Cleaning

In literature, in outfits and in life, it’s the details that truly matter. A bathroom that’s been decluttered, scrubbed and sanitized can still look a little bit off if you’re not minding your lines. For a sparkling clean bathroom—top to bottom and wall to wall—you’ll want to make sure your grout is really clean, too. The good news?

Our spring cleaning journey has been about turning over some lesser-cleaned leaves and refreshing your space to feel brand new for the season ahead. So in many ways, today’s assignment is symbolic of the whole shebang. We’re going to be flipping and turning, revealing a fresh new face for some of the most-used and much-loved parts of your home. Your sofa and bed see a lot of action day to day.

Confession time: My body and I have a long, sordid love-hate relationship. I’ve dealt with chronic illness and body image issues for as long as I can remember—I was always somehow too sick or too big or too small in my mind, and I was never forgiving or kind enough to myself when I needed it most. And over the years, my struggles with my body became very much personified in my wardrobe.

You don't have to be an allergy sufferer to reap the benefits of clean air at home.

As if laundry isn’t hard enough to keep under control, there are those little labels with tiny instructions and inscrutable hieroglyphics that we’re supposed to obey. But, seriously, who has time to sort not only by color and clothing type but by meticulous instructions?!

I firmly believe that some things are best left out of sight. When someone walks into my kitchen, I definitely don’t want the first thing they see to be a trash can. So stashing that trash bin in a cabinet seemed like a logical, aesthetically pleasing solution. Bonus: Keeping it behind closed doors meant I wouldn’t have to waste (get it?) precious square footage. I’m sad to report, however, that keeping garbage in the cabinet below my sink has proven to be a bad idea.

If you’re lucky enough to have your own, your washer and dryer are probably among your most expensive household appliances. But it’s easy to just crank the laundry through them without giving them much care. They are sophisticated machines, though, that need proper maintenance if you want to keep them working their best and for a long time. This weekend, familiarize yourself with how to properly take care of these very handy workhorses.

Get the right organization in place to suit your cabinets and your needs.

Love a clean home but hate actually doing the cleaning part? Same. Sometimes a good “I’m stressed and I need something to distract me” clean can be totally satisfying, but on a daily basis, chores can be hard to keep up with. “The Cleaning Ninja” by Courtenay Hartford, aims to help people who want to keep their home cleaner and get it done faster.

As I read the introductory chapters of Cheryl Mendelson’s Home Comforts, in which she describes the homekeeping styles of her English grandmother in contrast to that of her Italian grandmother, I began to think about how much the way I do things in my own home is part of the heritage passed down to me by the women in my family. I saw that my methods of homekeeping are more cultural than I realized and in a context of passed down, inter-generational wisdom.

Though it would seem like life without a closet in your bedroom is an impossible way to live, it’s more than just possible — it can even look stylish. All these beautiful homes below have something in common: The master bedroom either doesn’t have a built-in closet or doesn’t have nearly sufficient closet space. But, these home dwellers were able to come up with an elegant storage solution anyway.

It would be great if we could solve all our clothing problems with a quick spin through the washer and dryer. But some items wouldn’t withstand their rigors — and some problems just can’t be solved with the washer and dryer. There’s another ubiquitous household appliance, though, that addresses some common clothing conundrums. Here are some occasions for sticking clothes in the freezer instead.

I’ve struggled with finding a truly functional dustpan and brush combo. Too often the bristles don’t pick up all the debris, and dust gets caught under the lip of the dustpan, leaving that frustrating line of dirt behind. It makes me crazy! I finally found the right dustpan and brush combo, and it’s great almost all of the time.

Doing laundry seems like a fairly straightforward process, and it’s one of the first chores many of us learn how to do. But there are a lot of ways—both big and small—that you could be damaging your washer and dryer in the process, so it’s important to be careful when you’re throwing your clothes in the wash.

