Home Cleaning

Dust is gross. A mixture of dead skin cells, pollen, dust mites, dust mite feces, pet dander, textile fibers, burnt particles of cosmic rocks, decomposing insects, and more—dust is no doubt dirty. But it harbors a more sinister component, a fact that has motivated me, for one, to finally become a little less lax and more fatalistic about how much of it I allow to stick around in my home.

A microbiologist pointed out there's a 4-minute rule printed right on the package.

Pre-washing dishes is one of those divisive things about life at home. If you’re secretly (or not so secretly) a pre-rinser, it’s because you think it’s the only right way to do it, and that not pre-rinsing is gross/dirty/lazy/doesn’t work/what-have-you. I know because I’m one of them. I grew up with a dishwasher that really didn’t get dishes clean on its own, so pre-washing became my practice.

In a recent quest to rid a gorgeous old handmade quilt of some weird unknown stains, I came across a so-called “miracle product” named Retro Clean. It promised to be able to do heavy lifting of bleach without being harsh and corrosive—in other words, the perfect solution for my delicate, yet well-loved vintage linens.

Bless the houseguest who hops up after a great meal and beelines for the kitchen sink. Thank you for your service on the serving ware, but also for saving the rest of us from the awkward dance of feeling out which one of us guests was going to volunteer as tribute to the trifle dish. Somewhere in the course of home history, “doing the dishes” became synonymous with “being a good houseguest.

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. Nobody really likes cleaning, do they? I’m a home editor and I don’t even like cleaning. I enjoy having a clean home, of course.

If you’re a practical person and invested in high quality tableware in classic white, good for you! Your dinner guests will have to look long and hard to spy those tiny chips your plates may have accumulated over the years. For the rest of us who opted for brightly colored vintage dishes that we have to constantly protect with our lives — we need all the help we can get to keep our priceless pieces looking pristine. So what help do we offer? What ingenious tip have we? Ready for it?

Who among us hasn’t snatched a tiny hotel toiletry (or 10) in our time? Let she without blame cast the first miniature moisturizer bottle. For the record, though, why would they leave them out if they didn’t want you to take them? We say keep growing your collection. And while you’re at it, make you don’t forget the most underrated of items: the humble hotel shower cap. You may be wondering, “But, why? Like, why?

Dust, as we somewhat euphemistically know it, is a pretty disturbing amalgamation of pet dander, dirt, soot, hair, pollen, dust mite feces, and other tiny particles that get in our breathing zones and relentlessly coat every surface in our homes. Probably because dust is so pervasive, dusting is one of our most dreaded—and, therefore, often most neglected—chores. Here are some dos and don’ts that should take some sting out of the task.

Rice is a staple on dinner tables around the globe, but has many other great uses that go beyond the kitchen. Most of us have used it to save our cell phones from unfortunate run-ins with water because it’s hygroscopic and can trap the water molecules, but have you ever used it to trap odors? A cup of rice in a stinky space can make a world of difference. Making a deodorizing rice jar is one of the easiest, and best smelling things you can do for your home.

Do you know how old your furniture polish is? If you have to think back to a specific purchase and then do math, chances are it’s expired. And what about those other products you have to reach way back in the cupboard for — those products you only use a few times a year? Yep, almost all cleaning products expire — but what does that mean exactly? Simply put, it means that they’ll break down and become less effective.

Whether you’re rearranging or moving out, heavy furniture can leave behind quite the unattractive footprint on your carpet — and the longer the furniture has been there, the harder it is to persuade those carpet fibers to spring back into shape. So instead of laying on the floor with various carpet cleaning tools for hours on end, try this super simple method instead.

When it comes to keeping cleaning cloths straight, you already know some of what not to do.

We’re living in a world where anything is possible. I can talk to my light bulbs. My plants water themselves. There’s an electric car floating out in space somewhere right at this very moment. The sky’s the lim— ok the sky isn’t even the limit anymore. Mind-blowing technological breakthroughs are happening across every industry every day, proving that anything we can dream up is possible.

For such an unassuming object, kitchen sponges are kind of rock stars. In addition to being responsible for getting our dishes and utensils clean, these thirsty squares can be repurposed in ways we haven’t even thought of yet. But, rest assured, the ways we do know of prove pretty darn ingenious.

Size doesn’t matter. We each possess a few tiny things (earring backs, a sentimental ring, an important LEGO piece, a single minuscule screw that apparently is supposed to hold your entire IKEA table together) that, if lost, would bring about certain ruin. OK maybe not ruin — but losing them would definitely put a kink in an otherwise pleasant day. So file this tip away for later.

