Sanitize your sink
It’s hard to believe, but your dirty kitchen sink has more bacteria than your toilet seat. Miguel Taveras, a supervisor for Managed by Q cleaning service, said he recommends sanitizing your kitchen sink once a week. For stainless steel, he recommends using an eight-ounce box of baking soda and the juice of 10 limes to create a mildly abrasive paste. As he told Martha Stewart, he uses a sponge to scrub the inside of the sink with it, following the steel’s grain. If you have an enamel sink, he recommends using a gentle scrub, such as Bon Ami Powder Cleanser, and a microfiber cloth.
For garbage disposals, Taveras recommends soaking a loaf of bread with vinegar and stuffing it in the canister. Then, after letting it sit for 15 minutes, turn on the disposal and flush it with cold water. It may sound strange, but it works!
De-funk your dishwasher
Just like the other appliances in your home, dishwashers require regular cleaning, and it’s best to give your dishwasher a deep clean — including an alkaline wash and drain trap scrub — once a month. One way to do this is to fill a dishwasher-safe cup or bowl with white vinegar and place it on the upper rack of your dishwasher. Afterward, run the (otherwise-empty) dishwasher on the hottest setting. If you don’t like the smell of vinegar, you can also opt to sprinkle one cup of baking soda along the bottom of your dishwasher and rinse on a hot-water cycle instead.
To clean your drain trap, remove and disassemble it and — once it’s apart — use a sponge or toothbrush and dish soap to remove any stuck-on food bits or mold.
Show your oven some lovin’.
Tackling the spills and splatters in your oven doesn’t have to be a daunting task. As Melissa Poepping, natural cleaning expert and author of the Chemical Free Home, told Martha Stewart, all you need is some baking soda and vinegar, and she recommends tackling your oven with these two ingredients every few weeks.
To start, remove your oven racks and let them sit in dishwashing liquid for a few hours before scrubbing with a scouring pad. After removing your racks, create a paste using three-quarter cups of baking soda and one-quarter cup of warm water. Then, use a paintbrush to spread the paste throughout the oven’s interior, avoiding bare metal surfaces and the oven door. Let it sit overnight and then remove the paste the following day with a plastic scraper, wetting as needed.
Make your microwave look new.
Scour your gas stovetop.
When food residue spills over the sides of pots and pans around your oven’s burner heads, things can get messy. However, it’s possible to restore your gas stovetop to its former glory. You should start by placing your stove grates in the sink and soaking them in a non-toxic degreaser, like Simple Green. Then, remove your burners and spritz your stovetop with the same degreaser. Use a soft scouring pad to eliminate the grease and grime, and then wipe clean with paper towels.
After that, give your grates and your burner caps a good scrubbing with a nylon brush, as well as the burners themselves. Just be sure not to put any aggressive cleaners or solvents on your burners.
Make your glass stovetop shine.
Unlike gas stovetops, cleaning a glass stovetop can be as easy as wiping it down, but burnt-on food and grease can sometimes stick around. Baking soda and vinegar can tackle stubborn stains on your stovetop. First, make a baking soda paste using a three-to-one ratio of baking soda to water, mixing it in a bowl until it thickens. Then, spread the paste evenly over your glass-top stove using a spatula or a brush.
After spreading the paste, fill a spray bottle with vinegar and lightly spray your cooktop. Once the area is evenly covered, spread warm, wet towels over the stovetop. After 30 minutes, remove the towels and wipe down the surface in circular motions.
Spruce up your sponge
Though you should replace your kitchen sponge anywhere from once a month to once every two weeks, depending on how much you use it, you can make a sponge last by giving it a good cleaning. However, that old trick of putting a sponge in a microwave probably isn’t your best move.
The best way to clean a sponge is by mixing three-quarter cups of bleach in one gallon of water and soaking the sponge for five minutes, then rinsing.
Banish mold from your bathroom.
It’s tough to keep your shower tile and grout mold-free, but small areas of mold can be removed with a grout cleaner, a mold remover, or a bleach-and-water solution. Clorox Tilex Mold and Mildew Remover can eliminate mold and mildew germs and bacteria in only a few minutes with no scrubbing required.
For shower curtains and liners, Clorox Tilex Mold and Mildew Remover can also be used to get rid of mold. Simply spray on, wait until the stains disappear, and rinse off. Another option is to wash your shower liner in your washing machine on the delicate cycle with warm water, laundry detergent, and bleach.
Mop up your tile floors.
When you notice a hazy film or dirty grout on your tile floor, then it’s likely due for more than a good sweep. When cleaning ceramic or porcelain floor tiles, it’s best to use mild detergent and clean water with a rag or chamois mop rather than a sponge mop. The reason: Sponge mops tend to push dirty water into the grout lines, which makes them harder to clean.
After mopping (and frequently changing the water as you go), dry your floor with a clean, lint-free cloth immediately after washing. If your tiles still look hazy from soap residue, then try removing the film with a gentle all-purpose cleaner.
Scrub your toilet
When cleaning your toilet, you should start with the toilet bowl. Use half a cup of bleach (or Clorox toilet bowl cleaner) to coat the entirety of your toilet bowl, starting underneath the bowl’s rim. Then, use a toilet brush to scrub the solution into your toilet bowl. Let the solution sit for five minutes before flushing.
To clean the rest of your commode — including the exterior, both sides of the lid, both sides of the toilet seat, and the handle — try using Lysol Power Bathroom Cleaner.
Wash throw pillows and blankets
The method used for cleaning throw pillows and blankets depends on their material, so be sure to check out the manufacturer’s care label to find washing instructions. Silks and velvets typically require the use of dry cleaning fluid, while other materials, like cotton or polyester, can usually handle gentle washing with water. To wash pillows and blankets, the machine washes in warm water on the delicate cycle and let hang dry. Be sure to wash pillow covers separately from the cushion.
To sponge clean pillows, use a sponge and upholstery shampoo to scrub the pillow in circles, and then blot the excess moisture and shampoo with clean white towels. If dry cleaning is indicated, use a sponge dipped into a dry cleaning solution to clean the fabric using the same circular motion and then blot dry.
Dust off your blinds
Don’t let your blinds collect dust. If your blinds are dusty, you will only need a vacuum with the brush attachment, a feather duster, or a microfiber cloth to clean them. For wooden slatted or mini blinds, simply shut the blinds and vacuum or wipe the dust away. For any other material, vacuum the front and back of the shades to whisk away dust.
If a deeper clean is necessary, plastic and metal blinds can be restored using an even mixture of warm water and white vinegar with a few drops of dish soap mixed in. Wet a sponge in the solution, wring it out well and wipe down each slat. For wood blinds, use furniture polish, and for microfiber or cloth blinds, gently wipe them with mild soap and warm water solution.
