From de-limescaling your crusty taps and shower heads to leaving your streaky windows smear free – here are eight expert-backed cleaning hacks that will leave your house sparkling
Cleaning the house has never been easier with these life-changing hacks.
With more than a staggering 700 million videos and 62.3 billion views on TikTok alone, cleaning tutorials have propelled into the mainstream in recent years. However, it can be hard to know which hacks actually work, which are a waste of time, and which could actually end up damaging your surfaces and costing you money.
Luckily, The Mirror has compiled eight expert-approved tricks to transform your home without ending up with a hefty bill. Most of these hacks use natural ingredients that you can pick up from your local supermarket for less than £1. So, let’s get to it…
1. Denture tablets
If you live in a hard water area, you’ll know how impossible it is to keep limescale away. Chemical-filled products that cost a fortune might promise to remove the mineral build-up in no time, but they often don’t yield the results we’d expect.
Several cleaning experts including Home Reimagined – a TikTok channel with almost half a million followers – have recommended using a denture tablet to get rid of stubborn limescale deposits in the toilet bowl. Simply drop one or two of the effervescent tablets, which you can buy for as little as 4p each, and let them fizz away for 10-30 minutes before scrubbing the affected area with a toilet brush.
2. Shaving foam
Cleaning glass is one of the most arduous chores there is, especially in the bathroom. If you’re sick and tired of spending hours buffing out those pesky smears, only for them to come back as soon as you’ve had a shower due to steam and water drop marks – a cheap bottle of shaving foam may become your best friend.
Ideal Home reports you can prevent this household nightmare from happening by applying a thin, even layer of shaving foam and buffing it into the mirror before drying it clean with a soft cloth. “This will last for on to two weeks before you will need to repeat the process,” the publication added. You need to use white foam, not blue gel that turns into white foam for this hack.
3. Dishwasher tablet
At around 9p per tablet, dishwasher capsules have been given a new lease of life after cleaning enthusiasts discovered they work wonders on your air fryer. Simply take the basket out of the appliance and fill it up with hot water, then dissolve a dishwasher tablet and let ‘soak’ off all of the grime and burnt scraps of food.
“I do it all the time with hot water leave to soak and wash next morning,” one person wrote on a Facebook cleaning page. Another agreed, commenting: “I have and yes it does work. It’s also good for lots of burnt-on food.”
4. Paper towels
While denture tablets might work well when tackling toilet limescale, getting rid of the calcium build-up around your taps and shower heads can be a lot tricker (as gravity is going against you). Taking to the Mrs Hinch Cleaning Tips Facebook page, dozens of members suggested white vinegar’s acidic properties can break down the chalky residue.
However, it needs time to properly work its magic, so cleaning enthusiasts recommend dousing a paper towel in the liquid and wrapping it around the affected appliance. Leave it overnight and make sure to keep it damp.
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5. Washing-up liquid
Similar to shaving foam, washing-up liquid provides a barrier on your window and shower screens which prevents condensation forming. TV’s Lynsey Crombie, aka the Queen of Clean, says all you need to do is ‘pop a tiny amount’ of the cleaner onto a dry microfibre cloth and ‘rub all over the glass pane’.
“This creates a barrier and prevents condensation,” she explained. This is such a brilliant old-school tip that works so well.” Lynsey added that if you make sure to only use a small amount of washing-up liquid, you won’t get smear marks on your windows.
6. Baking soda
Often touted as one of the best natural cleaner’s baking soda can make a great drain unclogger, especially when mixed with vinegar. William at SGS Engineering said: “Thanks to its alkali properties, baking soda easily dissolves grease and dirt, all you need to do is add half a cup of baking soda to your sink.”
Then, add one cup of white vinegar to the drain and cover with a cloth. Leave the solution for 15 – 30 minutes then remove the cloth and pour hot water down the drain to flush out any leftover debris.
7. Toothbrush
Bathroom grout can be one of the hardest features of a home to maintain. When its pearly white colour turns yellow, the whole room looks dingy and untidy. Ashley Cooper of Triton Showers says a toothbrush is one of the best cleaning tools to sort this out.
“Combine one tablespoon of water and one tablespoon of bicarbonate soda into a paste and spread over the grout,” he said. “Spray with vinegar and with a little elbow grease, give the grout a good scrub with a toothbrush, unearthing any grime.”
8. Lemon
Turns out a lemon a day could keep your microwave smelling fresh and clean. Lynsey Crombie previously explained on ITV’s This Morning that the fruit has antiseptic properties and a pleasant smell – which means it’s a cheap and cheerful way to neutralise those stinky odours. Simply cut the lemon in half and place it in a bowl full of water – then microwave the concoction of full power for a couple of minutes. Grime will easily wipe off after this citrussy hack too.
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