No Time for Spring Cleaning? 10 Cleaning Hacks to Tidy Up Your Home

Today, we have a guest post from Will, one of our friendly self-storage consultants here in Newbury Park:

Spring is almost here! But if you’re anything like me and my friends in Thousand Oaks, you’re juggling a full plate, and Spring Cleaning is just one of those things that never seems to get done. Rest assured, you can still do some deep cleaning, but the trick is to work smart, not hard. Take a look at these 10 easy cleaning hacks:


1) Dirty Toys, Light Fixtures, and Gas Burners 
— Oh my!

Your dishwasher can be used to quickly wash dirty light fixtures, gas burners, and children’s toys (just not electronic ones!). For small toys like legos, use a mesh bag to make sure they don’t get scattered.

2) Sock Puppets = Clean Blinds!

Spray a cleaning product or a 50/50 mixture of vinegar and water on dusty blinds, then wipe down with an old sock.

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3) Let the Kids Jump on the Bed

This is a fun way to clean the dust and dirt from your mattress. Have your kids jump on the bed for a few minutes to bring up dust from the inside. Then vacuum the mattress top with your vacuum’s hose attachment.

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4) Show Faucet Stains Who’s Boss

Halve a lemon and rub the inside on faucet stains. The acid will dissolve any build-up quickly and leave you with a lovely lemon scent! This would be a cool learning opportunity for kids, too.

5) Zap Germs From Your Dish Sponge

I use this all the time because I’m paranoid there’s gross stuff growing in my soggy dish sponges. Just wet down the sponge and microwave it for 2 minutes on high. Wait for it to cool down (it gets HOT!) and then use as normal.

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6) Vacuum Your Cabinets

Use the attachment part of your vacuum to suck up crumbs and dust from underneath your cabinets. Works great with drawers too! Just make sure to remove or secure any small items.

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7) Sea Salt Scrub… for Cast Iron

Cast iron can be hard to get clean, especially baked-on scraps. But you can scrub away the grime (without hurting the pan) with a teaspoon of sea salt and a cloth.

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8) Easy-Clean Lamp Shades

Use one of those sticky lint rollers to clean up those dusty old lampshades.

9) It’s Like a Spa, for Your Microwave

Easily steam-clean your microwave! Boil a glass of water, with half a lemon in it, inside the microwave. Let sit for a couple minutes, then wipe clean.

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10) Clean Your Coffee Maker with Vinegar

Fill up your coffee maker’s water reservoir with half water and half vinegar, then turn it on and let the water run through. You’ll be amazed at how dirty that clear liquid becomes! I got a new coffee maker a couple of months ago and decided to clean my old one before giving it away. I used this trick and was pretty disgusted by how much gunk came out… I wished I would’ve tried this earlier while I was still drinking from that thing!

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And once you’re in cleaning mode, you might want to clear some space by storing furniture and other items in at an affordable storage facility in Newbury Park. If so, we’d love for you to give us a call.

PHOTO_HSCTO_Will-Schwartz-1690_2015-01-29This was a guest post from Will, a storage consultant here. Not only is Will an expert on “all things storage,” he prides himself on knowing all the best cleaning hacks. Thanks for these Spring Cleaning tips, Will!

Readers: Don’t forget to post your favorite cleaning ideas below, or on Facebook.