Do you have multiple cupboards filled with partially used containers of household cleaning products? If so, you are not alone. Madison Avenue has trained us to believe we need to buy specialized cleaning solutions for every single job in the house when that is simply not true. General-purpose cleaners are often sufficient for most jobs.
Having said that, you probably have some great cleaning products in your house right now that you’re not even aware of. You use these products for other things, not knowing how useful they are for cleaning. That’s what this post is about. Below we describe some of the greatest cleaning products people do not know they have. We use them ourselves.
Fabric Softener Sheets
You may use fabric softener sheets to make your clothes feel better after they come out of the dryer, but did you know those same sheets have incredible cleaning power? They absolutely do. They are great for removing sticky substances like adhesive, tar, and so forth.
If you have a floor covered with those 12 x 12 vinyl floor tiles, you know that time and pressure cause adhesive to seep up around the edges. That adhesive can be a nightmare to remove. Well, guess what? Dryer sheets do the trick. It doesn’t take much effort, either.
Vinegar
Previous generations knew the power of vinegar as a cleaning product. It still works today. Vinegar is a great cleaner for coffee pots, appliances, and tubs and sinks. It is also a great cleaner for that shower head that has seen better days. Get yourself a plastic freezer bag, fill it half full of vinegar, then put it over the shower head and secure with a rubber band or string. Let the showerhead soak overnight. By the time you wake up, a simple rinse will make it look like new.
Newspaper
If you have windows with so much built-up grime that paper towel and window cleaner cannot get them clean, newspaper is the solution. Crumpled newspaper will help loosen up the gunk without scratching the glass. Spray the windows with window cleaner, gently scrub them with the newspaper, and then hit them again with window cleaner and a paper towel. They should come out clean.
The Toothbrush
The everyday toothbrush is an amazing little tool people do not realize is quite useful for cleaning. Take your kitchen sink, for example. You may have a small amount of space between the back of the sink and the backsplash, space that tends to get caked with dirt and grime. The toothbrush is the perfect instrument for getting in there and scrubbing.
Tooth brushes are great tools for cleaning tile grout, bathroom fixtures, those tight corners in the refrigerator, light fixtures, and a whole host of other things that don’t play well with sponges and rags. Best of all, they are cheap. You can buy half-a-dozen or more generic toothbrushes at your big-box department store for next to nothing.
There are lots more products in your home that are useful for cleaning, even if their original purpose was something else entirely. So before you succumb to the temptation of filling up your cupboards with specialized cleaning products Madison Avenue insists you must have, look around and see what you already have. You might be surprised.