We’ve pulled together some of our best household cleaning tips and tricks to help you get a spotless home for a fraction of the price. Plenty of natural, cheap, quick, helpful and cheerful cleaning tips – using everything from tin foil to vinegar and lemons – that should save you time and money when you clean your home.
1 Use a wet rubber glove to remove pet hair
If Fido and Felix have fluffed up your house and are making you sneeze, there’s a cheap and easy solution. A damp washing up glove can easily be dragged over soft furnishings like sofas and curtains (and even trouser legs!) to remove animal fur.
2 Use a flip flop to remove pet hair
Not got any washing up gloves? Using a (clean!) rubber flip-flop on your furnishings will work just as well. It’s especially useful if (like us) you’re constantly losing flip-flops and end up with odd ones.
3 Use a coffee filter to clean glass or mirrors easily
Ah coffee – you’re the thing that gets us out of bed, and now we’ve discovered you offer so much more. Smarten up grubby windows without any chemicals – just give them a sweep with a clean coffee filter. It works like magic..
4 Use tights to stop your vacuum cleaner hoovering up coins
Don’t throw away those laddered tights! Save money and precious small objects by using the foot of a pair of tights over your hoover nozzle. It will catch any change, hair bands and other bits and bobs before they get sucked away.
5 Reuse cleaning sponges – just microwave them clean
It can feel like you’re constantly buying new packs of kitchen and bathroom cleaning sponges, and not only do the costs add up, but it’s not great for the environment to keep throwing dirty ones away. Get more use from your cleaning sponges by giving them a quick one or two-minute blast in the microwave on a high setting. This will kill off bacteria.
6 Use an old toothbrush for cleaning your bathroom
Don’t throw away your old toothbrush – it can be a really useful tool. Give it a rinse in boiling water to get rid of any germs, and use it to get into nooks and crannys that your vacuum cleaner can’t reach. It’s especially handy in the bathroom, for cleaning hard to reach areas around the tap or drain.
7 Get felt tip pen stains out of wood with toothpaste
If the grandchildren have gone crazy with the marker pens on your bannisters, table or anything else made from wood, rub it gently with a little bit of toothpaste to lift off the stain. Then go and give them a good telling off and a nice (easy to erase) set of pencils instead!.