These Easy Cleaning Hacks Will Save You Time and Money

Products Needed: Raw potato
What it Does: Cleans cheese from grater holes 
Cost: $1*

Shredding cheese with a cheese grater is the best way to get all the cheesy goodness you want on your preferred dish. However, there’s no denying that cheese graters are nearly impossible to clean, and it can feel as though you’ve been scrubbing for ages when you clean them.

lean Your Cheese Grater with Potato @lifehack / Pinterest.com

Put away the steel wool and dish soap, as there is another option. You can clean your grater using a potato. Shred the raw potato after you shred the cheese. It will clear the gummy cheese from the grater’s holes, and you can then use the shredded potato for all sorts of food.

Products Needed: Lint roller
What it Does: Traps and pulls dust and dirt off lampshades 
Cost: $4*

Lampshades are a must-have, and you can find them in pretty much every home and office. Unfortunately, these lampshades are a dust and dirt magnet. They tend to trap dust, which could even lead to a fire hazard, depending on how much heat the bulb the lampshade is guarding produces. Not to mention, dust is always a huge allergen trigger.

Use A Lint Roller on Lamps / @TheSunOnline / Pinterest.com

An effective way to clean your lampshade is to use a lint roller. Run the roller around the edges, top, bottom, inside, and outside. Chances are, you’ll be quite shocked (and pleased) with how much dust the roller pulls off the shade.   

Products Needed: Plastic bag, white vinegar 
What it Does: Cleans dirt and grime from the showerhead 
Cost: $5*

Your shower is an essential part of your day or night, and it’s definitely a place that is ripe for cleaning hacks. Cleaning your showerhead might not seem as pressing to you as cleaning the tub or walls of the shower, but it is still a bacteria-prone area.

Put a Plastic Bag Filled with Vinegar On Your Shower Head @lifehack / Pinterest.com

To clean your showerhead, fill a plastic bag halfway with white vinegar. Don’t overfill the plastic bag, as the vinegar could overflow when you submerge the showerhead into it. Place the bag over the showerhead, fully soaking it in the vinegar. Let it soak for a few hours, and then remove the bag.

Products Needed: Hairdryer, olive oil 
What it Does: Removes water stains from wood and shines the surface 
Cost: $40*

When it comes to wood, water stains are almost an inevitability, especially if you have kids. These stains often show up onto wood as light-colored rings, which are caused by the bottoms of hot plates or cold mugs that rest onto the wood surface.

Remove Water Stains With a Hairdryer @kerdkanno / Stock.Adobe.com

The condensed moisture seeps into the wood, causing a noticeable stain. If you want to fix that problem, plug in your hairdryer. Spray the water rings with a hairdryer, drying the water from the wooden surface. Then, freshen up the area with olive oil. The result will be shiny wood without a hint of annoying water stains.  

Products Needed: Cream of tartar, cloth, water 
What it Does: Cleans and shines stainless steel  
Cost: $10*

Cream of tartar isn’t just something you eat; it’s also something you can clean with. A lot of food products on this list overlap into cleaning products, and cream of tartar is no exception. You can use it to clean stainless steel.

Clean Stainless Steel with Cream of Tartar @thekitchn / Pinterest.com

Cream of tartar works as a scrub, as it is a powdered form of tartaric acid. All you need to do is dampen a cloth with water and sprinkle cream of tartar onto it. You can use it to spot-clean all types of stainless steel surfaces, from small appliances to pots and pans. It will remove stains and replenish luster.   

Products Needed: Old toothbrush, toothpaste 
What it Does: Removes stains from white, non-mesh shoes 
Cost: $5*

White sneakers will never go out of style, but it’s a shame that they get dirty so easily. Keeping white shoes dirt-free is a Herculean task, but it doesn’t have to be an expensive one. Chances are, you’ve got the key tool right in your home.

Use Toothpaste on Old Sneakers @lifehack / Pinterest.com

All you need is an old toothbrush (one you don’t use anymore, obviously) and toothpaste. Squeeze the toothpaste onto the brush, and work the brush in a circular motion onto the stain. Let the paste sit for ten or fifteen minutes, and then clean it off with a clean sponge or damp towel. Repeat as necessary, until your shoes are bright white again. 

Products Needed: Duct tape, vinegar
What it Does: Strips grime from the inside of the toilet bowl
Cost: $6*

Though duct tape and vinegar might seem like unusual cleaning products, don’t let that discourage you from giving this hack a try. To clean the toilet, cover the siphons with duct tape. Then, put white vinegar into the toilet bowl.

Clean Your Toilet with Duct Tape and Vinegar @lifehack / Pinterest.com

Flush. Let the mix sit overnight before you remove the tape from the siphons. Allowing the vinegar to soak will let the substance get into the toilet bowl, clean it thoroughly, and strip away grime. This hack is cheaper than some of the expensive, $10-$15 toilet bowl cleaners on the market today, and you probably already have duct tape and vinegar right in your own home.  