Until you know how to harness its power, you won't appreciate this mysterious concoction for all it can really do.

Although there’s a lot of room for variation when it comes to how you clean around the house, you can’t escape this one truth: You’re either getting something clean, or you’re not. This distinction is especially important in the kitchen, where cleanliness is not only a matter of taste, but of health and safety, too. That’s why you need to know what techniques will get your cutting boards clean for real.

Those tiny little packs of dessicant that come in your new pack of shoes or your vitamins have many uses around your home. Anywhere that moisture is a problem, silica gel packets can help alleviate the issue. Keep them stored in an airtight container away from pets and children (they are a choking hazard) and whip them out in the following scenarios. Keep vitamins from moisture damage.

If you’re a coffee-drinker, you generate a generous amount of coffee grounds each day. Definitely don’t toss them down the literal drain (coffee grounds are among the biggest offenders when it comes to drain-clogging kitchen scraps), but don’t toss them in the garbage either! Here are several ways you can use the grounds, even after you’ve run water through them for your morning brew. Use them to scrub pots and pans.

If you’re planning on picking up some green food coloring for your St. Patrick’s Day beer, get a head start on it now. Because it turns out food coloring is a pretty useful tool outside of the kitchen, too. If you suspect that your toilet might be leaking, food coloring or any other type of dye can help. Because it’s wasteful and costs money.

We’ve all been there. Just after the ceremonial un-robing that occurs prior to hopping in the shower and closely following the forthcoming cascade of water from the shower head — your bladder beckons. But it seems like a lot of work to get out of the shower, grab a towel, dry off, and make your way back to the commode. So you ask yourself the age-old question, “To pee or not to pee?” Yep, we’re going there. Don’t worry; we’re all friends here.

It will entice even die-hard paper towel lovers to reach for something else instead.

Considering computers aren't exactly chump change, they're not an investment you want to ruin.

Adult life is full of difficult decisions. Like which vocation to choose as your profession. Or where to settle down. Or this classic conundrum: what you do when the pile of dirty clothes currently taking up residence in the corner of your room isn’t big enough to wash yet? For many of us, that means tossing the pile into the washing machine to lay in wait until enough clothes accrue to run a cycle — hamper be damned. I mean, it’s a perfectly logical step, right?

If you use dryer sheets to keep your clothes lovely-smelling and static-free, don’t throw them away. Put a basket in the laundry room to hold your used dryer sheets and reach for them to make any of the following household tasks easier (and much more pleasantly scented). Wipe one over your clothes or furniture to help remove pet hair. Run them over your baseboards and other molding to lift dust and help repel it.

I love finding ways to use things I already have in new life-hack-y ways, like removing labels on jars with coconut oil and baking soda. Like toothpaste: It’s something we all have in our bathrooms. But here are a few reasons to keep a tube in the kitchen. Gently rubbing non-gel toothpaste on water rings can remove them from a wooden table. Scrubbing chrome fixtures with a dab of toothpaste will make them gleam. Rub the toothpaste into the chrome with a rag and then buff with a clean rag.

So often, our biggest hurdles to getting stuff done are mental ones.

Your most on-top-of-it friends? I’ll let you in on their secret for staying organized: Write everything down. Your brain has to do a lot of day-to-day hustling, so anything that you can clear out of it and get onto paper is something you’re sure to remember when needed. But the thing is, you don’t need paper at all. Dry erase markers can do a lot of heavy lifting around your home.

After daily foundation applications, swirls of blush, and minutes spent in your steamy bathroom, your makeup brushes can quickly become home to unwanted oils and bacteria. This is why cleaning makeup brushes is a critical step to keeping your skin healthy and clear. But after diligently washing brushes and laying them out on a towel, they often take hours—sometimes even a full day—to fully dry.

Sometimes moving into a new apartment is just the push you need to start over. It’s a clean slate—your new home is clean and empty, and as you move in, you have the power to decide where everything goes and what you want your home to be like.

It's no-waste AND self-cleaning.

You think New York City real estate is bad? You should see my bathroom counter. The door to the bathroom opens up right into the only natural place to put the vanity, which means there’s only one shallow, narrow space for the vanity to go — and one shallow, narrow space to work with when I’m getting ready in the morning. I used to drop my makeup bag and hair straightener right into the sink, but that got old fast every time I needed to rinse extra cheek tint off my hand.

Nothing about cleaning my house is quite as rage-inducing as sweeping the floors. Not because it’s difficult, or even particularly time-consuming, but because the dirt never really ever stays in the dustpan. Does it? That’s what I thought, at least, until a friend tipped me off on this stupid simple household tip. It’s so ridiculously easy and quick that you’ll feel silly for not having thought of it before. Here’s the tip: Just run the dustpan under water first.

