There are an endless number of fantastic spring cleaning hacks out there, just waiting for you to take advantage and most of them are super-affordable and easy to accomplish. Here are a few that might make life a little easier and give you more time to binge watch some Netflix with a bottle of wine and a tub of ice-cream.
Mattresses
Mattress can be a pig to clean because they are so unwieldy and a pain in the butt to dry if they get wet. It’s not as if you can just throw it in the washing machine with the blankets and sheets now is it? To get rid of bad odors, just fill a spray bottle with vodka and lightly spritz across the entire surface of your bare mattress.
The alcohol kills any odor-causing bacteria living on your mattress and doesn’t leave a residue or alcohol scent. If you prefer a scented clean, add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to the bottle before spraying.
Alternatively, you can get rid of your kids, so there is no longer anyone in the house to pee, poop or spew on the beds and drink the vodka.
Ceiling Fans
If you are like me, cleaning your ceiling fans is not high on your weekly to-do list, ever. They’re often hard to reach and a pain to clean, because of their design. In fact, the closest I usually get to cleaning them is looking up at the fan when I go to bed and thinking “I really must get round to cleaning that fan one day.” However, the rest of the internet assures me that by taking advantage of this brilliant hack, you’ll never dread the thought of cleaning fan blades again.
All you need is a pillowcase. Slip it on one edge at a time, wiping from the base to the end of the blade. The dust magically goes straight into the pillowcase instead of all over the floor. Just remember not to turn the pillowcase inside out afterward, it makes a mess, so I would imagine, not that I did……
Garbage Disposal
If you’ve noticed a rancid smell in your kitchen and you are sure it is not the smell of your cooking, there’s a good chance that the odor is coming from your garbage disposal. There are cleaning products specifically designed for garbage disposals, but you can save time and money by making your own environmentally-friendly cleaning products instead.
Grab an ice cube tray, fill it with chopped lemon or orange rind pieces and vinegar and freeze the contents. Throw an ice cube in your garbage disposal every couple of days and run until the cube has disappeared. This will leave an amazing, fresh lemony scent.
Be careful to mark the ice cube tray you have used for the garbage disposal cleaner if you freeze orange or lemon in your ice to drop into drinks. If you don’t and get them mixed up, it puts a real downer on your party.
Dishwasher
Don’t be fooled by the awesome cleaning power of your dishwasher. But, just because it’s sole purpose is to clean your dishes does not mean it is self-cleaning. In this case, luck is on your side. Cleaning this appliance is a breeze.
Pour approximately one cup of vinegar in a dishwasher-safe container. Place the bowl in your dishwasher and run it on the highest temperature. After the cycle is over, sprinkle baking soda on the bottom and run it again.
So that you don’t make the same mistake as I did, don’t put your container of vinegar in the dishwasher upside down, you get lots of vinegar on the floor and so, unsurprisingly, doesn’t clean the washer properly.
Vents
Vents are often overlooked during most daily vaguely occasional cleaning routines. You really need to remember to clean them, on a regular basis because, among other things, even a slight accumulation of dust inhibits air flow through the vents and may worsen allergy and asthma symptoms.
To efficiently and effectively clean these small and hard to reach areas, simply take a knife or spatula wrapped in a washcloth and wipe alongside each vent grate. Easy-peasy!
With these hacks in mind, there’s no better time to start thinking about maybe doing your spring cleaning before summer, fall and winter pass. Open the windows, turn up the music and dive right in. Your whole house will be cleaner and fresher before you know it and if you get distracted by something on the internet and forget to clean, at least with the windows open you will have had a chance to air out the smell.
