We all love a cheeky hint or tip to help get out those stubborn stains and make a house shine. Check out our 10 tips that you may not have seen before.
Remove red wine stains with salt
Spilling the red stuff used to be a double disaster: not only did you waste wine; you also ended up with a stained carpet. While no cleaning trick will get your wine back in the glass (and please don’t try sucking it up through a straw), you can at least stop it from marking your carpet by pouring salt over the spillage zone and letting it soak up the stain.
There’s an easy way to get rid of coffee and tea stains…
Can’t stand the sight of tea rings around your favourite mug? Rather than working up a sweat by scrubbing at it, just put some salt on a lemon peel and gently rub it along the stain.
Share a Coke with your windscreen
While your dad told you Coca-Cola would rot your teeth, he forgot to mention that it could also rip through the filth that ends up on your windscreen. So if you ever find yourself with a thick layer of bug grime caking your windscreen, simply give it a wipe with a cloth soaked in the fizzy drink. Just make sure to avoid your car’s paint!
Dishwashers are for much more than just dishes
Soap and toothbrush holders, stove knobs and fridge shelves are just some of the things that can be popped in your dishwasher for effortless cleaning. Ah, but what about glassware? You can hold your more delicate glasses in place with elastic bands, stopping them from cracking during your dishwasher cycle.
Mayonnaise is not just for your mouth
Without mum to yell ‘put a coaster under it!’ my bedside table, kitchen table and coffee table all have beautiful watermarks. As soon as you’re ready to stop kidding yourself that these marks are giving your furniture character, grab your mayo from the fridge. Spread a tablespoon or two over some kitchen towel and apply it to the mark with some gentle pressure. You’ll need to leave it for about 15 minutes – so since you’ve got the mayo out why not treat yourself to a sandwich?
Newspapers are great for cleaning windows
If ever there was a reason for you to not leave your copy of the Metro on the tube/bus/train this is it: streak-free windows. After your regular routine use a sheet of newspaper for windows so clear you’ll think they’re open.
Newspapers are also great for sucking up garbage water
If like Homer Simpson you despise the garbage water line at the bottom of your bin bags with old newspapers. Simple.
Your microwave is a steam cleaner
Many people are well aware that making a simple solution from vinegar and water makes cleaning your bathroom, windows and other areas a breeze, but did you also know it works wonders in the microwave? Just pop in a bowl of water with a couple of tablespoons of vinegar mixed in and set the timer for five minutes. Once done you can easily wipe away all that icky burnt-on food as the steam does all the hard work for you.
Don’t throw away your old toothbrushes
Oh toothbrush, let me count the things you make cleaning as easy as pie: keyboards, jewellery, plug holes, tiles, sliding shower doors, garlic presses, cheese graters… The list goes on, and yet all your parents ever told you was to not swallow the toothpaste.
Lists are magic
‘Go clean your room!’ Few words inspire such dread in children, and while nobody’s telling you to tidy up now you’re a grown up (except for a nagging partner maybe) it hasn’t gotten any more fun. While you’ll never be able to make cleaning as joyful as Mary Poppins suggests it can be, by writing up a list of things you need to do you can have the satisfaction of crossing them off one by one. And crossing off that final ‘to do’ always calls for a reward!