You know how it goes — it’s been a minute since you did a load of laundry, so you roam the house scooping up soiled clothes. When you happen upon the moist dish rags in the sink and the cleaning cloths you recently used to wipe down the counters, you toss those in, too. Hey, we’ve all done it. But is it even OK to wash your cleaning supplies and clothes together? The question, of course, isn’t whether you can. It’s whether you should.

Keeping socks paired up through the laundry cycle is pretty simple if you toss them in a mesh bag beforehand, but that step doesn’t make its way into everyone’s routine. If you’re more likely to toss dirty socks in the general direction of the hamper—well, you’re probably hoarding a pretty large “orphan sock” collection.

Keeping your home clean and organized requires a lot of effort—there are a lot of tasks both big and little to keep track of that add up, taking up quite a bit of your time and energy. It can honestly get overwhelming, especially if you lead an already busy lifestyle, or deal with depression, and have to face a mess that’s piled up.

Most of my housekeeping habits come from my German mother. She is the queen of clean and the reason my home is mostly spick-and-span. (Although it will never be as tidy as hers, ever.) Still, I have to give credit where credit is due: My favorite trick for ridding rugs of dirt, dog hair, and whatever else ends up embedded in my treasured carpets comes from my dad (who is Irish and English, if that matters). To say that my dad has a penchant for nice rugs is an understatement.

It’s impressive when a couple shares a tiny home together. But even more extraordinary is what Devon Loftus and her chef husband Brian Loftus have managed to pull off in their super small, 320-square-foot tiny house: cook, bake and entertain, despite having a kitchen that’s only 18 square feet! How do they do it? The couple generously shared their small but successful kitchen dwelling secrets.

Advice from design writers is great and all, but what’s useful is learning about what people who are actually dealing with real rental issues are doing to overcome design dilemmas. Since the worlds of rental issues and small space problems can often overlap, why not look to folks with stylish spaces for ideas on how to make the most of the rental space you have?

Freshly grated mozzarella (or any cheese!) is an amazing addition to all kinds of foods, but the process of grating it can be a pain. And we’re not just talking about the actual work of running it across the grater over and over again—without, hopefully, cutting your fingers!—but also the actual cleanup. That soft, fatty cheese can get stuck inside the grater’s holes and you can tear up your sponge (or really injure yourself!) trying to get it clean.

I like to reduce the chemicals in our household, not only because I don’t want them accessible to my young children, but also because I try to reduce our chemical exposure in general. That’s why I mix my own Alvin Corn glass cleaner (“alcohol, vinegar, cornstarch” — awesome stuff), and use baking soda to scrub my sinks.

I’ve tried so many things to help me manage the massive amount of laundry that is generated in my household. I strive to do a load a day, I “complete the cycle” by putting folded clothes away right away, and I even bought myself a nifty little tool that makes folding extremely satisfying. But I’ve realized that what I need to address is something way more fundamental. Nothing quite screams You’re behind on laundry like a hamper that’s too full.

The Internet loves a good decluttering trend: We’ve long extolled the value of KonMari-ing your stuff, for instance, keeping only the things that “Spark Joy” and discarding the rest. But this year the latest big thing in cleaning and organizing philosophies has taken a decidedly darker tone: Swedish Death Cleaning.

Want the clock to move a little faster as you scrub the tub? Just turn on some tunes. We’ve always known that music is proven to provide positive benefits and affects when it comes to mood and emotions, productivity and focus, and learning and memory. But for something as mundane as scrubbing floors or washing dishes to become an enjoyable task—well, that’s a significant leap.

Emily Ley is a mama of three, a designer, author, and the creator of the wildly popular Simplified Planner. She lives in a perfectly imperfect new-build house in Florida with her husband and kiddos…and she knows a thing or two about simplifying life. Below, her four simple steps for ruthlessly clearing the clutter in the New Year. Here’s Emily: The beginning of a new year feels so fresh, doesn’t it? The giant, light-up holiday decor has been put away.

