons. Mrs. Maroon has this post with a great detailed how-to!
- Use Qtips to dust air vents.
- Clean your house from top to bottom so that any particles of dust or crumbs don’t land on freshly washed floors.
- Clean and disinfect plastic toys in the dishwasher. Place smaller items in a mesh laundry bag so they don’t fall to the bottom.
- Clean your microwave the easy way without scrubbing your arms off by steam cleaning it! Pour 1 cup white vinegar into a pyrex or other glass bowl with 1 cup hot water and microwave on high for 5-10 minutes. Then carefully take the bowl out and simply wipe out the inside of your microwave.
- Dust lamp shades with a lint roller.
- Clean your coffee grinder by filling it with uncooked rice and turning it on for 30 seconds.
- Throw your shower curtain liner in the wash with a few towels to scrub it clean and then hang it back up to dry.
Do you have additional tips and tricks for quick and easy cleaning that you use? Share with us below! 🙂
All posts in the Simplified Cleaning Series:
{Part One: Declutter}
{Part Two: Cleaning Routine}
{Part Three: Green & DIY Cleaning Products}
{Part Four: Tips & Tricks for Quick and Easy Cleaning}
*There may be affiliate links in this post.
I’m a vinegar nut. In the rinse pocket in dishwasher. In rinse bowl in washing machine.
Your vinegar/water tip really works well on cleaning microwaves. Then pour microwaved vinegar down sink drain and add baking soda. Wait few minutes, then rinse with water.
That is a genius idea Gail! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Great tip about cleaning in the kitchen whenever you have a few extra minutes. I practice this regularly and it makes it easy to keep our kitchen clean.
Thanks DC! It really does make a big difference!
Great list! I do most of these while I’m waiting for water to boil or something in the microwave to heat up. I also use that time to do a few push-ups. 🙂
That’s a great idea Sara! Sometimes I do squats while I wait for something too hah…but it’s unfortunately not that often. I should do it more though!
Great tips! I don’t have children yet, but I feel like when I do, I’ll have them strapped to me all the time! Why doesn’t everyone? Maybe I’m missing something haha
Haha! It really does make life a lot easier. Sometimes I do feel like I need my space though, and Little Miss is only content with baby wearing if I’m moving alot. The second I stand still she is pushing and kicking me trying to escape. lol!
These are great ideas. I especially love all of your vinegar tips. I use vinegar and baking soda to clean my toilets. I love the crazy fizzing and how it looks like it’s going to fizz over the top and then it just settles back down again. My own little bathroom science experiment. 🙂
I love this series, Christina! I’m really going to miss it, but thanks for running it. It was fun! 🙂
Thanks so much Kay! That DOES sound like a fun little experiment, I’ll have to try that for myself! 🙂
Love the tips, especially for cleaning stainless steel cookware with kosher salt and steam cleaning the microwave — I will have to give those a try! I haven’t found a great way to clean my stainless steel pans, and I tend to put off cleaning the microwave!
Thanks Jennifer! I know, I thought Mrs. Maroon’s tip for cleaning stainless steel cookware was brilliant. I never would have thought to do it!
These tips are GENIUS! I love the idea of using kosher salt to clean burnt cookware, which I have frequently!
Thanks Kelly!
Hi Christina! I just randomly came across your blog. Love these tips. I just recently heard that your cell phone is dirtier than a toilet-sounds about right…
Is that cleaning solution definitely safe for your phone? I always get nervous about what to use on my iPhone.
I recently cleaned out my washer with ACV and baking soda, what a world of difference!
Thanks so much for stopping by Jordan! I’ve heard mixed things about using rubbing alcohol on your phone…but since my cleaning solution is 50% water with 50% rubbing alcohol, it dilutes the alcohol a bit. I’ve been using this mixture on my iPhones for several years now and have never had a problem with it wearing anything down….so although I’m not sure if it’s “technically” safe to use, it has been working well for me with zero problems 🙂 Can’t wait to check out your blog!!
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