Clean and tidy: 9 tips that make cleaning easier
Alexandra Savina
Spring is traditionally considered the harvest season: General cleaning is usually carried out in the warm months. But it is definitely not worthwhile to postpone cleaning until next year, because the more often we put things in order, the less effort will have to be applied. We share useful tips and techniques that will greatly facilitate the cleaning of the house and turn it into almost a pleasant experience.
Start cleaning better from the bedroom or living room, and finish the bathroom and toilet, so as not to carry around the house dirt. In addition, in the process you will pour and drain water many times, and in a clean toilet or bath it makes no sense. It is better to clean the premises "from the top down": start from the shelves and gradually move to the furniture located below. Vacuuming and washing the floors is the last thing to say - yes, the vacuum cleaner raises a certain amount of dust into the air, but wiping tables and other furniture will inevitably brush dust and dirt onto the floor - which means you will have to vacuum again. In order not to miss anything in the cleaning process, it is better to establish the order in which you move in the room and to clean up according to a certain system - for example, from right to left and from top to bottom.
So that there are no streaks on the surfaces, it is better to wipe them not with circular, but with vertical or horizontal movements - in addition, it will help not to miss anything in the cleaning process. If you use a special cleaner, leave it on the surface for a short time after spraying - it will work better. It is especially good to do this while cleaning the bath and the toilet - you can safely leave the substance for a few minutes, and at this time do other things. At the same time, make sure that the tool does not have time to dry - there will be additional stains and to scour the surface after that will be even more difficult.
To clean the bath, there is another useful technique: before applying the cleaning agent, it is necessary to rinse it with hot water in one or two minutes - the substance will work more efficiently. Vinegar will help you to remove stubborn stains and stains on taps, in the sink or in the bath: you can use it as an ordinary cleaning agent, or you can soak a cloth in it and wrap it around the dirty tap for an hour - after that it will be much easier to wipe the stains off. To combat water stains on a wooden surface, ordinary mayonnaise is useful: you need to put it on a rag and rub the surface until the stain disappears.
Another important tip which in the process of cleaning, as a rule, do not think. Often, wiping the surface from dust and greasy marks, we forget about the areas where there are a lot of fingerprints and that get very dirty with time. During cleaning, pay attention to door handles, cabinets and drawer handles, switches, buttons on equipment and other things that you regularly touch with your hands.
Cope with dirt in the microwave will help next life hacking. Pour one or two cups of water into a microwaveable utensil and add a spoonful of vinegar. Heat the dishes in the microwave until half of the liquid evaporates. Do not open the oven door immediately, wait ten minutes - during this time the steam will help the dirt to move away from the walls. Then remove the bowl from the oven and wipe the walls with a damp cloth or sponge - the dirt should be washed off relatively easily. Alternatively, instead of vinegar, you can use lemon juice, mixing it with water in a ratio of one to one.
Cutting boards we used to wash after meals, along with the rest of the dishes - but once a week they should be cleaned more carefully. To do this, sprinkle the board with coarse salt, then wipe it with half a lemon and rinse well with water. Citrus should also help to cope with food stains - for this, lemon juice should be left on the board for about twenty minutes. In addition, citric acid well helps to fight rust. To use it to wipe the problem area, you need to moisten a rag in it and wipe the rusty surface. Also, the acid will help clean the electric kettle from scale: you need to add it to the water, and then boil it.
Instead of a rag, spilled bread or dust crumbs in hard-to-reach places, you can assemble with adhesive tape: to do this, you need to glue a long strip of wide tape to the surface, and then tear it off. With the help of a tape, it is possible to clean even hard-to-reach places in the drawers - to do this, you need to crumple it, leaving the adhesive part outside, and walk the resulting ball on the surface. Another unobvious reception - glass fragments from the floor can be collected with a soft piece of bread. The main thing is to be careful not to press too hard to avoid injury.
It is unlikely that you forget to regularly change bedding - but for sure you don’t pay proper attention to cleaning the mattress. From time to time it is worth getting it in order to vacuum it, removing all the hairs, crumbs and dust particles that had time to accumulate on it. In addition, it is worth sprinkling the mattress with a special cleaning spray - it will help to remove the smell and sanitize the surface. You can also get rid of odors with a mixture of soda and 10-20 drops of essential oil: the resulting powder is wiped off the surface and left for an hour. Do not forget to thoroughly vacuum the mattress so that there is no money left on it.
Get rid of unpleasant smell in the fridge soda will also help: you need to dilute four tablespoons in a liter of water, moisten a rag in this mixture and wipe all surfaces with it - walls, shelves and a door. Another option is to get rid of the unpleasant aroma with the help of the same lemon: for this you need to moisten several cotton balls in lemon juice and store them in the refrigerator. However, it will not save you if the products smell just because they have deteriorated - so it is better to monitor the shelf life and promptly throw out the expired.
You can scrub the burnt pan with vinegar: To do this, you need to fill the pan with water, add a glass of vinegar to it (perhaps more or less depends on the size of the dish), put it to heat and remove when the water starts to boil, and small air bubbles appear at the bottom of the pan. After that, you need to drain and wash as usual. If there are still stains on it, you can dilute the soda with a few drops of water and apply the resulting paste for a few minutes and then wash it off. The main thing - remember that you should not mix vinegar and soda in the cleaning process. Both products are well cleaned separately, but when mixed, the properties of both are neutralized and carbon dioxide is released, which, alas, does not help you in cleaning.
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