We’ve been holed up at home for quite some time now and everything is starting to lose its shiny sparkle. And something smells a little dead in the kitchen drain. So here’s ALL the cleaning hacks you never knew you needed until now. From your mattress smelling fresh as a daisy to breathing life back into baking trays – you can do it all!
Now that the kids are heading back to school, I’m ready to get my clean on. Like, REALLY get my clean on. I want my home less dishevelled and more shiny and white like Disney On Ice. Who’s with me?
Rubber gloves, denture tablets and dishwashing tablets at the ready. Let’s get our cleaning blitz on, baby!
21 Cleaning hacks which will see you level up your cleaning game!
1. Limescale – chip it off!
To your purse, we go! A 20 cent piece is all you need to remove lime-scale build-up on taps and showerheads. Just wet the coin, rub it against the limescale and it will chip off!
2. Stinky dishwasher fix
An instant refresh for the dishwasher? TELL ME HOW! Generously sprinkle Bi-Carb soda on the inside of the dishwasher door and bottom of the dishwasher. Rinse the door off with a cup white vinegar (it will fizz!), close the door and run the hottest cycle. Let it do its thing!
3. Soak racks back to their former glory
Give oven racks a good clean by taking them out, wrapping in foil and soaking them in a bathtub filled with hot water and two dishwasher tablets. Soak for at least two hours (preferably overnight) before wiping them over, rinsing and returning them to the oven. Use an exfoliating glove to remove any stubborn bits!
4. Make the toaster SHINE
A magic eraser will clean the top of your toaster (make sure it’s unplugged first!). It rubs those darkened areas clean in seconds!
5. Put a lid on bin odours
Pour a splash of disinfectant on a paper towel and put in the bottom of the bin before replacing the bin liner. It’ll keep nasty kitchen odours at bay and the bin smelling fresh.
6. Kitchen sinks flushed with joy
Freshen up kitchen sink drains by spooning a heaped tablespoon of Bi-Carb into the drain, followed by ¾ cup of white vinegar. Leave for a few minutes before adding a splash of disinfectant and pouring boiling water down it to finish. Odours and oily build-up be gone!
7. Shine! Shine! Shine!
Polish chrome tap fittings with window cleaning spray for a sparkling mirror finish (and not a watermark in sight).
8. Keep the washing machine tidy
Clean the washing machine detergent and fabric softener drawer with a toothbrush and dishwashing detergent to keep it clean!
9. Effortless home fragrance
Drip a few drops of essential oils onto your front door mat (or spray with a linen spray). Every time someone steps on it the fragrance will be released, fooling guests into thinking you’ve been cleaning when you’ve been Netflixing instead.
10. Removing wax melts with staying power
Stop chiselling hard fragrance wax melts from candle diffusers. Heat it up for a minute so it melts just a little, then slip it out! Rinse with boiling water and wipe with a paper towel. Presto!
11. Cheap and effective kettle de-scaler
Flaky bits in your cup of tea? Your kettle needs descaling! Empty the kettle and pour enough lemon juice in it to cover the bottom of it. Leave it for 15 minutes before rinsing out and wiping over with some paper towel. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!
12. Grout, glorious grout!
For clean tile grout dissolve two denture tablets in a spray bottle of water. Spray the grout, let it sit for a minute and scrub with a hard bristle toothbrush. Amazing!
13. Refresh a bed mattress so it doesn’t smell like … bodies
Next time you change your bed linen, sprinkle the bed mattress with Bi-Carb soda and leave it for an hour or two. Vacuum it up then make your new, fresher smelling bed.
14. Clean range hood filters EASILY
You absolutely can wash your kitchen range hood filters in the dishwasher. It’ll remove the grease build-up SO EASILY.
15. Shower screens – from soapy to sensational
Grotty shower screens be gone! Use Bar Keepers Friend to bring shower glass back to its former crystal clear glory. Alternatively, try this 2-in-1 shower cleaning hack for the ultimate transformation using dishwasher tablets! 
Worst job EVER, now made so much easier! Source: Bar Keepers Friend
16. Dusting – and it smells SO good!
Use tumble dryer sheets for dusting skirting boards at home. They smell awesome and pick up all of the dust!
17. Want your home to smell like sunshine?
Who doesn’t love the smell of fresh washing? You can enjoy the smell without doing the ACTUAL washing with this hack. Fill a sink with boiling water and two caps full of fabric softener. Leave it for four hours, empty the sink and rinse. Not only will your home smell gorgeous, but the sink will also be sparkling.
18. Clean ovens without much effort at all
Ovens are a pain to clean. The oven door can be cleaned to crystal clear standard by scrubbing it with a dishwasher tablet – WHO EVEN KNEW, such a gold nugget of a cleaning hack!
19. Baking trays too!
While you have your oven racks soaking, why not also soak those embarrassing burnt-on grease muffin trays and baking sheets? Give them the same dishwasher tablet treatment as the oven racks in hack 3 above for a speedy pick-me-up.
20. The hack to clean window and door tracks
Sliding door and window tracks build up with so much dirt! Clean tracks with a foam paintbrush or by cutting grooves in a thick cleaning sponge, spray them damp and wipe so the sponge ‘hugs’ the track!
21. Don’t forget your toothbrush!
If you have denture tablets handy (for cleaning or falsies, we’re not judging..) give your toothbrush a clean! Dissolve a denture tablet in a glass of water and leave your toothbrushes in it overnight. Not only minty fresh, it banishes bacteria.
Do you have a tried and true cleaning hack that’s yet to be discovered? We’d love to hear it!
