If you’re like most people, cleaning the house is not your favorite activity. That’s why there are countless guides and listicles on the internet helping people streamline their cleaning and spend as little time at it, while still getting the best results.
We’ve found that the best tips usually come from cleaning professionals. That’s why we reached out to Better Life Maids to give us the top list of their unorthodox, yet effective, cleaning tips.
Need to Clean a Lot of Hair Quickly?
If you live with pets, chances are that you know just how annoying and futile it can be to clean the hairs out of your carpet or furniture. Simply put, no matter how good or expensive your vacuum cleaner is, there’s always some residual hair that it was just unable to pick up.
Fortunately, there is a simple, if more hands-on approach to cleaning hair –wear rubber or latex gloves. Simply rub the gloves across the surface you want to clean, and you’ll see – hairs will stick to the rubber glove like a magnet. Combine the vacuuming with the glove method, and you should see the best results with the least amount of wasted effort.
Oil or Grease Stains Do Come Out
If you’ve ever experienced a particularly persistent oil or grease stain on your clothes or tablecloth, you’re probably aware that there’s not much you can do about, but hope that your detergent can clean it. You should also know that you’re wrong on this. There is something you can do to help clean the fabric.
Regular white chalk – the kind that used to be used in schools and which kids still use to draw. All you need to do is rub the chalk on the stain (both sides), let it sit for 10 or so minutes, and then just wash everything regularly. You could also try using talcum powder – it should have a similar effect.
Clean the Ceiling Fan Quickly and Without Much Mess
When is the last time you cleaned your ceiling fan? Many people simply don’t think of cleaning it until it starts spraying dust all over them when turned on. And by that point, it’s kind of too late, there’s now dust everywhere.
Even if you did think about cleaning the ceiling fan, how would you do it? Well, a simple way is to get the inside of an old pillowcase just a bit wet and then cover a blade of the ceiling fan with the pillowcase. Then just gently slide the pillowcase off the blade. You’ll clean the whole blade in one move, and the dust will remain trapped in the pillowcase.
Clean the Cutting Board Effectively
Having just one cutting board for all purposes is not something a chef would recommend. However, the logistics of running a restaurant kitchen and a domestic one are vastly different, so most regular people just use the one cutting board for everything.
Sadly, that can lead to some less desirable results. If you use your cutting board to cut fish, and then try to cut anything else, chances are that the smell of fish will permeate the other dishes. But, with a bit of lemon and some good scrubbing, you can get most of the smell out of the board. Some experts recommend combining the improvised lemon cleaner with some coarse salt (kosher salt works best) both for its physical and chemical properties.
There are many other cleaning tips that can make your cleaning a lot simpler – you can find plenty of tips on using vinegar and baking soda. Whatever tips you decide to use, make sure to first try them on a smaller scale before applying them to your whole home.