5 Cleaning Hacks for Your Home

Why waste money on expensive off-the-shelf products or use harsh chemicals that can potentially harm your health and household items? Here are some brilliant ideas to clean your home using harmless products that you can probably find at home. By Arman Shah

Newspaper can be used to absorb odours in your fridge

 

Is there a funky smell stinking up your refrigerator? Newspaper can deodorise all kinds of enclosed spaces, so crumple up an unused piece and leave it in the fridge (or even in your shoes and kitchen drawers) to absorb the odour. The environmentally-conscious can then dump the newspaper into the recycling bin, use it as cat litter or do whatever it is that your unlimited creativity can conjure.

Remove shower head stains with a ziplock bag filled with vinegar

 

Your shower head needs a good cleansing if it’s stained with a grotesque build-up of mineral deposit. Instead of using off-the-shelf chemicals that may be harmful to your health, try using vinegar. Simply fill up a ziplock or plastic bag with distilled white vinegar, tie it around the shower head and leave it for 30 minutes or even overnight, depending on how dirty the shower head is.

Your sofa can look clean and brand new again with baking soda

 

Don’t despair if you don’t have the money to reupholster your sofa. Baking soda can be used to clean your natural-fiber couch and make it look brand new again. Firstly, wipe the dust or any dried gunk on your sofa using a clean cloth or stiff brush. Then, sprinkle baking soda on your couch and leave it on for about twenty minutes before vacuuming the baking soda up. To deep clean, mix in a dry carpet cleaner that’s suitable for your sofa’s fabric.

Clean your oven with a combination of baking soda and vinegar

 

Years of baking have left your oven grimy. Treat yours to a good scrub with a combination of baking soda and vinegar. After removing the oven racks, coat the interior of your oven (while avoiding the heating elements) with baking soda paste; this is made by mixing half a cup of baking soda with a few tablespoons of water. Leave the coating overnight before using a damp cloth to wipe off the paste. Spray some vinegar to remove the baking soda residue.

Scrub your cabinet doors using vegetable oil and baking soda on a toothbrush

 

Instead of changing your entire kitchen cabinet and burning a hole in your pocket, scrub it clean and make it look brand new again with some easy-to-find ingredients at home. Mix one-part vegetable oil with two-parts baking soda to create the ultimate gunk remover. While it’s perfectly fine to use your gloved fingers to do the scrubbing, you will probably get the best results with a toothbrush, cloth or sponge.

Photo credit: Feature image by Wikivisual

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