Tell me your most ingenious cleaning/ time saving hacks??

[Chloefairydust]

Looking for some cleaning inspiration, and I love anything that saves time, or is multitasking.

If you have any tips or ideas to share?

I will go first. I use a spray mop to clean my floors each day. It takes me like 2 minutes and because I do it daily the dirt never actually builds up on the floor. I use either zoflora or fabulousa so it also makes my home smell nice.

Store the duvet covers in pillowcase as soon as it’s dried no more scrambling to find the set

Any tips on how to deep clean those cast iron hob stand thingies

I read once something about soaking in a bio washing powder solution? It's the corners in particular that can get a bit gunked- especially when DH/DCs have been cooking. Splattered fat everywhere ....

I second this. An uncle of mine used to watch a pot of potatoes boiling, leaning over the cooker. I’ve noticed DP doing the same thing with cooking. I wonder why?!

Love this idea 🤯

I run them through the dishwasher… They come up sparkling

I do it. It is a way to slow down and make life less stressful. I just relax and enjoy the cooking.

It is not necessary to do fifteen things at once!

@lannistunut fair enough! I can appreciate that 😊

Another cleaning hack I have, is I own this mini dustpan and brush set (like a tiny desktop one) I use it to take the crumbs off the worktop before wiping down the worktop. This saves crumbs going all over the floor so makes cleaning the floor a lot easier.

Now that I'm not washing nappies, PE kits, work clothes, my washing machine doesn't have so much dirt pumping out of it. When it did, I used to do a 90 deg wash once a month (nappies usually). I do a boil wash every few months now.

Rest of the time, washing powder with soda crystals in every wash - straight into the drum. I'm pretty sure my machine is much cleaner since I stopped using fabric conditioner.

Door open when not in use. Always.

So many good tips! Don’t think I have many, apart from regularly using harpic toilet tabs left over night (to reduce limescale build up and subsequent scrubbing). Reusing used tumble dryer sheets as dusters, for grimy dust on skirting boards as they can then be chucked away. Also folding used sheets into laundry.

My wooden butcher board is quite worn and scratched, thinking of replacing with marble, is there a consensus on best chopping board materials? Or how to get wooden ones clean enough? After a while they seem to look and feel tired

I oil my boards - have had them a long time now, and I suppose they do look a bit worn, but don't we all :-). The one that looks best is the acacia one that has probably been best looked after. Pine ones were cheaper Ikea buys - I imagine I could sand them if I cared enough, but they are probably due an oiling. I just use Aldi or Lidl rapeseed oil and an old cloth. Takes me a while to do boards, pizza steel, cast and iron skillets, and I should probably do them more often.

I do that with the hoover 😂

Saves so much time honestly

Bicarb in with the whites

Bought a bungalow to avoid having to clean stairs ☺️

PMSL!

@Cynderella
Thank you 😊

Haha great idea with the bungalow!

As in the hoover goes into the dishwasher?! 🤯

Do you remember the very funny Derry Girls episode where they went on a residential ' cross community 'weekend to meet up with young people from Protestant background ? They had to write on a blackboard what they thought was different about Protestants and Catholics. They had ' Protestants keep their toasters in a cupboard ' on the list of Protestant characteristics.

No I hoover my toaster and worktops before cleaning them

I spray mop most days too. Before I had a spray mop my floors weren't washed as often as they should be because I couldn't be bothered filling the bucket etc. Lazy I know. I keep a cordless vacuum upstairs so I can give them a quick hoover every day or 2 because once again laziness stopped me doing the massive task of carrying up the big hoover and plugging it in🙄.

I keep a packet of cleaning wipes in the bathroom and have a quick wipe down most days which means it doesn't need a scrub as often. My bathroom gets filthy if its left more than a few days. Same with my carpets I hoover downstairs every day often twice a day and if it's left for one day it's a mess. I haven't done it today. In fact I haven't done any house work today except from the dishes and honestly if anyone visited me just now they would never believe I clean every day. In fact I clean twice a day most days but one day where I do nothing and it's like a bomb site . I don't know where I'm going wrong as I read a lot of posts on here where people hoover or clean once a week. I assume unlike me they don't have messy children and pets🙄

This one always appears on these threads but it doesn't actually save any time. Open pillowcase, wiggle folded up duvet in, put other pillowcases in, refold pillowcase, put it away. Get it out, tip out duvet cover and pillow cases, make bed.

Far too much faff. Just fold duvet cover as usual, slip pillow cases inside last fold or put them on top. No 'scrambling', keeps all the pillow cases neatly folded and far quicker.

Train your kids to put everything away themselves.

I have encouraged this since my kids were toddlers and it's never worked on them and my husband is a lost cause
I swear everyone else who lives in my house is literally mess-blind

Doesn't work for me either. What worked was downsizing bedlinen, so everyone has one set on the bed and one set in a bag, waiting in that room. I do have a couple of old sheets, duvet covers and pillowcases in a vacuum bag in a cupboard. In over a year, I haven't had to use them.

So, strip bed, and remake with clean sheet etc. from bag in that room. Bag goes down to 'scullery' in ironing basket, so when clean sheets etc are ready to go upstairs, they go into bag, and then bag into bedroom.

Like everything with decluttering, less is more. So much easier - definitely no scrambling.