I’m trying to watch my waste. And we recycle a lot. So my trash can—it doesn’t get a lot of attention. An egg shell here, and some uneaten leftovers there. (I should probably start composting, I think.) It takes some time for my trash to get full, and in the meantime… it can kind of start to stink. I’ve heard a gentle sprinkle of baking soda into the can every once in a while can help, but the truth is, I need something more “set it and forget it.

I don’t know about you, but my sense of time is pretty bad. Like “I’ll be ready in 5 minutes” is almost always a lie, bad. And when I call in a to-go order, I set an alarm because I will severely over-estimate how long “15 to 20 minutes” can be. It never seemed like too much of a problem — at least not with an impatient, loves-to-be-early type of husband in the house who regularly overestimates our travel time to surprise parties.

The standard solution for dividing up roommate chores is to come up with some sort of rotation schedule, but while that works for some people, sometimes it’s just not the most efficient way (even if it does feel more “fair” because some chores are arguably better than others) to do things.

This guide takes the guesswork out of caring for your wood floors.

Between spills, errant shoe bottoms, and airplane grease, inside and out, our suitcases may not be the cleanest. This year, before you pack for your holiday trips or winter getaways, give your luggage the royal treatment so you can put your carefully packed clothes somewhere they’ll stay fresh and clean.

While the CDC recommends that “the single best way to prevent the flu is to get a flu vaccine each season,” it’s also a good idea to pay special attention to where germs in your home can proliferate and be passed around, especially if someone in your household gets sick. Flu germs can live on hard surfaces for 24 hours, so target these hot spots in particular.

Getting the toughest room out the way first will help jumpstart the rest of your housekeeping responsibilities.

When my friend Emily and I first met, I knew we were meant to be BFF’s after hearing all her wonderful tales of growing up in a big old victorian home. I was just 18, but already desperately in love with great big old houses, so of course I gravitated toward people who lived in them. One tale in particular she told, was the story of how each year her entire family would load up all the carpets in the house and take them to the carwash to be cleaned.

When faced with a messy bedroom, sometimes it’s easier to just shut the door than to climb the mental mountain of starting to actually pick it up. Disorder begets disorder and entropy is an easier, downhill path to take (especially when only you will see the room). But what if you were to flip the script and use an orderly room to motivate you before you put even a single errant item away? First, make your bed. Tighten the sheets, smooth the coverlet, and fluff the pillows.

Snaking the drain is one of those nasty jobs that we put off, and just deal with a clogged or slow draining sink or tub because we don’t want to bother with calling the landlord, or figuring out how to do it ourselves. Like so many things, after we actually do it, we realize it’s just not a big deal and wish we’d done it sooner. It’s also satisfying —and gross.

On top of handling wrinkled clothes, this trusty tool can tackle lots more housekeeping tasks.

It’s no secret that the key to cleaning success is to do a little bit every day. Of course, there are the things you already keep up with daily or regularly—like doing the dishes, taking out the trash, or wiping down the kitchen counters—but it’s the tasks beyond that that can so easily fall by the wayside if you don’t have a plan that fits in with your already busy schedule.

Minimalism may be all the rage, but that doesn’t mean maximalism is out by any means—some people would just rather live with more space and others, with more stuff. It’s all a matter of preference. One of the perks of minimalism, however, is how much easier it is to keep your home clean. It’s less about the practice and more just common sense—not owning a lot of stuff means there are fewer things to clean, along with fewer opportunities for clutter to pile up.

We collected a dozen smart tips that will make your next painting project spotless and splatter-free.

You know my favorite thing about being a human? (Sarcasm alert.) It’s that thing how when your home is really messy, your brain finds it overwhelming and hard to process and almost paralyzing. So then your body can’t muster up the energy or willpower to actually clean it. And so the place just gets more messy and your brain is more overwhelmed and it’s harder every day to actually tackle the mess. Yeah, that’s super fun, right?

There are two kinds of people in the world: people who think changing sheets is NBD and the rest of us, aka anyone who doesn't have their bed floating in the middle of a vast room.

Want to be more mindful while you’re cleaning? You’ve probably got a good handle on the items you can toss into your recycling bins—paper, plastics, glass, aluminum, etc.—but there are also a lot of specialty programs that allow you to recycle other household items to reduce waste and even help people in need.

Whether or not you love your furniture, it pays—quite literally—to keep it looking great. If you have a sofa or chair you love, the benefits of making sure your investment lasts a long time are obvious. But even if you’re not sitting on your forever couch right now, keeping it in great shape will make your piece a more appealing second-hand buy for the lucky shopper who finds your well-maintained sofa on Craigslist for a steal.

