Cut up old 100% cotton t-shirts you don’t wear anymore to make the best washable, reusable cleaning rags
Cutting them up into usable rectangles or squares is perfectly fine, too. And when they reach the end of their life as cleaning rags, you can drop them off somewhere they can be recycled again.
And majorly cut down on the drying time for any load by adding a clean, dry towel to the beginning of the cycle, then removing it after about 15 minutes.
The towel will soak up a bunch of water from your wet clothes, so when you remove it to hang to dry, everything still in the dryer will finish faster. And you’ll save energy!
Coax hard water stains off your glass shower doors by dipping half a lemon in kosher or another coarse salt and embracing the elbow grease
The acid in the lemon will help dissolve the buildup, and the salt helps scrape it off.
–> Read more: Budget & Money Hacks That No one Told You Before
Crush egg shells to make both scrubbing stubborn gunk out of a pan *and* washing dried-on smoothie or sauce out of a jar incredibly easy
For caked-on crud, just break up the eggshell in the pan, and scrub with a soapy sponge as usual. The bits of shell will help scour out the cooked-on bits. For jars, add the shells and a little bit of water, put the lid on, and shake (uncooked rice works for this trick, too). Follow with a regular wash in hot, soapy water.
Customize a personal all-purpose cleaner in a sturdy, refillable glass spray bottle to cut down on buying multiple plastic-packaged cleaning products
All you need is to mix a cup of vinegar with a cup of water, and you’re set! Some people like adding essential oils to cover up the vinegar scent. Whether or not you do that, though, once the cleaner dries, the vinegar smell will be gone, too. Get a pack of two sturdy amber glass spray bottles with durable, well-designed sprayers on Amazon. Or just reuse an empty plastic spray bottle you have already — just make sure to rinse it completely clean, first.
You can also infuse vinegar with your favorite citrus and herb combinations to make a gently scented all-purpose cleaner out of kitchen scraps and leftovers
Simply fill a mason jar with vinegar, citrus peels of your choice, and any herbs you like, then put the lid on and let it sit for two weeks. Strain it, and you have a lovely scented cleaner.
Sprinkle of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide to take your sink from scummy to sparkling
Dust your sink with baking soda, scrub that with a sponge, then spritz with the hydrogen peroxide, scrub a little more, let everything sit for a few minutes, then rinse — it’ll be clean! From Lemons, Lavender, and Laundry.
Same goes for white sneakers: a coating of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda can save the day
Basically, you mix the two together with a little water, rub a couple coats all over your shoes, then let the whole thing dry in bright sunlight. (Put the laces in the cup of remaining mixture.) When you rinse a few hours later, they’ll be good as new.
Vinegar + water + lemon can steam-clean your microwave to sparkling with almost no effort on your part
Fill a bowl with water, add a splash of vinegar and the sliced lemons, and microwave for fine minutes. Leave the door closed for another five minutes, then all the stuck-on bits will wipe right off, no scrubbing required.
Tackle mysterious set-in carpet stains with a color-safe cleaning cloth, an iron, and some vinegar
It’s basically a DIY steam cleaning — spritz the carpet with the vinegar, lay your cloth (like an old white tee!) on top of it, then use the steam setting on your iron, being careful to slowly move your iron around so you don’t melt any carpet fibers.
The next time you need a new mop, create a Cuban bar mop one! It uses two pieces of wood and an old hand towel to get your floors sparkling clean
You just dip your towel in the cleaning solution of your choice squeeze it out, wrap it around your mop, and go. And when you’re done, you toss the towel in the washer!
Mix baking soda and coconut oil together to clean off tougher sticky messes, like the gunk left behind by stickers or labels on glass
Mix ’em together in equal parts, and add a couple drops of essential oil if you’d like. Spread over the sticky substance, wait a bit, and then wipe and rinse clean. The baking soda helps scrub the sticky stuff up, and the coconut oil works to un-stick it from the surface.
Dust your ceiling fan by sliding a pillowcase over each blade to trap the dirt, instead of just brushing it back into the air
Then shake the pillowcase outside and run it through the laundry to get rid of the dust once and for all
Swap out dryer sheets for reusable felted wool dryer balls, so you make less trash and your clothes still come out soft as can be
You can even add a drop or two of your favorite essential oil to one of the balls for a light, pleasant scent. Some people even say these help their clothes dry a little bit faster.
source: buzzfeed
