Keeping your home clean can be challenging, and even daunting at times. Life gets busy,and it can be easy to neglect your cleaning chores. When it all feels like it is building up, don’t let it overwhelm you – take it one room at a time. Use our tried and true cleaning hacks to get your home smelling fresh and looking extra sparkly.

Better yet, these cleaning tips and tricks use products that are natural and have no harsh chemicals, keeping your home safe for you and your family.

A clean home has been shown to reduce stress, improve mental health, and motivate you.

Check out our top 6 favorite cleaning hacks for those hard-to-get messes and build-up.

One: Clean your dishwasher with baking soda and vinegar.

Baking soda and vinegar are a power cleaning combo that is both effective and safe. We use baking soda and vinegar for cleaning the dishwasher.

Isn’t it frustrating when you’re unloading your dishwasher and half of your dishes are still coming out with food residue stuck to them? OR, every time you open your dishwasher, there is a strange smell – even when you’ve just run a clean cycle?

Follow the steps below to clean your dishwasher so that your dishes come out sparkling and fresh every time. We recommend doing this at least once per month.

1. Empty your dishwasher
2. Remove and rinse the filter in your sink
3. Replace the filter
4. Fill one cup with vinegar and place on the top rack
5. Run a clean cycle (if you have a short or one-hour setting, you can use this)
6. Sprinkle baking soda on all surfaces in the dishwasher and then run one more cycle
7. Open your dishwasher and it will be sparkling and smelling fresh!

We also use baking soda and vinegar to clean the washing machine, bathtub, and toilet.

Two: Erase those tough sink, tub, and toilet stains with essential oils.

Essential Oils are another great alternative that work wonders and are free of harsh chemicals.

Our top three picks for cleaning oils are lemon, orange, and tea tree oil. When combined with water, vinegar or baking soda, they make for great scrub and disinfectant.
Lemon and baking soda work great for stains on your tub, sink or toilet. Follow the steps below to make a scrub that will work out the tough stains. You can mix 15 drops of tea tree oil, 15 drops of lemon or orange oil, one cup of baking soda, and water. Let sit for 30 minutes and then scrub with a brush, rinse, and voila!

Three: Steam clean your microwave with lemon oil + water + vinegar

We all know just how dirty the inside of your microwave can get, and just how hard they can be to get clean. Try this hack and your microwave will be sparkling clean and smelling good with a few simple steps.

1. Fill a microwave-safe bowl with one cup of water, one cup of vinegar, and 10 drops of lemon oil
2. Turn microwave on high for 4-5 minutes
3. This will disinfect your microwave
4. Once this is done, take a wet dishcloth and wipe down the inside of your microwave (it will come clean so easily!)

Four: Remove carpet stains with rubbing alcohol or vodka.

Surprisingly enough, vodka is a great disinfectant and stain remover. Blot the stain first, and then pour rubbing alcohol or vodka on top. Let it soak for a few minutes, then remove and give it a final scrub. The stain will be out in no time!

Five: Clean your ceiling fans with pillowcases.

Cleaning the ceiling fans was always one of my most dreaded tasks because it would result in dust falling everywhere, making more of a mess than when I first started.

And, let’s be honest, ceiling fans can collect A LOT of dust.

Try this handy trick and let us know how it works.

Take an old pillowcase, slip it over a blade and wipe down. The soft fabric of your pillowcase will help ensure you don’t ruin the fan, and the dust will fall into the pillowcase, rather than on the floor.

Six: Use your hair dryer and olive oil for water rings.

Have you left a wet glass of water on your wooden table, or a hot plate and left that annoying ring on your table? Try heating up the area with a hair dryer, and rubbing a couple of drops of olive oil on it with a microfiber cloth in a circular motion.

We hope these tried and true cleaning tips and tricks help with those tough to get stains and messes.

If you’d rather call an expert to come to the rescue, we’d love to hear from you! We offer a free consultation to see if we’re a good fit for your needs. Connect with us today.