Home Cleaning

Inspired by the folks who described their own homemade cleansers in our green cleaner comment thread yesterday, we remembered this list of simple and safe homemade metal cleaners in Real Simple Cleaning, and pulled it off the shelf this morning to take a look. Perfect for keeping your kitchen or bath faucets shining bright without chemicals!1. Ketchup brightens copper. According to Real Simple Cleaning, the acetic acid in ketchup dissolves the oxide tarnish that makes copper look cloudy.2.

Kate’s West Village Charm This weekend, in a search of a lost item, I ventured into the no-man’s land of one particular area of my kitchen and was aghast at what I found there. Even though it’s a little-seen area, that doesn’t make it any better in terms of the dust accumulation and the total ick-factor I experienced when I realized what kind of filth I had been harboring. So where was all the grossness hiding?

Think your home is pretty clean? Maybe you’re doing a good job of dusting the spots you remember to clean on the regular, but we bet there are a few spots that are hiding dust bunnies. Peruse this list, take a quick peek in these spots in your home and tell us if we’re right (or tell us which spots we left off). The purpose of this dust/truth revealing list is not to shame anyone who might in fact have any of these dusty spots (I looked and I had dust in three of these spots myself!

Who wants to spend less time doing the dishes? We do! There’s no need to overthink it. Sometimes the answer is simply to create fewer dishes in the first place. Try this simple tip. One person = one drinking vessel. Period.

Every kid with a piggybank knows that careful saving can add up. If you could find a way to save just $4 a week at the laundromat or in your own laundry room, you’d have over $200 at the end of the year to use however you like! Here are 8 simple steps I feel confident will put those extra dollars in the bank. 1. Wait until you can wash full loads.

There are many reasons to let your neat freak flag fly. For one, your home is probably the most spotless of your friends. And you can likely clean house in record time, too. But your knowledge and enthusiasm for cleaning might also pay off for you in bragging rights, today. (And, even if you aren’t in the sweeping and scrubbing fan club, read on, because we have a really fun quiz for you…) On a scale from Danny Tanner to Homer Simpson, how much do you know about cleaning products?

Lemons are kind of a miracle to me. Their wizardly talents range from saving sailors from untimely scurvy deaths, to working equally as well in savory and sweet dishes. And on top of that, lemons are an ace all-natural cleaning agent to use around the house. Lemon is a cleanser and deodorizer that can work wonders for your skin, wardrobe or dresser drawers. Make a serum to calm your puffy, swollen eyes. Mix lemon juice with sugar or salt to create a deliciously smelling body scrub.

If open shelving keeps you honest and un-cluttered, junk drawers are the organizational opposite: a hidden spot where random things are stuck and linger until later used, relocated, thrown out, or recycled. It’s your own personal purgatory and a sanity-saving catchall, so don’t resist it entirely. Just hit the reset button periodically and bring it back under control…and accept that it will fill up again.

The spillage is real.

What I don’t love about the chore of spring cleaning is that once the weather gets nice I want to run outside, not be cooped up at home with rubber gloves and a duster. This month, though, is sort of that sweet spot when I can still justify a day indoors before I start to blow off my apartment for greener, sunnier pastures. Here, I try to make the process less of a chore with our roundup of best spring-cleaning tips.

Looking for help remembering to clean those “forgotten” areas of the home that have a huge impact on your space looking and feeling clean? Well we’ve got today’s assignment to tackle: Blinds! They’re a common element in many homes that we tend to leave off of our regular cleaning to-do lists. Take an hour (or less!) of time to tackle today.

We’ve shared before our opinion of the top most common cleaning tools you should keep around. Though these handy items help you maintain a healthy home, are you doing the best job you can do to keep your tools clean and working efficiently? We’ve rounded up the best ways to clean the most common cleaning tools you have around the house. It could be the perfect task for any extra time you’ve got this weekend! Here are a few of the tools we use on a daily basis.

You can turn to this list again and again, regaining control and calming the chaos with as little work as possible.

What inspires you to get organized? Maybe it’s a trip to the Container Store, or a favorite magazine or blog, or a visit to a friend’s house. For me, the fire was lit at a tender age by that childhood classic, The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room.So I decided to go back through this beloved book, as an adult, and see if there were any gems of organizing wisdom that would be applicable to us grown-up, non-bear types. Here’s what I found.1.

This year, we’re on a mission to help you tackle spring cleaning on your time. Each weekday until April 13, we’ll guide you through a plan to clean and organize different areas of your home, but you’ll have the flexibility to choose exactly what to work on and how long you have to dedicate to the job. Five days down, and five days to go. We’re at the halfway point of our spring clean and I hope you’re feeling reset for the home stretch.

Time is short, and cleaning isn’t fun. After a long week of work, and busy days with family, isn’t cleaning one of the last ways you want to spend your free time? If keeping a tidier home is one of your new year’s resolutions, consider hiring a professional cleaner. If you have the means to hire a professional, I definitely recommend it. My household started hiring out this service a few years ago.

