Bring on springtime and the sunshine! Can I just say that the longer days have been so good for my heart this week. A little extra vitamin D goes a long way and it couldn't have come at a better time. With spring also comes the urge to clean. You know to freshen up your house, purge what you don't need, and tidy up all the clutter that's leftover from winter.
With spring cleaning seeming like a must (at least for me), Rachel and I thought it would be awesome to see what all you other gals do around your home to keep things organized, tidy, and clean. I know I'm always looking for the secret method for random problems I encounter in my home. So it only seemed fitting to link-up and share all of our tips and tricks.
This first one my mom shared with me. My Pottery Barn salt and pepper shakers are silver, and while they're meant to have an antique look, the "antique" was getting a little too tarnished. So she told me to use plain Crest toothpaste to clean them up.
This is the before. Then husband used an old t-shirt to rub in a small dab of the Crest toothpaste. He rubbed the toothpaste over the entire surface and once he began to see the tarnish disappear, he wiped the area he was working on clean.
Such a success! Remember the look is still antique, but SO much cleaner looking after using the toothpaste. The tarnish is gone. Compare it to the left side of the shaker and you can see the where the tarnish is still hanging around. As soon as we tested the toothpaste on just a side of the salt shaker, we finished cleaning off all the other sides of both shakers.
This tip/trick is probably my favorite and a life changer, not to mention time saver. I am guilty of leaving splatter in my microwave **gasp**. I know, I know...how could I?? While I never thought I would ever share my dirty microwave on my blog, it's worth it to spread this little trick along. Besides, I totally let it get his dirty so I could show you amazing the trick is (okay not really).
By putting a cup of water and a tablespoon of vanilla into a microwaveable dish, and microwaving it on high for five minutes, you will be able to wipe your dirty microwave clean with no effort and a paper towel. The water condenses as it's being heated, softening up all those spills and splatters. The vanilla is there to make your microwave smell like heaven.
Once you've microwaved the water and vanilla, remove it from the microwave (**caution: the bowl will be very hot). You can wipe down the inside and the door with ease. No elbow grease will be needed to get those once-forever-seeming-stuck-spots removed. Just check out that spotless microwave below. Fingers crossed it lasts like that for a while.
Tennis balls are great for fluffing up your duvet cover in the dryer. I throw a couple of tennis balls into the dryer with my duvet after washing it and voila! I've got a perfectly fluffy duvet to put back on my bed. I'm sure it would work with a comforter too.
My friend Emily recently shared the magic of baking soda with me. She said that it is great for cleaning soap scum off of a glass shower door. Just put some baking soda in a little bowl and dip a wet rag into it, then clean the door. It's also good for getting rid of stains! I haven't tried this out for myself yet, but I'm excited too (not that I want a stain or anything).
These disinfecting wipes get used multiple times a day in our home. We are always wiping down our kitchen counters with them. And we use them on our bathroom counters too. I love feeling like our counter tops are getting clean in between the heavy duty cleaning and scrubbing. We've used Clorox brand and the Target brand. Both work just as well as the other. The Target brand is a little less expensive unless you can catch the Clorox brand on a deal.
Not pictured, but a toothbrush is great for getting out stains. Use it with a little bit of liquid detergent to gently brush the stain on your clothes or other fabric.
Now it's your turn! Bring on all of your household remedies! I'm excited to collect some new tips!!
Just grab the button below, add it to your post, and link-up with use below!
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p.s. Go enter the giveaway for a fabulous pillow cover by Motif Pillows! You don't want to miss this!
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