In any survey of most-disliked household tasks, cleaning toilets is high on the list, for obvious reasons. You may know how to clean a toilet properly, and you may enjoy the end result of a less-than-enjoyable toilet-cleaning sesh. But what if you could take cleaning the toilet off your list of to-dos for good? Although the self-cleaning toilet concept isn’t brand new, prices are dropping and they are starting to pop up in more regular homes.

Empty tissue boxes: Can’t live with them, but can’t figure out anything to do with them once they’re empty (other than just tossing them). Luckily, we discovered an awesome reason to save your used tissue boxes from the recycling bin, and upcycle them into something more purposeful for your home. Use your empty tissue boxes to collect dryer lint, folks. Dryer lint! You know, that unsightly stuff you peel off the filter before you do a load of laundry?

Once in a blue super blood moon, a blogger comes along and from the first time you see them on video, you want them to move into your house and be your best friend. For me, that moment came this year when “meeting” delightful wish-she-would-adopt me mama Tonya Payne of Hey Tonya, whose YouTube tutorial documenting her complete overhaul of a tiny rental laundry room using only dollar store products is going viral. Because it’s genius — and she’s just plain adorable.

Pegboard and IKEA seem like a match made in heaven and now we can enjoy this marriage here on earth. Released in Europe and other parts of the world last spring under the name SKADIS, the line just landed here in the U.S. and neatniks everywhere can rejoice. The basic SKADIS board comes in three sizes priced between $8-$16.

Seriously, stick a rubber glove under your sofa cushions and you'll never have to scold Fido for jumping on the couch again.

We all love shortcuts — especially when they involve saving time doing repetitive, not-fun chores that we can’t escape …like, uhh, laundry. With the more recent advent of washing machines and detergents that are said to wash clothes just as well with cold water as with warm or hot, the suggestion to flout convention and forego separating seems to be gaining popularity. Here’s why we say no to combo laundry loads and yes to doing laundry the way your mother taught you.

Do you have cleaning wipes at the ready at all times? Does sweeping make you feel Zen? Have you been taking flak from your friends for years for being a quote-unquote neat freak? Well then do we have some good news for you. People who like to clean are supposedly happier, according to research recently conducted by The Clorox Company (who, of course, it deserves to be noted might have a vested interest).

I love inexpensive, simple DIY household cleaners with one giant caveat: they have to work. One of my very favorite homemade cleaners is Alvin Corn. I’ve mixed one up for every bathroom in the house and one for common areas and it’s one cleaning solution I’ll never replace. Alvin Corn is a homemade glass cleaner that actually works — and works so very well. I first found out about it years ago on Crunchy Betty when she tested several homemade glass cleaners.

We’ve all been there. After several loads of laundry, the measuring-cap-slash-lid on your detergent can get pretty grimy with gunky buildup. But thanks to a clever tip from Redditor bluechris11, we now know a solid way to quickly clean your gross detergent caps. Believe it or not, you can simply toss your dirty detergent cap in with your next load of laundry to give it a good wash.

If you’re anything like me, then you love cuddling up with plush throw blankets when you’re in bed (and on the sofa). But with all that close-knit nightly snuggling, it can be hard to figure out the right time to let go of your favorite throw and toss it in the wash. Luckily, we have laundry experts John Mahdessian, founder of Madame Paulette, and Kim Duk Won, owner of Manhattan’s Nordic Cleaners to call upon for help.

You know how weightlifters and gymnasts use chalk powder to keep their sweaty hands dry? The same principle carries over with all kinds of grease (dry shampoo, anyone?). Next time you find yourself with an oil splatter or greasy stain on your favorite top, trade in your stain stick and try pre-treating with a little chalk instead. Like baby powder, chalk is ultra-absorbent, making it a must-have to keep on hand for bacon grease splatters and lipstick marks alike.

