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15 Old Fashioned Household Cleaning Tips that Work!

Whether it’s a good old spring clean or you want to ensure your property is spick and span before you put your home on the market, choosing cleaning products that get the job done is essential!

We have become so used to seeing fancy, branded packaging lining the shelves of the cleaning aisle that many of the traditional cleaning methods that our Grandmothers would swear by have disappeared.

Fear not though, because the team at Warren Powell-Richards are full of great ideas, and can offer you 15 old fashioned cleaning tips that really work:

1. Use White Vinegar to Clean the Windows

Do you have trouble getting a streak-free finish? Sometimes, no matter how much you scrub and rinse, your windows will keep drying with streaky marks down them, making them look worse than before.

If this sounds familiar, then white vinegar is the answer. Just spray a little bit on your windows and wipe clean to achieve a streak-free finish.

You can also mix it with warm water and cornstarch to achieve similar results, but a spray bottle of distilled white wine vinegar by itself should do the trick.

2. Use White Vinegar to Remove Limescale

As you’ve probably guessed, white vinegar is incredibly versatile. And in case you’re wondering, it doesn’t leave a nasty odour like malt vinegar would, so avoid the bottle of brown stuff at your local chip shop!

To remove limescale from the kettle, just fill the kettle with a mix of water and white vinegar, leave for a few hours, and when you come back to it the limescale can be removed easily.

You can also use it to remove limescale from showers and taps but take care as it’s not suitable for all taps, such as gold-plated ones.

3. Use Lemons to Remove Stains on Chopping Boards

If your chopping board is looking tired and stained from things like strawberries and raspberries there’s no need to give up on it and buy a new one, because another fruit is the answer you’re looking for.

Just squeeze a lemon over the board and scrub to remove those stubborn stains. If you’re wondering how this works, it’s the acidity of the lemon that works its magic here. Just don’t use it on stone floors or worktops.

4. Use a Lemon to Remove Grease From Dishes

Just like white vinegar, lemons are incredibly versatile when it comes to cleaning. If your saucepans or frying pans have tough grease on them, just cut a lemon in half and rub over them. This loosens the grease, allowing you to remove it much more easily.

5. Use Baking Soda to Clean Dirty Pans

Similar to lemons, the acidity in baking soda makes it a great product for removing stubborn grease. Simply apply it to a scrubbing brush and get to work on your greasy pans, and you’ll find it works far easier than a scourer or sponge.

6. Use White Vinegar to Remove Sticky Residue

Ok, so we’re back to white vinegar, but we did say how versatile it is. Don’t you hate it when you remove a sticker or label and loads of it remains stuck to the object? Well, apply some white vinegar to the area and it’ll magically lift it off.

7. Soak Clothes in Detergent and Water Before Washing Them

This only applies to clothes with a heavy stain, so don’t worry you don’t have to do this every time you’re about to put a wash on.

Before stain removal products became such big business, people had to find other ways to remove them from clothes, and a good pre-soaking before sticking them in the wash was how they did it. And it still works today.

8. Use Baking Soda and White Vinegar to Unclog Drains

There are loads of plug and drain unblockers out there all telling you how tough they are on clogs and blockages, which then underwhelm you.

For something that actually works, put a tablespoon of baking soda down there, follow up with a cup of white vinegar, leave for a couple of minutes and then pour in a kettle of boiling water.

9. Use Toothpaste to Remove Scratches on Glass

Another strange but true cleaning tip! Just make sure you use a classic toothpaste and not the gel ones. Add some to a soft cloth, wipe in a circular motion, then wipe away with a damp cloth and dry.

10. Remove Stains With Glycerin

Rub some of this into any stained clothes, leave for an hour or so and then wash as normal. And it’s great for sore throats too!

11. Use Lemons to Clean Copper Saucepans

To get your copper shining again, lemons will do the job perfectly. You can take the hollow shell of a squeezed lemon, dip it in cooking salt and then scrub the saucepans. Rinse and dry after, and you’ll have sparkling copper again.

12. Dust With Water

There’s no need to buy expensive polishes and dust cleaning products, just using water on your duster is sufficient. Give your duster a good soaking, then wring it as dry as possible and use it without any cleaning products. Just make sure to dry wooden surfaces immediately after wiping.

13. Use Natural Ingredients to Freshen the Air

Avoid the chemical smells that come with canned air fresheners and consider more natural options instead. Items like vanilla extract or cinnamon sticks will give your home a unique, longer-lasting smell than a shop-bought air freshener.

14. Use Old Clothes as Cleaning Rags

Just because your t-shirt has a hole in it or doesn’t fit anymore, it doesn’t mean you can’t still get good use out of it. You can use it to clean the car or windows and it’ll do the job just as well as a purpose made cloth.

15. Use Coffee Grounds to De-odourise the Fridge

Put a bowl of coffee grounds in the back of your fridge and it will absorb any bad odours and leave it smelling much fresher.

Now there’s no excuse for you not to have a sparkling house!