20 Brilliant Hacks For Cleaning Every Part Of Your House

From the kitchen sink to the living room windows to the mattress in the bedroom, sometimes it seems like dirt and grime is lurking everywhere in our houses. Fortunately, there are a lot of bloggers and clean freaks out there who have come up with smart tricks to clean just about anything! Here are 20 of our favorite house-cleaning hacks.

1. After you’re done with your sponge, pop it in the nuker for two minutes, then let cool. Be gone, pesky germs!

2. Tired of seeing smudges and smears on your otherwise glistening faucets? Try this trick from Creek Line House: wax paper.

3. Use a binder clip as a sponge stand. It will air-dry and not get all damp and dewy on the bottom.

4. A seam ripper will clean out the hair from vacuum bristles. Rehana Du Jour shows you how.

5. This trick comes from A Girl and Her Needle: Put your vacuum filters in the dishwasher (without the dishes in there, of course).

6. Cream of tartar will clean up a gunky toaster, coffee pot or any other dingy-looking stainless steel in your kitchen. Just mix it with water and scrub away.

7. An old toothbrush is good for cleaning out an unplugged — and do make sure it’s unplugged, please! — toaster. Howcast shared this helpful YouTube video:

8. How do you clean between the glass on your oven door? Ask Anna Moseley has this clever hack. You’re gonna need a coat hanger.

9. Salt is a good cleaner for a cast-iron skillet.

10. Sink drains are one of the stinkiest spots in your kitchen. Sacrifice a toothbrush and get in there with some lemons.

11. Use a bagel — yes, a bagel — to clean vintage paintings. The Brick House has instructions for gently getting the dirt off of an old painting with a bagel — and how to remove the crumbs after.

12. Boiling water and baking soda will take care of that overhead oven hood. Well, up to a point, anyway. One Good Thing by Jillee shows you how to get this one done.

13. Clean your top-loader washing machine with a mixture of hot water and bleach.

14. Your front-loading washer’s got mold or other gunk in that outer seal? Try this tip from Clean and Scentsible and use bleach, water and a towel.

15. Clean your dryer vents twice a year. Pretty Handy Girl has the instructions for doing it yourself.

16. Irons need TLC, too. Here are five ways to clean up ’em up. Make sure you have salt on hand.

17. How do those window tracks get so dirty? Ask Anna Moseley has a clever solution: a cotton swab and vinegar will clean them up.

18. Baking soda is just the thing to clean your mattress.

19. Used dryer sheets work well to clean baseboards.

20. Hot water, vinegar and a steamy iron can pull even old stains out of your carpet.

Check out more cleaning hacks from BuzzFeed.