My Best Cleaning Hacks: 6 Cleaning Tips

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard someone say, “I meant to clean, but I just didn’t have time,” I’d be on a tropical island somewhere instead of writing this blog! I’m busy, you’re busy, we’re all busy. Cleaning doesn’t always feel like it fits into our schedule.

That’s why I write so many blogs on how to clean fast! And it’s why I’m constantly testing out new cleaning tips and tricks and cleaning hacks that can save you time when it comes to keeping things clean. 

Today, I’m sharing with you six of my favorite cleaning hacks and laundry hacks for getting your cleaning done quickly. We’re talking: 

• Eliminate Stinky Trash Can Odors
• DIY Armpit Stain Remover (Laundry Hack)
• Banish Wrinkled Clothes (No Iron Needed)
• Dusting Hacks for Eco-Friendly Cleaning
• Smelly Sponges Begone
• Quick and Easy Pet Hair Removal

And if you’re not satisfied with only six cleaning hacks, be sure to check out 15 Awesome Cleaning Hacks!

Eliminate Stinky Trash Can Odors

Nobody likes a stinky trash can. But our trash cans hold trash (obvious statement of the year award), so of course, they can start to smell. Even our indoor trash cans, especially in the kitchen, can get pretty stinky! Cleaning your trash can is a way to eliminate odors, but we don’t have the time to clean our trash cans every week! So what can we do to stop odors without spending all our time cleaning?

Newspaper! You might be saying, huh? And that’s fair. But crumpled newspaper at the bottom of the trash can helps absorb leaks and smells that come from your trash bag. And when you toss your trash, toss the newspaper too. Replace the newspaper before you put in a fresh bag, and you can avoid trash can odors and having to clean your trash too often. 

DIY Armpit Stain Remover (Laundry Hack)

Have you ever taken a clean load of laundry out of the dryer only to realize that your light-colored shirts have yellow stains under the armpits? I know I have. And what do you do when you see this? Well, the old Melissa would have thrown them back into the laundry. That’s two loads of laundry and twice the work! Not to mention, it’s a huge waste of water. 

Instead of redoing your laundry, beat yellow stains with my DIY armpit stain remover. To do this, combine baking soda and water to make a paste. There are no correct proportions here; you’re just going for a pudding-like consistency. Check garments for stains before putting them in the laundry. Then, apply this paste and let sit overnight. Throw your clothes in the laundry the next day, and they’ll come out stain-free! If you are still seeing stains with this recipe, you can swap the water with hydrogen peroxide for a great DIY lightener and stain remover. 

Banish Wrinkled Clothes (No Iron Needed)

Remember when our parents broke out the iron for almost every shirt? Well, I do. But do I want to spend my precious time ironing my family’s shirts? Heck no! So instead of letting clothes get wrinkled in the wash, let’s eliminate those wrinkles and the source and eliminate our need to iron. 

As soon as your washing machine stops spinning, grab that laundry. No, not after you finish washing this episode, right now! Letting garments sit wet in the washing machine is a surefire way to create wrinkles. So putting items directly into the dryer or hanging them immediately after the washing machine is finished helps prevent wrinkles. And give each piece a good snap before it goes in the dryer or on the laundry rack. This snap shakes it out of the shape that it settled in when all the other clothes sat on top of it in a lumpy pile in the washing machine.

Smelly Sponges Refreshed 

Do you ever get a whiff of your kitchen sponge and notice it smells pretty funky? That’s because sponges are designed to absorb all that grease, food waste, and everything else on our dishes and counters. No matter how much you rinse a sponge, you can’t completely rinse out its inner pores. 

Or at least that was true until Scotch-Brite Scrub Dots Sponges. These sponges have scrub dots, meaning they actually rinse clean! This means you can use them for longer without contaminating all your dishes, and without that stanky sponge smell.

Scotch-Brite Scrub Dots come as non-scratch sponges, heavy duty sponges, and even as dishwands! If you want more info on time-saving, money saving, high quality dishwashing products check out 12 Essential Products to Perfect Your Dishwashing Routine.

Dusting Hacks for Eco-Friendly Cleaning 

Speaking of laundry, do you use dryer sheets? If you’re wondering what dryer sheets have to do with dusting, welcome to the wonderful world of a professional cleaner’s brain! You can give your dryer sheets a second life before tossing them in the trash (reduce, reuse!). 

Grab a used dryer sheet and dust your baseboards! A used dryer sheet won’t have that coating on it that it does before laundry, but that’s a good thing when it comes to cleaning baseboards. Even after use, your dryer sheets will have some electromagnetic charge to them, meaning they’ll attract dust. Simply wipe your baseboards with your dryer when you finish your laundry. 

If you don’t use dryer sheets, but you still want to be eco-friendly, be sure to dust with microfiber cloths. This way, you can reuse your cleaning tool, and nothing goes in the landfill at all. Either way, your baseboards are going to look great!

Quick and Easy Pet Hair Removal

If you have a dog or a cat, you are familiar with the cleaning nightmare that is pet hair. It gets EVERYWHERE. And pet hair seems to miraculously dodge even a regular vacuum. So what can we pet owners do?

My favorite quick and easy pet hair removal method is to use a squeegee. Take a squeegee and use it across any hair-laden area. This works especially well on carpets and upholstery. I recommend short strokes, and you’ll need to go over the area a few times. When you’re finished, you’ll be amazed at the amount of pet hair that was hiding in your couch. 

Cleaning Tips for A Cleaner Home Faster

Well, that’s it for this cleaning hacks article! Keeping small tips in the back of our minds can help us keep our homes fresh and clean in very little time. While you can’t avoid a big clean forever, paying attention to small details will help keep everything tidy throughout the week and make things easier when it’s time to clean the whole house. 

If you’re looking for even more cleaning tips, read How Clean Is Your House: 5 Cleaning Tips. And if you have tips we haven’t covered, leave them in the comments below.