11 Unexpected Cleaning Hacks Everyone Should Know

This article originally appeared on Angi and is syndicated by Cheapism.

Cleaning can take up a good chunk of our weeks (and even our precious weekends), so it makes sense that we’re all trying to find ways to clean smarter, not harder.

To help free up more of your time, we’ve rounded up these 11 cleaning hacks that everyone should know. They’re not only useful, but they’re also easy to do, leaving you more time to spend your weekends doing…literally anything else.

This might be the ultimate cleaning hack. Every project needs some kind of management, including cleaning and maintaining your home — which can really be considered an ongoing project with major milestones like spring cleaning or renovations.

Creating a house cleaning checklist that includes individual assignments for different members of the household (if applicable) can be an incredible way to keep things organized.

For instance, someone could be responsible for vacuuming every Tuesday and Friday, while someone else could be in charge of weekly bathtub scrubbing duties. A checklist can take things off your plate and help to teach your family the importance of working as a team. Plus, there is something so satisfying about checking completed things off a list.

Did you know that you probably already have some great cleaning supplies in your kitchen or pantry or that you can even make your own cleaning supplies?

You can clean and refresh tons of things in your home with lemons. Banish smelly sinks by using a lemon and coarse salt to scour the basin and then run the citrus halves or quarters through the garbage disposal. Using lemons to freshen things up is also one of our favorite microwave cleaning hacks (hey, there is a reason that so many commercial products are citrus-scented).

You can use baking soda and vinegar to clean the rest of your kitchen and keep your bathroom sparkling clean as well—no other products needed, just a little elbow grease. Vinegar can get tough stains off of small appliances like coffee makers or blenders or even unclog shower heads.

You can also use a mixture of baking soda, water, and vinegar to clean your oven—it’s one of our favorite oven cleaning hacks. A mixture of baking soda and vinegar is also a good way to clean your washer and dryer and prevent mildew from developing. Just sprinkle about half a cup of baking soda into the drum or basin of your washing machine and run it on the hottest cycle, then wipe the inside and outside down with white vinegar.

Baking soda is also surprisingly good at removing stubborn grease or oil stains on fabric, carpet, or upholstery. Vinegar can help remove candle wax or anything that’s left a sticky residue. Just sprinkle some on the offending spot(s) and leave it for a while to soak things up, and then wipe away the problem.

Before you get rid of socks with holes in them or pillowcases with stains, try using them for cleaning. Pillowcases are great for wiping down ceiling fans, for instance, and putting a sock over your hand can be an easy way to clean finicky items like window blinds.

Even toothpicks and cotton swabs can be surprisingly helpful to get grit or dirt out of small spaces, grooves in between tiles, or furniture with small details.

A vacuum can be your best friend when it comes to cleaning for a variety of reasons. You can vacuum inside an oven, a fridge, and cupboards to get out dust, dirt, and other debris.

Once you’ve gotten excess dirt out, you get down to the work of wiping things out and disinfecting them. You can also use vacuum hoses to clean upholstery and mattresses, or get the dust off crown moldings, built-in shelving, and anywhere else that’s hard to reach.

Speaking of vacuums, make sure you get the most out of yours. Extend your vacuum hose with a piece of PVC pipe or two and some couplings or fittings from your local hardware store. These will help you easily reach high-up or otherwise inconvenient spots. You may also want to rent or borrow a steam cleaner or get a professional carpet cleaning once a year or so — add that to your cleaning checklist.

It’s hard to keep the rest of your house clean if the equipment that you use is part of the problem. Make sure that any mops, brooms, vacuums, wash rags, spray bottles, and any other cleaning supplies are in good condition. Replace and refill everything on a regular basis.

Changing your vacuum bag or emptying the canister (in the case of a bagless vacuum) right after you use it is always a good idea. You’ll also want to regularly clean your washer and dryer to prevent odors and mildew from settling into your clothes, sheets, and towels.

For example, lint rollers are great for cleaning lampshades and tough spots like the tufts between buttons on upholstered furniture. Coffee filters get the dust off of delicate electronics and screens safely and easily.

Dryer sheets are even more versatile. These little sheets can do everything from eliminating the caked-on grime from pans (just soak the pan in water with a dryer sheet or two tossed in) to neutralizing odors (toss a couple in the bottom of dirty laundry hampers, trash cans, or underneath any pet-related items like crates, tanks, or litter boxes).

You can fix scratches on wood, laminate, or painted surfaces with markers or gel paints. Just get a permanent marker, paint marker, or alcohol-based marker that matches the shade of the material and color over the marks. A bit of olive oil rubbed in can restore shine and help fill in scratches as well.

Need to clean your floors and walls? Spritzing on a cleaner instead of mopping with a bucket is easier and may even be more sanitary. You’ll also likely use less cleaner if you mix it in a spray bottle versus a bucket. Plus, you can spot clean more easily with a spray bottle and rag or mop too.

Every time you take a shower or bath, give the shower a quick wipe down right away so soap scum and dirt don’t have time to build up. Be sure to spray the shower curtain liner and use a soap dispenser brush to get under the bath or shower mat, too, since that’s where gross mildew and mold can hide.

If you have glass shower doors, keep a squeegee tool in there as well and clean them quickly post-shower to avoid cloudiness and smears.

Pro tip: If a buildup does occur on your glass shower doors, you can first use a wet eraser sponge to remove the soap scum and then a streak-free glass cleaner to make the glass shine.

Once you’re already in cleaning mode, make things efficient by combining similar tasks. Wash towels while you wash sheets, get the baseboards clean or hit the upholstery with a vacuum extension while you are vacuuming, clean out the freezer and cabinets while you do the fridge, or clean the blinds while you are washing the windows.