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42 Ways To Make Your Entire Home Cleaner Than It's Ever Been

:: bookmarks for next weekend ::

Do everything on the list, or pick your category!

Bathroom; Kitchen; Bedroom; Living Room; All Around the House; Garage, Basement, and Outdoors

1. Soak paper towels in vinegar, then let them sit on your faucets to get rid of any buildup.

2. If your shower curtain and liner are AT ALL moldy, replace them or at the very least bleach them well.

3. While you're at it, wash your towel and bathmats.

4. Let bleach-soaked cotton coil sit on the mildew in your bathtub overnight.

You could re-caulk the edges of your bathtub instead, and that's fine. But if you'd rather not (like me), try this — I reviewed the technique a full year ago, and our caulk is still mildew-free. Here's how to do it.

5. While you have the bleach out, use it to spray down your shower door's tracks, if you have them.

6. Detach your shower head and give it a good vinegar soak to de-scale it and unclog any plugged jets.

7. Take an acidic cleaner to the water stains on your shower's glass.

Just, uh, wait until all that bleaching stuff is done, please. Here's a recipe and tutorial for a homemade cleaner, although you can also use a store bought one like Barkeeper's Friend, $6.34. If the hard water stains aren't that bad, then feel free to use whatever glass cleaner you keep around.

8. Dip a lemon in salt and use it to get rid of lingering rust stains in your sink and sink area.

9. After you've done your regularly scheduled toilet cleaning, go the extra mile and clean the siphons (aka the water holes inside your toilet).

You tape them up with duct tape, then flush vinegar on 'em. Read the full tutorial on how to make this work here.

If you want even more bathroom cleaning ideas, find them here!

10. Shine up your stainless sink using Barkeeper's Friend.

11. Microwave a bowl of lemons and water to make all the gunk come out in one easy swipe.

12. Let your grimy stove burners sit in a bag of ammonia overnight to get rid of all the layers of cooked-on gunk.

13. If you have electric stove burners, pull 'em off your stove and give them some elbow grease.

14. Clean a glass cooktop with minimal scrubbing: Sprinkle on baking soda, let it soak with a damp towel for about 15 minutes, then rub away.

Or just use a glass cooktop polish — letting it dry and then scraping it off is incredibly satisfying. But if you want to stick to the cheaper method, here's the tutorial, which would also work for the non-burner parts of gas and electric stoves, too!

15. Take a melamine sponge to your oven glass to make it sparkle again.

16. Banish that greasy dust that inevitably builds up wherever you cook with a little bit of mineral oil.

Probably the most satisfying thing to clean ever, imho. Here's the how-to.

Looking for more kitchen cleaning ideas? Find them here!

17. If your couch is covered in fabric (and not leather), sprinkle baking soda on it to get rid of odors.

18. Quickly dust your lampshades by running a lint roller over them.

19. If you don't want to pay to have your area rug professionally cleaned, you can wash it out in the driveway.

20. Dust your TV screen with a coffee filter.

21. Wipe down all of your game consoles and other electronics with a microfiber cloth, then squirt with compressed air to get all the dust out of the crevices.

22. Wash all of the pillows that you sleep on regularly.

23. Run your sheets, mattress cover, and duvet cover through the laundry. Then use this rolling trick to put your duvet cover back on in no time.

24. And don't forget to clean your sex toys.

25. Make your own reusable cleaning wipes (or just use regular cleaning wipes) to sanitize all of the ~nonporous~ surfaces.

26. Use a pillowcase to dust off your grimy fan blades without getting dust all over your rooms.

27. Detach all of your floor and ceiling air vents, and run them through the dishwasher.

28. Clean your floors with the recommended cleaner and mop.

29. Bleach the grout in your bathroom, kitchen, and all other tile with a clinging gel.

30. Dust all of your blinds thoroughly with a pair of tongs and a couple of microfiber cloths.

31. Clean your windows (including the windowsills) with a lint-free rag and a window cleaner of your choice.

32. Sanitize and clean your vacuum cleaner BEFORE you vacuum all of the carpets and floors in the house.

33. And use a seam ripper to get rid of all the twisted hair in your vacuum's brush.

34. Banish carpet stains without excessive scrubbing by using your iron.

35. Banish any grossness from your washing machine by running vinegar through it.

This tutorial has you first run bleach, then (after it's rinsed well), run vinegar. If your washer is as grody as the one above, then you might need both of those cycles. If your washer is just a little dingy, though, a cycle of vinegar should do the trick.

36. If you have a front-loading washer, don't forget to clean under the seal.

Learn how to make it easy to clean here.

37. Use toilet cleaner and a toilet brush on your garage trash cans, then rinse well with a hose.

38. Clean your gross steam iron with a treatment of vinegar, and then a treatment of baking soda.

39. Wash the outside of your windows (assuming you live in a house with access to a hose).

40. If the oil stains on your driveway bug you, get rid of 'em.

41. Scrub the mold off your basement walls with diluted detergent.

42. If you have patio furniture, pull it out onto your driveway (or somewhere that the runoff won't run into your grass), and give it a good scrub.