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1. Steam-clean your microwave: heat a bowl full of water for five minutes, let it sit without opening the door for another five minutes, and any stuck-on grime will easily wipe off with a paper towel or damp sponge.
2. Then zap your damp or wet sponge in the microwave for one minute to kill 99.9% of the bacteria lurking on it.
3. And let your sponge dry out every single night, whether you use a simple binder clip or a stainless sponge holder.
4. After you're done with the dishes, regularly wash out your sink like you would a dish: using hot water, dish soap, and your sponge.
5. Then shine up your stainless steel sink with a quick dusting of flour and a microfiber cloth — it'll clean out all of those tiny bits of grime that regular washing doesn't.
6. If your garbage disposal's a little smelly, the culprit may be the underside of the splash guard: an old toothbrush will help you knock that stuff down the disposal where it belongs.
7. But if that doesn't do the trick, a foaming cleaner can deeply cleanse everything in your disposal, including the underside of the splash guard and the interior side walls.
8. Wipe up the sticky, dusty buildup that gathers on your range hood and other appliances using a little bit of mineral oil.
9. Mix up a paste of water and polish cleanser to easily scrub off cooked-on gunk from your stainless or enameled gas stove.
10. Then make your greasy stove (and grill!) grates look brand new again by letting them sit overnight with just a little bit of ammonia.
11. Pastes work well for scouring that gross, sticky area on top of your kitchen cabinets too: you can mix your own with some baking soda and dish soap, or opt for a pre-mixed version from a small biz that's scented with essential oils.
12. Then to help keep that area clean so you never have to scrub it again, put down a layer of wax paper or paper bags to catch that greasy dust. Then you can simply swap it out months later when it gets grimy.
13. Polish up your glass cooktop in five minutes: drizzle on some Dawn and hydrogen peroxide, sprinkle with baking soda, and quickly scrub in circles with a dish brush.
14. Or, if you know a basic scrubbing won't touch your stovetop's seemingly impenetrable cooked-on stains, try a cooktop cleaning kit that includes a cleansing polish and a razor scraper.
15. A homemade paste of dish soap, baking soda, and water is probably all you need to spot-clean baked-on stains inside of your oven.
16. But if you haven't kept up with regular spot or self-cleaning, a 40-minute spray-on cleaner may be just what your oven needs.
17. Wrap your hard-water-stained faucets in vinegar-soaked paper towels to dissolve the minerals so they wipe off in one go.
18. And banish hard water from the mouth of your faucets by attaching a plastic bag filled with vinegar, using a rubber band. If they're heavily stained, substitute the vinegar for a more intense mineral cleaner.
19. Freshen up your wooden cutting boards by scrubbing them down with salt and half a lemon — then season them with a douse of food-grade mineral oil.
20. Water spotting and funky smells in the dishwasher can be solved by simply running an empty cycle with a cleaner designed exactly for those purposes.
21. Go through your fridge, freezer, pantry, and any other spots you store food and toss anything that's expired, that you know you won't eat, or that's, y'know, gross and moldy.
22. Then wash the shelves, drawers, and other removable parts of your fridge like dishes: in hot, soapy water.
23. Stop any lingering refrigerator odors in their tracks using a fabric deodorizer filled with activated charcoal.
24. Drop a couple of fizzing tablets into your coffee pot to break up any seemingly permanent stains that regular scrubbing leaves behind.
25. Tackle even the worst, most egregious iron stains with a spray-on cleaning gel that'll dissolve it right before your eyes.
26. If you have iron stains in your shower, you might have them in your toilet too (not to mention your laundry). In that case, the same brand's automatic toilet tank tablets and all-purpose iron stain remover powder can work literal miracles.
27. For other kinds of stubborn hard water stains (calcium, lime, etc.) make short work of them by gently scrubbing them off with a pumice stone.
28. If you have to pumice regularly, start dropping in a weekly-ish lemon-scented, citric acid-infused toilet bomb and you might not have to scrape those hard water stains off ever again. The regular dose of citric acid can help cut down on the need to scrape lime scale or calcium buildup with a stone.
29. Opt for a high-quality, super-functional compact toilet brush to make regular scrubbing a more pleasant experience. I've owned this one for *years* now and can attest to its usefulness and durability: its cover pops open when you pick it up, then closes when you set it down, so you don't have to look at it all the time. Plus the canister's design allows for airflow so it actually dries, instead of sitting in its own germs.
30. As you scrub your toilet, make sure to get the water jets under the rim, too — and if you have hard water, consider soaking them with vinegar overnight to dissolve any buildup.