We’re eager for that moment to throw our windows open to fresh spring breezes — and it seems that the things outside our homes are awaiting the opportunity, too (but for different motives). If it’s not the pollen blowing inside, it’s the bugs that somehow make it through the tiniest nooks and crannies you don’t see (even if you have screens).

Nothing compares to the smell of fresh laundry that’s been hanging outside to dry. Not only is it a fresh and efficient way to do laundry, it’s also oft-touted as a way to brighten whites without having to use special detergents or harsh chemicals. All you need is plenty of time and sunshine. First, wash your clothing as usual, adding up to ½ cup of lemon juice to the wash for an extra boost. (You can also add lemon juice to a spray bottle and spray directly on tough stains.

Aspirin is a staple in just about everybody’s medicine cabinets. But beyond its medicinal purposes, aspirin comes in handy for many uses at home, with applications ranging from laundry aid to dandruff treatment. Especially if your aspirin tends to expire before you see the bottom of the bottle, these household uses will allow your go-to pain reliever to do more than just that.

There are a few conversation topics that remain off limits today. Polite company (if they want to remain polite) might not touch politics. Coworkers often avoid talking about their salaries. And unless you’re very close friends, you probably don’t ever feel brave enough to reveal how truly filthy you actually are at home. Thankfully you don’t have to.

Paring down your wardrobe can make your life so much easier—less clothing takes up less space, and keeping your options to a minimum makes getting ready quicker. But on the other hand, it can be a challenge: what if you still want the option to try new trends and experiment with different styles without buying more and more clothes? If you’re in this boat maybe it’s time to try a clothing rental service.

Amidst vociferous feelings on both sides of the debate, many millennials are famously abandoning top sheets. But along with traditionalists and Xennials like me (I’d never do it), the bedding industry mostly hasn’t caught up with this probably-here-to-stay trend, because top sheets do serve an important purpose as part of a sheet set.

On National Laundry Day (April 15, if you’re curious), GE conducted a poll about the public’s laundry habits. Pertaining to bath towels, “50% of those polled live by the philosophy that ‘I’m clean when I use it’ because they all admit to using their bath towel at least five times before throwing it in the washer. An additional 14 percent use their bath towels more than eight times before it hits the laundry basket.

Laundry isn’t just about washing dirty clothes so you have clean ones to wear. It’s about cleaning and maintaining your wearables and textiles so that they always look their best, whether that means making jewelry sparkle, getting stains out of the lining of a purse, or keeping shoes looking their sharpest. And there’s a simple way to have all those things: A tube of non-gel toothpaste.

When my children were little, they had small security blankets. I learned after my first child that a light color (hers was pink) was a really, really bad idea. She took it everywhere with her, and within a few months, despite regular washings, it was a dingy pinkish gray. I’d jokingly refer to it as a biohazard. These days, most adults’ cell phones go with them even more places than a baby takes her security blanket.

There are a lot of ways to make—or not make—a bed. And although even the most habit-oriented among us changes up our technique every once in a while, it’s safe to say we all settle into a regular rhythm when it comes to the way we manage our sleeping abode. But what, exactly, do our sheet-folding, pillow-piling, comforter-crumpling tendencies say about the ins and outs of our lives (and our personalities) as a whole? Well, kind of a lot.

It’s a sign of my age that I get crazy excited about the little things at home. Sure, the frivolous things of my youth still hold some sway, but all I really want is a good vacuum that will suck up rogue animal fur, and a sink that cleans itself. I can probably manage the vacuum, but a self-cleaning sink is most likely not in the cards. That’s ok though, because this one from Elkay is the next best thing. I was recently online, drooling over someone’s recent kitchen renovation.

Our front doors are the portals between the outside world and the sanctity of our homes. Whether your front door is the actual entrance you use to get into your house, or you go through the back or garage door and only formal guests pass through it, this gateway deserves some attention. This weekend, no matter how plain or grand they are, we’re going to make our front doors the gleaming, stately entrances they want to be.

