12 Spring Cleaning Hacks To Transform Your Home [Infographic]
With spring just around the corner, it’s now the perfect time of year to tackle all of those cleaning jobs you’ve been putting off over the winter.
And, to make your life just that little bit easier, we’ve found 12 spring cleaning hacks to help you transform your home, from freshening your bedding to sanitising your microwave.
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1. Clean your mirrors with shaving foam
Shaving foam is a great hack for removing stubborn smears on mirrors and other glass. All you need to do is squirt a few dollops onto the surface and wipe with a cloth! The protective film this creates can also help to prevent your mirror from fogging up every time you shower.
2. Keep your mattresses fresh with baking soda
Baking soda can keep your mattress fresh and remove any nasty odours, by balancing out the pH levels of the mattress material. Sprinkle some all over your mattress and leave it for up to eight hours, before hoovering up the excess and enjoying your odour-free bedding!
3. Use rubber gloves to remove pet hair
Pet hair can be one of the most difficult things to remove around the house, but there is one way to remove it easily: rubber gloves. Don a pair of gloves and wipe down soft furnishings and carpets, with the fur sticking to the rubber. Then, wash your hands and the hair will unstick.
4. Steam clean your microwave to help remove stubborn stains
If you’ve got stubborn food stains on the inside of your microwave, you can make them much easier to remove by steaming them first. Fill a microwavable bowl with water, white vinegar and some essential oil before turning it on for five minutes. The stains will then be much easier to wipe away!
5. Use olive oil to clean stainless steel
Another great hack for removing smears is to dab a small amount of olive oil onto a cloth, before wiping it over all your stainless steel. This will remove smears and fingerprints and can even give it a shinier finish (just remember to re-wipe the surface with a clean, dry towel or newspaper to remove any excess oil).
6. Sanitise sponges in the microwave
Rather than having to throw away all of your household sponges, you can sanitise them using your microwave. Pour some lemon juice into a bowl of water, soak the sponge in the solution and then microwave it for one minute, which will help kill any bacteria in the sponge.
7. Use dishwasher tablets to kill bacteria in your washing machine
Dishwasher tablets are a great hack for maintaining the health of your washing machine. Every couple of months, place a tablet into the drawer of your washing machine and run an empty cycle at 60 degrees. This will help kill any bacteria in the drum and can also help to prevent limescale.
8. Use your dishwasher for so much more than just dishes
Aside from washing the dishes, your dishwasher also has a great many different uses: place children’s toys (without batteries) pet dishes, hair brushes and more into the dishwasher and run it in the usual way to clean them with minimal effort.
9. Clean and shine your hob with car wax
Once you’ve used your regular techniques to scrub your hob and get rid of all the grime, apply a thin layer of car wax to the surface before buffing it off with a clean, dry towel. This will give it a much shinier finish, but also make wiping any future spills much easier.
10. Make your house smell fresh with essential oils, cinnamon & vanilla essence
There are lots of easy and cost-effective ways to make your house smell fresh across the board. For bathrooms, add a few drops of your favourite essential oil inside your loo roll to keep odours at bay. For any specific areas, sprinkle a few tablespoons of powdered cinnamon before hoovering it up, or for the whole house, bake a cup of vanilla essence in the oven for an hour.
11. Remove stubborn water rings with a hairdryer & olive oil
If any of your surfaces have dreaded water rings as a result of someone not using a coaster, get rid of them easily with a hairdryer and some olive oil. Blast the water ring on high heat until it begins to disappear, before rubbing a bit of olive oil on the area once the mark has gone in order to recondition the wood.
12. Clean your computer keyboards with ear buds
Although most people tend to clean their keyboards with a cloth, it’s much easier to do so with a cotton ear bud. Dip the ear bud into a solution of water and scent free soap before wiping it between all of the keys.