Story time: When we first started talking about this at Apartment Therapy, my immediate reaction was, “Machine washable rugs exist?!?” so if you’re reading this thinking, “wait, really?” you’re not alone. (If you did know this already, you can probably still learn a thing or two, and those of us who didn’t know appreciate your patience with us.

Looking to DIY your cleaning products? Your favorite lifestyle and cleaning bloggers can help. Seriously—just a quick Pinterest search for cleaning recipes will lead you to tons of popular DIY cleaning sprays and solutions from top bloggers. Many of these cleaning recipes use essentials you probably already have on hand at home. Whether you copy them or put your own DIY spin on them, here are some popular cleaning recipes from bloggers who know their stuff.

If you pride yourself on keeping a tidy home, there’s stuff around the house you want to do. Like buying an organizer for the junk drawer. That right there is like a drug to Monica Geller types. But no matter how much you enjoy cleaning up, there are still some chores that are, well, chores. Cleaning the fridge coils is one of those things.

With the combination of dampness, soap scum, and grout and grooves, the place where we get ourselves clean isn’t always the cleanest place itself. However, having a few of the right tools in place makes it easy to create a do-it-now cleaning habit so you can keep the bathroom fresh perpetually. Use Fabric Shower Curtain Liners: Soap scum is any bathroom-cleaner’s nemesis. Getting it out of plastic shower curtains is impossible and, frankly, not worth the time even trying.

If you’re a messy person looking to making cleaning and organizing a little less painful—and, you know, incorporate it into your regular routine—who better to get advice from than people who face the same challenges and have found ways to make it work? We asked self-admitted messy people to share their shortcuts and what helps them (along with combing through a few super helpful Reddit threads—this one and this one, to be exact).

I have always hated to iron. So imagine my surprise when a co-worker told me that the most relaxing part of his day was coming home, drinking a beer or two, and doing a little ironing. As someone who deeply detests ironing, I would never have dreamed of anyone finding it relaxing. As the daughter of two strict teetotalers, I would never have dreamed of mixing drinking and household chores. This was my first introduction to the wonderful world of drunk cleaning.

An immaculate bathroom is hard to find. Considering how much time you spend in your bathroom everyday, keeping it clean and fresh can have a real impact on how you feel. Unfortunately, even after you spend hours cleaning, bathrooms have a tendency to get grimy fast.

No matter where you live, laundry is probably a big part of your routine. In fact, according to a new study by Nielsen, globally 67 percent of people said they do laundry at least twice per week, and another 31 percent said they do laundry every day. But despite similarities in how often people around the world clean their clothes, there are some differences in how they do their laundry (if they even do it themselves at all).

Can a silicone sponge replace your basic disposable kitchen sponge for life, or does it sound too good to be true?

Back when I Kon-Mari-ed my cleaning supplies, I dutifully refilled my homemade baking soda dispensers (jars with holes hammered into the lids) and my re-purposed white vinegar squirters (empty dish soap bottles) so I’d have one of each in every bathroom. I use these ubiquitous homemade cleaners to scrub and disinfect all our sinks and toilets — or so I thought.

Many good things in life take time and money, but every now and then you can cut some corners and take a few minutes to improve a room in your home without a significant investment. This weekend, make your bedroom a better place with these easy (and completely free!) changes. Clear Your Nightstand(s): Is your bedside table functional, or is it bogged down by used earplugs, loose change, unread books, and half empty glasses of water?

At the grocery store, I’m the queen of store brands. I don’t have such discerning taste that the Publix-brand paprika or yogurt seems any lesser-tasting than the name brand on the shelf with a higher price on the label. (And you know that often the store brands are exactly the same as the name brand, right?) But there ARE times when I’m willing to splurge. It doesn’t only have to do with quality—although that’s certainly a part of it.

There you are, minding your business and painting your nails, when suddenly you make one false move and your favorite shade is splattered on the rug. Nothing like a big, crunchy, tangerine-colored spill in the middle of your white carpet to really pull the room together, huh? Good news: You might still be able to get your carpet back to normal—it’ll just take a bit of elbow grease. Don’t panic, just follow these steps.

Melissa Maker wears many hats. She’s a YouTube star, author of a new book (out today!), and the founder of a boutique cleaning service in Toronto. Through years of cleaning other people’s spaces, she’s discovered the best ways to clean her own—and she’s sharing some of her best tips with Apartment Therapy. The shoemaker’s kids never have new shoes.