This article originally appeared on the Springs "You're Home Blog."
Some people find housecleaning to be therapeutic...then there are the rest of us. Here are some clever hacks that let you keep your Springs luxury apartment home clean while maintaining your life of leisure.
Living Room and Bedroom
- Lint rollers work remarkably well on couches, lamp shades, bookshelves or any surface that collects dust and crumbs.
- Dryer sheets double as convenient dust cloths for window blinds.
- How low-maintenance are the hardwood-style floors in our Springs luxury apartments? Keep them dirt-free (and your feet toasty warm) just by wearing fluffy socks.
- Do away with decorative pillows, top sheets and other unnecessary bedding accessories. Add a duvet cover to your comforter and making the bed becomes a one-step job.
- Get a second laundry basket and use it for clothing items that aren’t dirty enough for the wash but you're too lazy to hang back up.
Kitchen
- Dishwashers: they're not just for dishes anymore.
- Is your microwave full of crusted-on food? Simply microwave a damp sponge for two minutes, steaming the stains so they can be quickly wiped away with an oven mitt. Bonus: the sponge is now germ-free.
- Don't waste time scrubbing those hard-to-reach nooks and crannies of a blender. After each use, add soap and water and run a quick cycle. Rinse with clean water and you're done.
- Few jobs are as tedious as cleaning out the refrigerator. Cover the shelves with Press'n Seal wrap and replace as necessary.
- OK, cleaning the oven is just as bad. Non-stick oven liners are inexpensive and eco-friendly.
- Keep a plastic grocery bag nearby while cooking for easy disposal of waste.
- A crumpled fistful of aluminum foil is a great stand-in for a steel wool pot and pan scrubber.
Bathroom
- Cut back on bathtub scum by using shower gel or body wash instead of bar soap.
- Have cleaning wipes handy so you can do quick touch-ups on faucets, toilet handles and other grungy surfaces.
- Keep a handled dish wand filled with one part vinegar and one part dish soap in the tub to wipe down walls while you shower.
- Pour a cup of borax in the toilet, close the lid and let sit overnight. Flush in the morning for no-scrub cleaning.
- De-gunk a nasty shower head by pouring white vinegar into a plastic sandwich bag. Use a rubber band to seal the bag over the shower head and leave it overnight.
General
- One word: multitask. Unload the dishwasher while the microwave is running, or wipe down the bathroom sink when you wait for your flat iron to heat up.
- Divide your home into "cleaning zones." Set a timer for five minutes and work on a different zone each evening.
Do you have a clever tip to add to our list? Share it in the comments!
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