6 Cleaning Hacks That I Wish I'd Known About Sooner

Anyone else feel like they're forever chasing their tail with trying to keep the house tidy and clean?! Once I've finished one room, you can bet that another is always sure to have been turned upside down. 

And so because of this, I'm always looking for tips, tricks and hacks to help me save time on getting the house jobs done and over the years I've learnt a few little things that have turned out to be pretty genius. 

I always think that it's good to share and so below are a few cleaning hacks that I wish I had known about sooner.. 

1.Using toothpaste and an old toothbrush to clean the white rubber around shoes and trainers

If you have an old pair of shoes or trainers that aren't quite old enough to replace, but that could do with a bit of a freshen up then this tip will really help.

Just grab some toothpaste and an old toothbrush that is no longer used and gently rub the toothpaste onto the bottom white rubber parts of the trainers. You'll be amazed at how much the toothpaste will whiten the trainer. They'll look (nearly) as good as new!

2. Using toothpaste and an old toothbrush to clean marks off of walls 

As with above, toothpaste and an old toothbrush work like absolute magic here in removing marks from walls. If you're a parent, then you'll probably have had crayon marks on the walls in your house before. If you can't get your hands on the paint to remove the marks, then this is such a quick, easy and inexpensive trick. Just gently rub the toothpaste with the toothbrush over the crayon mark and it will completely disappear in front of your eyes. 

3. Use baby oil on your kitchen sink drainer to remove water marks and smears

Smears and water marks on my sink drainer and around my sink on the taps drive me absolutely crazy! Someone on Instagram shared this following tip with me and I love it so much. All you need to do is clean your sink and drainer area as normal, dry it a little with a microfibre cloth or whatever else you'd normally use and then simply get a little bit of baby oil on some kitchen roll and rub it in on top (following the direction of your drainer lines). It will remove the water marks and smears like magic! 

4. The magic of Bar Keepers Friend

This product is absolutely incredible for removing stains off of surfaces. I use it all of the time to remove things like stubborn pasta sauce stains and stained tea mug rings off of my white desk, bedsides cabinets and kitchen surfaces. You simply sprinkle a little of the product onto a cloth or directly on the stain and then wipe over with a wet cloth/sponge/piece of kitchen roll and it lifts off in seconds with very little need to rub it too much. 

5. Hoovering your shaggy rug upside down and shaking either side out 

I feel like this one might be more common knowledge than I realise? But I always thought that simply hoovering my rug daily was enough. I was so wrong! Recently I discovered just how much dirt and how many crumbs get stuck inside of my shaggy living room rug. It's actually shocking just how much. So now, at least once a week I turn the rug totally over, hoover the back of it whilst it's face down and then I lift either side shaking it completely out and then hoovering up whatever falls off of it. My rug looks like brand new whenever I do this and I love it! 

6. Using a squeegee to lift pet hair from the corners and sides of the stairs

I have three cats so I'm always finding it a little difficult to keep on top of the amount of pet hair in the house, especially on our stairs as they are carpeted. I hoover the stairs most days, but I find that the sides and corners of the individual steps seem to cling on the hair where the hoover can't quite reach enough. 

One thing that works really well for this though, is slightly dampening a squeegee and getting right into the corners and sides with one of the squeegee ends. Because the squeegee is so thin it can reach right to the side and in the corners where the hoover might not be able to and then the rubber part of the squeegee easily pulls the hair away leaving the stairs looking lovely again! 

I hope these tips have been helpful. I am always looking for new hacks, tips and tricks when it comes to tidying and cleaning, so if you have any to share, please feel free to do so in the comment section below. :)  

Thank you for reading. 

  Alex xo