Not all furniture we find is attractive. It might be picked up from an online listing or passed on from relatives. Over the years we’ve spent a great deal of time focusing on these shabby pieces in efforts to make them chic once again. Check out these 30 tips, tricks and ideas for your next furniture flip!

Copper pans are loved for being quick to warm and for their extremely even distribution of heat. They are often specifically called for in candy-making and other heat-sensitive recipes, but copper is useful for almost all your cooking, since the increased control and evenness of temperature makes everything easier. Although copper is one of the most expensive materials for pans, for those who love to cook copper pots and pans are worth the investment.

Four DIY fruit fly traps, and one winner! My kitchen is fruit fly-free now.

"Newer" doesn't necessarily mean "better."

If you learn how to clean the toilet properly—and how to keep it that way—you'll be able to enjoy that fresh commode feeling around the clock.

Your kitchen is practically operating like a restaurant right now, so we surveyed front-of-house staff, servers, bartenders, and chefs for some kitchen-saving cleaning tips.

When we're done, the house has been whipped into shape with seemingly little effort.

Your allergies will thank you for doing it now.

Plus some tips that can help you harness your energy, or triggers to look out for to avoid burnout.

If you’re looking for a budget, DIY solution for your stinky sponges, look no further.

I have a favorite kitchen trick that has nothing to do with cooking.

The perfect formula here is a DIY cleaner specifically meant for mirrors (don’t worry; we’ve got a great one) paired with a flat-weave microfiber cloth.

Skip that cycle and do this instead.

Dry cleaning kits *do* work a lot like dry cleaning does—but it actually isn’t necessary for most clothes.

What if you could have one stain-fighting solution to cover all your bases? And, better yet, what if it was even more effective than the alternatives?

This new set of housekeeping habits will help you keep your kitchen pretty close to the way you want it, even when life in general is upside down.

New evidence from the CDC found many people are cleaning incorrectly—and engaging in unsafe cleaning behaviors.

We spoke to experts to find out so you can make the best, safest decision. Here's what to do with your clothes after running essential errands or a socially-distanced hang.

This tip promises to keep your toilet bowl sparkling clean with almost no effort.

Just another brilliant TikTok idea.

You can achieve polished, sparkling clean laminate floors without worrying about damaging them.

From gardening to ice packs to thank-you notes.

By the time you grab a fresh bottle, it will probably be time to take care of an important kitchen chore you’ve been neglecting.

Whether you're trying to delegate chores to your family, demystify the laundry process, or find the best non-toxic cleaners, there's an app for that!

I'm trying to learn to let go of a lot—but there's one small area of our house that I always make sure is perfectly clear.

This simple solution cracks open the world of bath mat choices, and could turn one of your existing slipping and sliding mats into one that stays safely put.

You might not notice immediate damage when you wipe down your coffee table or counters, but there are much better ways to dust.

Even the deepest, darkest, toughest stains don't stand a chance against this miracle in a bottle!

If you find relief in spraying and wiping down every possible surface right now, don't forget to focus on disinfecting these five things, as recommended by an epidemiologist.

Machines that drip more slowly than they used to, or makers that leak, signal a build up of minerals.

“I always recommend that you change your mask like you change your underwear: daily."

Plus, what you should use instead.

Household bleach can be an effective way to stave off germs, including the novel coronavirus, but you need to make sure you follow expert instructions.

If you have a home with dishwasher, it probably saves you loads of time on hand-washing. But dishwashers, as quick and thorough as they are, can also wreak havoc on your kitchenware when they’re not used thoughtfully. Delicate glassware, for example, could easily shatter in a dishwasher, while a wooden cutting board or spoon might end up split.

Good hygiene isn’t just about washing your hands and wearing a mask.

Everyone has a few home and cleaning tips they’ve been taught that, to be honest, may or may not even work—whether that’s using newspaper to clean glass, rubbing strongly-scented dryer sheets on clothes to keep bugs away, or polishing shoes with banana peels. One laundry hack that often gets tossed around is putting tennis balls in a dryer to soften your clothes and dry them faster.

You've probably seen this trick on Pinterest.

You can breathe new life into your vacuum cleaner in one weekend afternoon.

As with all disinfecting, it makes sense to take a targeted approach.

This weekend, we're going to pay special attention to one spot that's accumulated a patina of dust and a collection of stray fingerprints.

In case you've ever wondered what $100 worth of jars looks like.

It's probably one of the most underrated cleaners of all time. But, as always, there are a few things to watch out for.

If you follow the right steps, you may never need to spend money on a dry cleaner again.

Was it worth it? Is anything worth it????

There are many right ways to do this, but here's my favorite—if hacky—method.

Ants tend to pop up in the spring and can linger through summer, foraging through your kitchen for food.

Picture this: Inspired by the window-cleaning marathon you completed while getting a jump start on spring cleaning, you’re cleaning all the glass in your house. You’ve done all the doors, the glass that protects every photo that’s hung on the wall or displayed on a bookshelf, and the mirrored tray on your oversized tufted ottoman. In your zeal, you’ve finished a spray bottle of glass cleaner.