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Cleaning Tips You Haven’t Heard Before

Housecleaners come clean and share the cleaning secrets they use to keep your house spic and span.

from Reader's Digest | February 2012
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The best way to dust blinds?

Close them, then wipe up and down with an old dryer sheet. It'll create an antistatic barrier that helps prevent dust from building up again.

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Photo by freakapotimus/Flickr.com
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The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is your friend.

It will cut your cleaning time in half for bathtubs, sinks, countertops, and dirty walls.

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To clean glass and mirrors, use coffee filters, not paper towels.

They leave no streaks or lint — and they're cheap.

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Vinegar and water is a great deodorizer for a musty bathroom.

Spray your shower down as you're getting out. It really absorbs the odors, and the smell of vinegar goes away in an hour.

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A wet pumice stone will clean a dirty oven faster than any spray-on product.

Trust us.

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Vacuuming bathroom mats is a nightmare.

Toss them in the wash every week or two instead.

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To damp-mop wood floors, use plain water or a water-based floor cleaner like Bona.

Don't use vinegar. The acid in it will pit your polyurethane finish, can void your warranty, and may reduce shine over time.

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Courtesy of Seventh Generation
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Seventh Generation dish liquid diluted with water is a great nontoxic all-purpose cleanser.

Just put two squirts in a spray bottle and fill it with water.

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Courtesy Bar Keepers Friend
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Our biggest secret weapon?

A powdered product called Bar Keepers Friend (amazon.com). We use it on everything. Its active ingredient is rhubarb powder, which really cuts through grit and grime. It cleans glass-top stoves, counters, toilets, porcelain, and more. Your sink will never be shinier.

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To clean your microwave oven, microwave a cup of water with some baking soda in it until it's boiling.

That eliminates odors and makes it super easy to wipe away all that stuck-on stuff.

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Clean cobwebs with a yardstick covered by a tube sock.

That also works for cleaning under stoves and refrigerators.

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Shine your bathroom tiles with lemon oil.

It also helps prevent mold and mildew.

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To eliminate that ring in your toilet, drop in a bubbling denture tablet, and leave it for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

The stain will come off with just a few swishes of the brush.


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Your Comments

  • Philosolx-nix

    There is something wrong with your system. Only the first tip is visible.

    • Nancy Jackson1188

      scroll down, and like on the NEXT link. with a red arrow…..where it says 1 of 14  that is where the rest of the tips are.  I had no problem getting to the second tip and so on..

      • http://www.LakeNorman2GO.com/ Jody Roody

        I chuckle. I am pretty PC savvy. I have clicked on every arrow, gallery, picture, checked popup blocker. I cannot get the others to show on screen.   SUGGESTION??

        If, in case, they do not mention it, alcohol vinegar water solution ants will NEVER cross. The person BooHooing about odor of vinegar and other rantings is a bit much. Vinegar ‘sets’ the dyes in fabrics. Use cold water and vinegar 1st washing.   Clothes have mildewy odor? Vinegar or  Lemon Juice.   Water and Lemon juice boil in microwave house smells good and simple to wipe micro CLEAN!  Baking soda and lemon juice is terrific soft scrub. Vinegar alcohol ammonia drops of  liquid detergent and water = cleans about anything.

      • http://www.LakeNorman2GO.com/ Jody Roody

        I chuckle. I am pretty PC savvy. I have clicked on every arrow, gallery, picture, checked popup blocker. I cannot get the others to show on screen.   SUGGESTION??

        If, in case, they do not mention it, alcohol vinegar water solution ants will NEVER cross. The person BooHooing about odor of vinegar and other rantings is a bit much. Vinegar ‘sets’ the dyes in fabrics. Use cold water and vinegar 1st washing.   Clothes have mildewy odor? Vinegar or  Lemon Juice.   Water and Lemon juice boil in microwave house smells good and simple to wipe micro CLEAN!  Baking soda and lemon juice is terrific soft scrub. Vinegar alcohol ammonia drops of  liquid detergent and water = cleans about anything.

  • Kim

    This article was truly great. Until I decided I was going to use the tips on the vinegar and water as well as the lemon oil tip on tile floors. B/c no specific directions were offered in the article I figured it was rather fool proof. I mixed up equal parts vinegar/water to spray down my showers. BAD IDEA: vinegar smell does NOT vanish EVER as the article states it will in an hour or two. Today I went shopping for Lemon Oil at a health food store. They looked at me like I was NUTS! Since the product is not carried at my grocery store where do I go and when I find it how much do I mix in… I have concluded this was a HORRIBLE article and I’M the biggest idiot EVER!  Isn’t the point of such an article to give people tips that they can apply?! How can one apply these tips if specifics are not included?  Again, my conclusion is that I’m an utter idiot!  I guess that college degree in business was just that and I’m out of my league… 

    • Jackalena

      Really….?   Get over yourself.  You’re a bit too dramatic.  
      I use the vinegar/h2o concoction every once in a while & it works for me!  I have an older bathroom & 25 years ago it needed a makeover…so perhaps your bathroom has a good ventilation system.
       Just because something doesn’t work for you, doesn’t mean that its a bad idea for everyone! The person who you asked about the lemon oil? Maybe that person is nuts! There is nothing ‘crazy’ about asking for lemon oil….*jeesh*

      I doubt you’re an idiot. 

      I see that you say some stupid things every once in a while…don’t we all! ?!?  =]

      Have a sweet day!

    • Karensfamily

      Lemon oil is found in the cleaning products section along with furniture polish, Old English, etc.

  • Dimar

    why cant i read these i saw them once and liked a few then when I try to get them to appear nothing happens so woe is me

  • http://collegegirlcleaningservice.com/ Mike

    Sprinkle baking soda οn уουr carpeting thе night before уου intend tο vacuum; leave іt tο set overnight аnd thеn vacuum thе next day. Thіѕ wіll leave your home with a great, fresh smell.