20+ Environmentally Friendly Hacks For Cleaning Your House

It's never fun to clean the house. Household tasks take forever, and often involve you buying expensive and toxic cleaning supplies. But it doesn't have to be that way with these eco-friendly cleaning tips:

Fix that ring around the tub!

Sprinkle some salt on the inside of a halved grapefruit, scrub some salt into the inside of the fruit, and finally allow the citric acid from the fruit and abrasiveness of the salt go to work on your tub!

Take the misery out of cleaning the microwave.

Fill a glass dish with water and a halved lemon or two, and nuke it for a few minutes. The resulting steam will loosen and soften all the nasty stuff on the surfaces of the microwave, making it quick and easy to wipe off!

Don’t bite the dust.

Keep your old pillowcases, and use them to dust the top of your fan blades! The bag-like structure of the pillowcase will contain the dust, allowing you to breathe freely.

Got grease stains? Chalk them out!

If you have grease stains on a surface or clothing, cover them with white chalk, then wipe it away with a damp washcloth.

The squeegee is your friend.

If your pet sheds so much that even the vacuum won’t do the trick, try a rubber squeegee! It will pick up more fur than you’d imagine possible.

Shoe polish isn’t just for shoes.

There’s no quicker way to revitalize your parched, worn leather furniture!

Skip the cleaning solution.

If you need to use your grill immediately but the cooking surface is charred and dirty, rub a halved onion over it and marvel at both the clean bars and the mild added flavor.

Behold the power of vinegar.

If the bottom of your stainless steel pan is looking a little scorched, try simmering a solution of water, a cup of vinegar, and two tablespoons of baking soda. Empty the pan and scrub — then watch as the burns disappear!

Your mattress would love a cocktail too!

If your mattress has seen better days, put vodka (or a vodka solution) in a spray bottle, and let the alcohol go to work on your bed’s bacteria!

It does more than get lint off clothes.

Need to clean your lampshades? Nothing works better than a lint roller!

The perfect oven-cleaner.

If you don’t have a self-cleaning oven, just throw a half cup of ammonia in an oven safe bowl and leave it overnight (but please don’t turn the oven on)! The gunk inside will wipe off easily the next day.

Don’t pitch your shower head!

If your shower head is covered in hard water deposits, tie a bag of distilled white vinegar around it and let it soak overnight. Tomorrow morning you’ll be wiping it clean with little or no effort!

Fight oil with oil!

if your cooking leaves a greasy mess on the stove, remember that oil attracts oil! A few drops of oil on a paper towel will help to loosen and clean away grease in seconds!

The spray bottle trick works for couches too!

If you spray rubbing alcohol on a microfiber couch and rub it in with a sponge, the gross couch will transform before your eyes! Once the upholstery has absorbed enough liquid to slightly dampen it, use a hard bristle brush to attack and release odors and stains.

Your dishwasher needs cleaning too!

Place a cup of white vinegar on the top rack of your dishwasher, and run a hot cycle. After that, sprinkle baking soda on the bottom of the dishwasher before running another hot cycle. Now both your dishwasher and glassware will be more sparkly than cloudy!

The cooking spray use you’ve never thought of. 

Did you know cooking spray can be used to clean soap scum?  Try it on the door/tiles in your shower, and watch as the oil breaks down the lime deposits. 

Don’t call the plumber just yet!

You might be able to fix a slow draining sink yourself! Toss four Alka-Seltzer tablets down the drain, and one cup of distilled vinegar. After ten minutes or so, pour boiling water down the sink, and enjoy a drain that drains again!

Your old socks aren’t useless!

There is simply no easy substitute to cleaning blinds than with a good old-fashioned inside out sock dipped in water and vinegar.

Homemade stain remover!

If you’ve got a persistent carpet stain, try spraying it with a solution of two parts water to one part vinegar. Then, place a damp rag over it and iron it on the steam setting. The steam will pull it straight out!

A quick vomit fix.

Cleaning up puke is nobody’s idea of a good time, but there’s an easy solution! Pour water over baking soda and make a paste, and spoon it onto the affected area. Let it dry, and vacuum the mess up; it’s as simple as that!

Toilet cleaning is a cinch!

Just fill a mason jar with vinegar, puncture the lid a few times with a nail, and drop it in the toilet facedown. With each flush, the ceramic surface will get a small dose of active cleaner!

Be careful cleaning broken glass!

To spare your hands from interacting with shards and splinters, use a piece of white bread! It will catch even small shards, and save you the injury.