Cleaning Tips That Can Alter Your Life
Rejuvenate that old and worn couch with vodka and add some shine to those floor tiles with vinegar: The life-altering cleaning hacks that will change the way you clean your home.
When you’re looking to clean your home, there’s no reason you should have to hand out hundreds of dollars on expensive cleaning products or spend hours upon hours cleaning the surfaces. Anita Birges, an Australian expert on organization and creator of Mise en Place, trusts that the task of cleaning your home can be done with little to no effort and all you really need are a few items from your pantry and little insider information.
She spoke to FEMAIL about her best cleaning tips and she included how easy it is to add some sparkle to an old stained sink, a little vinegar can brighten your bathroom tiles, and how a shot of vodka and olive oil can bring an old leather couch back to life.
1. Clean the sinks, cupboards and benches using bi-carb soda This is one of the easiest ways to get that dirty sink shining again whether it be steel of porcelain is to clean it using bi-carb soda. Anita told the Daily Mail Australia that she uses this method to clean her sink at home, she sprinkles it into a damp basin, then she says she, “goes to town with a scourer”. If you need to get down into the drain the expert suggests going at it with a toothbrush. Veneer-coated benches and cupboards and benches can be can also easily be cleaned using the same inexpensive baking ingredient. When you’re scrubbing the surfaces, Birges suggests using a damp cloth with the same bi-carb soda and then wiping down the cupboards and countertops.
2. Using a spritz of vinegar to revive bathroom tiles
There’s nothing more aesthetically pleasing than walking in a bathroom and seeing the tiles fresh and free of limescale or soap buildup. While there a plethora of merchandise for you to choose from to get the job done, but Anita says she knocked this task out with simple white vinegar.
She also recommends using an old spray bottle that you can fill with any type of vinegar, spritz it onto the tiles and wipe them down using a damp cloth that’s been sprinkled with baking soda. Anita says, “This will bring your tiles back to life, especially if they have become cloudy.”
3. Getting rid of old burn marks on cookware and then stains out of ceramic cups If you have any cookware that has been damaged by burning food it almost seems impossible to clean, but don’t sweat it. Anita has a tip to get that clean, she says to fill whatever item you’re cleaning with white vinegar, try filling it up to the highest burn mark and bring it to a boil.
Once it’s boiling remove the head and add anywhere from a tablespoon up to a cub of baking soda. How much baking soda you’ll need is going to need to use will be dependent on the size of whatever it is you’re trying to clean.
You will then allow 15 minutes before you pour it out, then using dishwashing soap and scourer to remove any leftover residue.
4. Sterilizing kids’ toys using the dishwasher Anita says her favorite cleaning hack is using the dishwasher to clean her children’s toys, merely spray them with some anti-bacterial solution and pop them in there. The trick is to not only clean those dirty toys easily but it is also perfect for when they’ve been sick and will prevent the contagion from spreading. If you’re cleaning smaller items like Legos, you can place them in a colander and set it to the shortest cycle.
5. Bringing the old leather sofa back to like with vodka If you do have a worn out leather couch that’s has seen its fair share of better days, an easy solution can be to use a solution made from vodka. Anita says she uses this spirit on a cloth to clean her leather sofa and it’s just as effective lifting the dirt. However, she does warn against scrubbing the solution into the leather. Then, once you’ve cleaned the leather she applies a leather conditioner which Anita says you can use any type of oil you happen to have laying around in the cupboard, “Use something as simple as olive oil, canola oil or rice bran oil, it doesn’t matter,” Anita says that this trick will also work on restoring old leather shoes.