31. And don't forget to give the outside a good wipe-down with an all-purpose cleaner or a cleaning wipe. Remember to even remove the toilet seat every once in a while so you can get every last nook and cranny.
32. Once your toilet bowl's all fresh and clean, a stamp-in gel can actually keep it that way for weeks at a time.
33. Rubber-band a plastic bag filled with vinegar around your shower head to de-scale and deep-clean it with basically zero effort.
34. Transform your grimy bathtub into something that's actually spaworthy with a classic soft cleanser.
35. Soft cleanser will also erase any trace of mineral and soap scum buildup from your glass shower doors, so they sparkle like they've never seen even a single speck of water.
36. Wash your grimy plastic shower curtain liner with a couple of towels to get rid of any mildew or other buildup.
37. Vacuum the dust from the outside of your exhaust fan with a dusting brush attachment, then pull the cover off to wash it well in soap and water.
38. Wrap your faucet and sink in vinegar-soaked paper towels so stubborn hard water buildup literally just wipes away.
39. Unclog your slow-draining tub or sink using a simple drain clearer.
40. Skip the heavy-duty elbow grease but still make your grout look brand new: let an automatic scrubbing brush do all the work for you.
41. Remove years of sticky, built-up hairspray residue from tile by scrubbing your floors down with a paste of Borax and water.
42. Sort through your shower and all of your cabinets, and toss every single thing that's past its expiration date, because yes, even bath and beauty products expire.
43. Then simply spray down your mirror, sink, and everything else with your favorite all purpose spray cleaner, and give it a good wipe-down.
44. Clean all sorts of plastic, glass, and metal from around the house in the dishwasher: from light fixture shades to vent hood filters to AC vent covers.
45. If you have a rope mop, use the ~slop mop~ method to give your tile or linoleum floors a truly deep wash.
46. Erase those mysterious (and not so mysterious) carpet and upholstery stains with a nontoxic and odor-free spot remover spray — all you have to do is spritz, gently massage it into the stain a little, then blot everything up with a paper towel.
47. Or opt for a solvent-based cleaner for any upholstery or draperies you have that has an "S" on its cleaning tag: like I explain above, "W" means you should use a water-based cleaner, so "S" means solvent cleaners are best!
48. And if you're a pet owner or parent, choose an enzyme-based stain and odor-eliminating spray for, erm, ~organic~ messes (think pee, poop, and vomit) because for those sorts of stains, you need those enzymes — a type of bacteria — to feed on the ammonia to completely eliminate the smell. Other stain removers might help some, but without the enzymes, that not-so-lovely stench will stick around.
49. Scrub away then suck out years of mystery stains from your carpet (and deal with any big messes quickly and easily) with a carpet washer. Your carpets will look like new! Plus it'll come in handy over and over later, whenever you discover your spouse / toddler / teen / pet left you a surprise stain... like, several weeks ago. WHY.
50. And pair a carpet washer with a carpet stain remover to make make no-joke set-in mattress stains look wayyy better.
51. Capture all the dust lingering on your ceiling fan by wiping the blades down with an old pillowcase.
52. Rubber-band microfiber cleaning cloths to your kitchen tongs to pick up literally all the dust from your blinds.
53. Or just get an extendable microfiber duster set that makes it easy to follow the cardinal rule of cleaning — start at the top, and work your way down to the bottom, so you don't vacuum first but afterward end up with dust from your fan all over the floor.
54. Strip your bed and wash all your bedding, then freshen your mattress with a quick sprinkle of baking soda and a good vacuuming.
55. Launder your pillows in hot water to wash out all the sweat, skin cells, drool, and other gross things lurking where you rest your head every night.
56. Knock out that sour washer smell by running a cleaning tablet through it once a month.
57. Besides pulling the lint off your dryer's screen after every load, regularly get the lint out of the spot where the screen sits using your vacuum or a lint brush.
58. Use any old squeegee and some water in a spray bottle to easily clean pet hair off your sofa, furniture, and basically anything that's upholstered with fabric.
59. To pick up gobs of pet hair all at once, try an infinitely reusable pet hair roller — or splurge a little on a handheld pet hair vacuum that requires very little effort for you to make it seem like no pets live in your house (or ever go in your car) at all.
60. And grab a squeegee broom to sweep up the hair — whether it's pet hair or human — embedded in your carpet and scattered over your hardwood or tile floor. It'll take like, five minutes and you'll be astounded to see just how much shed hair was hiding in your rug.
You cheering for yourself, as you try out some of these for a fresh start to the year:
