20 Brilliant Cleaning Shortcuts the Pros Swear by

According to Organized Home, you need to schedule cleaning time just like you would schedule anything else in your life. When you have a set cleaning schedule, you’ll be more motivated to get up and get the job done.

Organized Home says that well-made, durable cleaning tools will make the job much easier. You don’t need to buy fancy gadgets; just stick to good brooms, mops, and durable terry cloths.

Better Homes and Gardens

suggests that you map out a cleaning route, for example by starting with a corner room and then working your way inward. By cleaning one room at a time, you won’t have to walk back and forth.

To give yourself a head start, Organized Home suggests that you first pick up anything lying around. It’s much easier to clean a surface if it isn’t littered with toys, papers, clothes, dirty dishes or other clutter.

Organized Home says that professional cleaners carry a multi-purpose cleaner, a tile cleaner, a heavy-duty de-greaser and a powdered abrasive cleaner. You don’t need multiple single-purpose products.

Better Homes and Gardens says that you’ll save time by organizing your cleaning supplies so that you have the right one for the job. Keep a multi-purpose cleaner or a bleach-and-water solution in the kitchen, for instance, and laundry supplies in the laundry room, but also have a central place where you store the bulk of your cleaning supplies.

A great cleaning hack from Better Homes and Gardens is to simply put removable light fixtures, such as glass domes, in the dishwasher and let it run through a washing and drying cycle. Simplemost suggests using the dishwasher to clean oven hood filters too.

According to Simplemost, a few drops of olive oil will remove fingerprints from stainless steel surfaces.

Vinegar is a handy all-natural cleaner and one way to use it is to clean the microwave. Simplemost says that microwaving equal parts of water and vinegar for 5 to 10 minutes will soften stains and bits of food, which you can then simply wipe off.

Better Homes and Gardens points out that if you slip an old pillowcase over the blades of the ceiling fan, it will catch bits of dust that would otherwise have fallen onto the floor or furniture.

To clean the blinds the Better Homes and Gardens way, put an old sock over your hand, almost like a sock puppet, and spray some water onto it. Then grip the slats one at a time and run your hand over it, cleaning the top and bottom at the same time.

Take the pain out of cleaning the fridge by following Simplemost’s advice of using plastic placemats on the shelves and then placing the food on top. Anything that leaks or drips will land on the placemats, which you then only need to remove and give a quick rinse or wipe.

Grime and mineral build-up on your showerhead can take ages to scrub off. Simplemost suggests that instead, you only need to put some vinegar in a plastic bag, tie it around the showerhead and leave it overnight. The vinegar will dissolve the gunk and the next morning you can easily wipe it off.

Baby wipes are gentle on fabrics and dry quickly, which makes them great for cleaning spots. However, Better Homes and Gardens warns that you shouldn’t confuse them with cleaning wipes, which could contain bleach that could ruin the fabric.

According to Simplemost, rubbing half a lemon over any surface with hard-water stains will break down the grime. You’ll have sparkling faucets and sinks, and your home will smell great too.

Even though Better Homes and Gardens suggests that the kids do this, why would you pass up the opportunity to jump on the bed? The jumping will bring dust to the surface of the mattress and then you can just vacuum it.

An effortless way to clean your dishwasher, according to Better Homes and Gardens, is to put a cup of baking soda at the bottom of the empty dishwasher and leave it overnight. Then use vinegar instead of detergent and run the hottest possible cycle.

Instead of taking down curtains and drapes, washing them and then taking ages to hang them again, Better Homes and Gardens suggests that you shake them to remove any loose dust. Then use the upholstery attachment and vacuum them from top to bottom.

A quick and easy way to clean the blender is to add some water and dish washing liquid and then run the blender for a few minutes. Afterwards, just rinse it. However, as Simplemost points out, you need to clean the blender right after you’ve used it or you’ll have double the work later on.

As Organized Home says, teamwork will get the job done in a fraction of the time. Get the whole family or your roommates involved, put on some music and make cleaning day a social event.