18+ Astonishingly Simple Cleaning Hacks To Make Your Space Sparkle

Face it, your apartment is filthy and no one -- not even YOU -- wants to be anywhere near it. Sure, you've thought about cleaning it a time or two, but who has time for that when there's a whole wide world (or probably just Netflix) out there calling your name? Stick with us and we'll show you how to get your cleaning done quickly and hassle-free, so that you can get back to whatever it is that makes you get out of bed in the morning.

Pick up glass shards with a slice of bread.

So you came home and polished off that entire bottle of wine even though you PROMISED yourself that you’d save it for the weekend. Eh, it happens. When you eventually stumble and break that wine glass though, reach for a plain piece of bread to pick up all the little shards that you can’t get with your hands.

Dry up coffee table rings with your hairdryer.

Speaking of drinking too much wine, you forgot to use a coaster! Don’t worry, your hairdryer will soak up any excess moisture to avoid leaving a permanent ring on your coffee table. Just be sure to do it before the ring dries!

Easily clean a glitter spill with a ball of Play-Doh.

Ugh, glitter. If you MUST use this, the most wretched of all craft supplies, then at least clean up after yourself. A big ball of Play-Doh works wonders for picking up glitter. Perhaps a few cheating husbands will start keeping a jar of Play-Doh in their cars after reading this.

Keep your room smelling fresh for less.

As a human being, you smell bad. Therefore, everything you touch eventually smells bad. Combat this offensive odor by taping a few dryer sheets over your air conditioning unit. Your room will smell like fresh laundry and your guests will thank you.

Clean your ceiling fan with an old pillow case.

Cleaning your fan is kind of a pain. Every time you so much as breathe on those dust bunnies, they seem to float away onto your face, into your hair and into your cat’s water bowl. Try using an old pillow case to simultaneously clean and contain dust for a hassle-free clean.

Keep your blender clean and free of debris.

Nothing is worse than cleaning leftover smoothie out of your blender (especially if it’s a few DAYS old). Instead of risking your fingers near the blade, simply run the blender with some hot water and soap and let it clean up after itself.

Get rid of those disgusting hard water deposits.

Secure a plastic bag around your shower head and fill it up with some white vinegar. Let that soak overnight and your hard water deposits will wipe right off.

Restore your hair brush to have it looking good as new.

Who would have thought that the best way to clean your HAIR brush was by scrubbing it with shampoo? It almost seems a little TOO easy.

Quickly dry out your shoes with newspaper.

Newspaper and rice are both great for soaking up excess moisture. Now your sweaty shoes will only stink a little bit.

Potatoes are a grater’s best friend.

Seriously, cleaning your cheese grater sucks! Literally every single thing that you might normally use to clean dishes just gets, well, grated. The solution? Use a potato! It will scrub off any excess substance that is stuck to your grater, while rinsing away cleanly under cold water.

Lipstick stains are a thing of the past.

Okay, so you’re probably not leaving kiss marks all over everything you get your hands on. However, if you (or more likely, children in your care) accidentally get lipstick all over something like your clothes, just spray it with a little hairspray, let it dry, and wipe it away.

Make your sponge less gross!

It’s no secret that sponges get really gross after like one and a half uses. After that, it’s just like smearing germs all over everything that you “clean” with it. Next time, microwave that sucker on high for about two minutes to commit bacteria genocide. Afterwards, you can clean anything as if your sponge was as good as new.

Clean your mattress with vodka?

As if you, your bed and vodka need more of an excuse to spend time together. Case in point: your bed probably reeks something awful. Give it a light spritz with some vodka and essential oils to disinfect and leave a fresh scent. Just be sure to save the good booze for your mouth. No use wasting Belvedere on your mattress.

Deep clean your dishwasher using only two ingredients.

First, empty out your dishwasher leaving only a container of white vinegar at the top. Run it on its hottest cycle like this, then add baking soda to the bottom of the dishwasher. Run it once more on a short, hot cycle for AMAZING results.

Clean your microwave without lifting a finger.

This is especially useful for those who are confined to the special hell that public universities refer to as “dorm rooms.” For you poor souls, the microwave is likely your ONLY means of cooking, so you should probably think about keeping it clean. By simply boiling a few cups of water with two lemon halves in the microwave, it nearly cleans itself. All you have to do is wipe it down!

Furniture polish makes everything SPARKLE.

Chances are, you’re probably not about to go this extra mile unless you’re REALLY trying to impress someone. Maybe your mother (or god forbid, your mother in-law) is coming over for dinner. Maybe your movie date is WAY out of your league and you’re getting sort of desperate. Whatever the case, furniture polish is your answer. That stuff makes everything shine like crazy.

Clean pet hair with a rubber squeegee.

If you have pets (or just a rapidly balding roommate perhaps?) and you’re ready to go to battle in the war on hair, then reach for your trusty rubber squeegee. It easily removes pet hair from hard wood and carpet alike without the hassle of vacuuming.