Products Needed: Bread
What it Does: Picks up tiny pieces of broken glass 
Cost: $4-$6*

If you have kids or pets, then you know that the number-one most stressful thing is breaking a piece of glass around them. There’s always a risk that one of them will try and step in the area before you’ve had a chance to clean up all the glass.

Clean Broken Glass with Bread @thekitchn / Pinterest.com

The seemingly microscopic pieces of glass can cause a huge injury. You can clean up these small pieces of glass with a piece of bread. After you’ve removed the larger chunks of shattered glass, take a piece of soft bread and press it into the floor. The bread will pick up the glass that you (and maybe even your vacuum) couldn’t reach.  

Products Needed: Hairspray, clean cloth, water 
What it Does: Removes lipstick from fabric 
Cost: $5-$7*

Lipstick stains are the worst. There’s nothing more ruinous than a bright red lipstick stain on a white blouse. They also are difficult to get off, as just throwing the shirt in the wash won’t be able to get the stain off completely.

Remove Lipstick Stains with Hairspray @fashionladyblog / Pinterest.com

Try using hairspray. The chemical compounds in hairspray work to remove stains like lipstick. Spray hairspray onto the stain, and allow it to sit for fifteen minutes. Then, dip a clean cloth in warm water. Using the cloth, wipe the remaining hairspray off the lipstick stain. Let dry and repeat if necessary to fully remove the pesky spot.  

Products Needed: Grapefruit (cut in half), rock salt 
What it Does: Cleans soap scum and bathroom rings from tub/tiles 
Cost: $2.50*

As you can see from a lot of items on this list, citrus is a powerful cleaning agent, and it’s also not too expensive. Bathtub rings, along with soap scum, are two major cleanliness issues that you find in bathrooms. They form very easily, so even constant cleaners might find themselves at a loss to prevent stains.

Bathtub Rings Be Gone With Cut Grapefruit @RecreoViral / Pinterest.com

Try using a grapefruit. Cut the grapefruit in half, sprinkle rock salt onto the exposed top of the fruit, and then scrub the stain with the grapefruit. The acidic citrus will get your tub sparkling clean, and it will also make your bathroom smell really good.   

Products Needed: Microfiber cloth 
What it Does: Removes dust from wood better than wood polish 
Cost: $14/24-pack*

Is wood polish just a big scam? Well, we can’t say for sure, but there appears, according to cleaning pros over at Family Handyman, to be a better way to clean wood. You have to polish up wood floors and wooden furniture from time to time.

Skip the Wood Polish @Photographee.eu / Stock.Adobe.com

Otherwise, they’ll get dusty. Next time you clean them, skip the wood polish. Just buy a dry microfiber cloth and dust using that. Your wood furniture will actually accumulate less dust without using the furniture polish. It’s also not too expensive, as microfiber cloths cost $14 for a 24-pack on Amazon (the AmazonBasics brand). 

Products Needed: 12 oz. can of Coca-Cola, nylon scrub brush 
What it Does: Cleans stains from concrete floors 
Cost: $6*

When you think of Coca-Cola, you probably think of a cold glass of America’s favorite soda on a hot day (sorry, Pepsi). But, Coca-Cola can actually be used as a cleaning product, something that went viral when people realized how well it cleaned toilets.

Use a Tennis Ball on Scuff Marks @family_handyman / Pinterest.com

Toilets aren’t the only things you can use Coke to clean. You can also use the drink to clean concrete. Pour a twelve-ounce can of Coke onto a stained area. Work the Coca-Cola into the stain using a nylon scrub brush. Don’t use wire, as that could lead to scratches. You’ll find that the Coke cleans the stain as well as any top-dollar cleaning solution.   

Products Needed: Chalk  
What it Does: Absorbs the oil and grease from the stain, drying it out 
Cost: $2*

Grease stains are among the most stubborn stains to get out of clothes, and they usually arise as a cooking mishap. Luckily, there’s a cheap solution to keeping your clothing stain-free. Use chalk to rid clothing of grease stains.

Use Chalk on Your Laundry @yardandgardeng / Pintersst.com

Rub chalk into the grease stain. Let the chalk absorb the grease from the fabric, and then brush it off. You might have to rub it for a while. If the stain is stubborn, keep at it, and then throw it in the wash as usual. Chalk will also help get rid of collar stains, as the substance is great at absorbing oil.  

Products Needed: 12 oz. can of Coca-Cola, nylon scrub brush 
What it Does: Cleans stains from concrete floors 
Cost: $6*

When you think of Coca-Cola, you probably think of a cold glass of America’s favorite soda on a hot day (sorry, Pepsi). But, Coca-Cola can actually be used as a cleaning product, something that went viral when people realized how well it cleaned toilets.

Clean Garage Floors With Coca Cola @alleideen / Pinterest.com

Toilets aren’t the only things you can use Coke to clean. You can also use the drink to clean concrete. Pour a twelve-ounce can of Coke onto a stained area. Work the Coca-Cola into the stain using a nylon scrub brush. Don’t use wire, as that could lead to scratches. You’ll find that the Coke cleans the stain as well as any top-dollar cleaning solution.