With Spring Cleaning for Your Mood, we’re helping you get your housekeeping done no matter what state of mind you’re in. For 20 weekdays in April, we’ll focus on cleaning a new area of your space, with three different ways to get it done—so it’s easy to stay on track even when you’re busy, tired, or away from home. Sign up with your email now and enjoy a better space by the end of the month.

The kitchen backsplash is often the accent of your kitchen, the design choice (whether your own or someone else’s) that gives your kitchen its personality and color scheme. Even if your backsplash is humble, it sets your kitchen’s tone. But backsplashes are not just for looks; they work hard, catching splatters, smoke, and dirt that we rarely notice. This weekend, we’re going to give this enduring and often-overlooked surface of your kitchen some care and attention.

With Spring Cleaning for Your Mood, we’re helping you get your housekeeping done no matter what state of mind you’re in. For 20 weekdays in April, we’ll focus on cleaning a new area of your space, with three different ways to get it done—so it’s easy to stay on track even when you’re busy, tired, or away from home. Sign up with your email now and enjoy a better space by the end of the month.

Even if you know all about sorting lights and darks, how to wash and dry different fabric types, and you remember to use the mysterious but very useful permanent press setting, there’s still an easily overlooked laundry mistake that could ruin your clothes and, in rare instances, your washer. Here’s the quick task you need to add to your laundry routine: Make sure your zippers are zipped before you do laundry.

Christine Platt is a writer and the Managing Director of The Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University. And as you saw from her recent house tour, she also embraces many tenets of minimalism. But it’s not the empty, barely-own-anything minimalism you may be familiar with. It’s her own beautiful, bold, colorful brand that you can see on full display on her Instagram account, The Afro Minimalist.

Why is doing laundry always so tedious? Maybe because it takes forever. We spend an average of 18,000 hours of our lives on laundry, and just over one year (375 days) just folding clothes. These stats come courtesy of the marketing materials for the Laundroid, an automatic laundry folding robot, of course… because they have an automatic folding machine to sell. But also, you had us at laundry folding robot.

There’s no better time to get organized than moving in a new house. You have a blank slate to work with—but you also have that box full of clutter you were too overwhelmed to purge while moving. While it can be daunting to know where to even begin corralling stacks of papers or organizing the household junk drawer, there is at least an organization baseline everyone can start at. What is this mysterious model I speak of?

There are few things more inspirational than seeing an impressive before-and-after that takes place in the home. From the smaller spaces like this shoe storage area to the larger projects like this incredible kitchen reno (for under $400!), these jaw-dropping transformations can get you vamped up and ready to organize. To put it plainly, we just can’t get enough of these refreshes—part of the reason why we’re currently swooning over Busy Philipps’ pantry.

Repurposing your household items doesn’t just reduce waste—it saves money, too. That’s the good news. The great news is: You don’t have to be super crafty to reap the benefits of creative reuse. If you think you’ve got the chops (read: literally five minutes) for a super quick, easy, and clever home project, we’ve got just the kitchen DIY for you.

My personal cleaning schedule builds in one day a week to do a deep cleaning task that needs to be done monthly. Honestly, though, I’m rarely on-schedule enough that these monthly projects aren’t bumped out to catch up on skipped weekly chores. Whether a deep cleaning project is a catch-up task for you or it gets you ahead of the game, this weekend we’re going to pick something to clean deeply.

As the holidays approach, you’re probably beginning to haul your seasonal decorations and wrapping paper out from storage. Surprise! Your storage space is brimming with things you totally forgot about, too. But don’t be dismayed by all the crap you forgot—it’s actually great that you’re noticing it during a season when giving back is top of mind. Think of the holidays as your yearly reminder to donate your old, outgrown, and gently used items.

Vacuuming isn’t on many people’s lists of most-hated chores. In fact, I’ve seen it pop up multiple times as people’s favorite cleaning “guilty pleasures.” I get it, for sure. It’s a quick way to make a room look much cleaner and the rewards for your effort are instantly apparent. No matter how much you love to vacuum and how often you do it, though, you’re probably not taking full advantage of everything your vacuum cleaner can do.

Oh yes, there is a wrong and a right way to wash laundry, and you're probably doing it wrong. No more lazy laundering, y'all.

If you’ve just done a Marie Kondo-inspired purge or are midway through our January Cure, why not reward yourself for your newly-immaculate space with something beautiful and useful. We asked Etsy’s head of trends, Dayna Isom Johnson, to pick out her personal favorite organization buys from their marketplace. Ahead, twelve pieces for every part of your home, for a more organized, stylish 2019. “Never misplace your keys again when opting for these color-coordinated keychains.

Warmer weather means opening up your curtains and windows, and letting in the light and fresh air. But, with all that welcome air and sunshine sometimes comes unwelcome bugs and less privacy. Let’s welcome back a classic that can surprisingly solve both issues: lace! Lace is the perfect medium for letting light in and keeping bugs out. Madelene lives in an old Swedish house and, when it gets hot, loves to open the windows and let the air in.

We may not know what tomorrow brings, but that doesn’t stop us from worrying about it. Because let’s face it: There’s a lot going on in the world and in life. We need to carve out as many happy-making moments as we can. One really good place to start? Your underwear drawer. As sexy as the things within it might be, the drawer itself is a pretty unsexy idea.

Filed under things I didn’t know I had to worry about: the fact that the pretty finish on my new kitchen fixtures might not last. When you’re dreaming about a new kitchen, it’s often the jewelry—those gleaming brass fixtures—that imprint on your mind. They certainly did mine. Pinning my little heart out, I began to see patterns in what I liked, and that included modern brass fixtures.

What is it about laundry? For some reason, a well-designed and organized laundry area can inspire deep wells of envy. That’s certainly how I felt when I saw IKEA’s gallery of gorgeous laundry rooms—maybe it’s because my washer and dryer unhappily occupy a wall in my kitchen, a wall where style and organization is certainly less of a priority. Here are some of IKEA’s ingenious ideas you can steal for your own laundry space.

Taylor Swift is approaching a milestone birthday this year—the big 3-0. And while she still has a couple of months to go (her birthday is December 13), she penned a piece for ELLE, “30 Things I Learned Before Turning 30,” in advance of the occasion. Turning 30 can be a milestone year that gets you reflecting on the rights and wrongs that have happened within your 10,950 days of life.

With Spring Cleaning for Your Mood, we’re helping you get your housekeeping done no matter what state of mind you’re in. For 20 weekdays in April, we’ll focus on cleaning a new area of your space, with three different ways to get it done—so it’s easy to stay on track even when you’re busy, tired, or away from home. Sign up with your email now and enjoy a better space by the end of the month.

With Spring Cleaning for Your Mood, we’re helping you get your housekeeping done no matter what state of mind you’re in. For 20 weekdays in April, we’ll focus on cleaning a new area of your space, with three different ways to get it done—so it’s easy to stay on track even when you’re busy, tired, or away from home. Sign up with your email now and enjoy a better space by the end of the month.

With Spring Cleaning for Your Mood, we’re helping you get your housekeeping done no matter what state of mind you’re in. For 20 weekdays in April, we’ll focus on cleaning a new area of your space, with three different ways to get it done—so it’s easy to stay on track even when you’re busy, tired, or away from home. Sign up with your email now and enjoy a better space by the end of the month.

With Spring Cleaning for Your Mood, we’re helping you get your housekeeping done no matter what state of mind you’re in. For 20 weekdays in April, we’ll focus on cleaning a new area of your space, with three different ways to get it done—so it’s easy to stay on track even when you’re busy, tired, or away from home. Sign up with your email now and enjoy a better space by the end of the month.