The words “spring cleaning” can make the neatest person cringe. They mean more work. As if cleaning all year long wasn’t enough. Spring cleaning is more than just cleaning…it is deep cleaning. Something that most people do not have time for all year long. Since my expertise is cooking, I have decided to focus on spring cleaning and dirt build up prevention tips for the kitchen.
— Baking soda or club soda will clean and shine stainless steel sinks easily. Simply apply directly to surface and scrub a dub dub.
— To Remove stubborn water spots from a stainless sink scrub with a cloth dampened with rubbing alcohol or vinegar.
— To freshen up your “white” porcelain sinks, place paper towels across the bottom of your sink and saturate with bleach. Let sit over night and rinse.
— After you’ve cleaned your refrigerator and freezer place an open box of baking soda in the back of each to help absorb odors for about a month.
→ Tips for Speedy Spring-cleaning on The Farm
— A few drops vanilla extract on a piece of cotton placed in the refrigerator will also help eliminate odors.
— Wipe refrigerator with vinegar after cleaning to help prevent mildew.
— Change your refrigerator light bulbs…that way you never have to worry about them burning out during the year.
— To clean baked-on food from a cooking pan, put a dryer sheet in the pan, fill with water, let sit overnight then sponge clean. The anti-static agents help weaken the bond between the food and the pan and the fabric softeners will soften the baked-on food.
— To clean burnt or scorched pans, sprinkle pans liberally with baking soda, adding just enough water to moisten. Let stand over night.
— To get those stubborn stains off of the inside of you microwave; spray liberally with two parts water and one part bleach, heat on high for 20 seconds and let stand for about an hour. The stains should come right off. For really stubborn stains heat for 30 seconds and let sit for 2 – 3 hours.
The Author:
Lara Velez
Cleaning Permanent Marker from Ceramic Tile and Kitchen Cabinets – I have an artistic granddaughter. She drew pictures with a “Little Sharpie” on my ceramic tile floor and kitchen cabinets. I used brake fluid to remove the markings. Just put a small amount on a cloth and rub stains off. Use soap and water to remove brake fluid after markings are gone.
That’s a great tip! I never would have thought to use brake fluid to remove permanent marker. I’ll definitely keep that in mind if I ever have a similar situation with my own artistic grandchildren. Thanks for sharing!
I use rubbing alcohol to clean my window, bathroom fixture, and guitar. Pretty much anything that I want to shine. I buy it from the dollar store for next to nothing and it lasts a very long time.
Rubbing alcohol is such a versatile cleaning agent, isn’t it? I love how it’s affordable and can be used for various purposes. Thanks for the reminder to use it on windows, bathroom fixtures, and guitars. I’ll be sure to grab some from the dollar store on my next shopping trip!
Use Ketchup on copper bottom pans. Scour with SOS pad or steel scouring pad.
Ketchup for cleaning copper bottom pans? That’s a unique tip! I’ll give it a try with an SOS pad and see how it works. Hopefully, it will bring back the shine to my pans. Thanks for sharing this interesting suggestion!
Microwave Cleaning – Drop half a fresh lemon or a good measure of bottled lemon juice into a bowl of water and microwave on full power for three minutes. Not only will baked on splatters simply wipe away, it will leave your microwave smelling wonderful.
I’ve heard of using lemon for microwave cleaning, but I’ve never tried it myself. It sounds like a refreshing and effective method to remove splatters and leave a pleasant scent behind. I’ll definitely give it a go and see how it works for me. Thanks for the suggestion!
“My mother always said” NOT to clean a frig with anything except baking soda, or the smells from soap would stay. To this day, I only clean the frig with baking sofa. It’s actually very good for getting rid of jar or carton marks and it also works very well in the vegetable and fruit drawers. I dissolve a lot of soda with just a just a small amount of water, which makes a nice scrubbing paste.
I can’t wait to try to alcohol tip for shine.
That’s a great tip about using baking soda to clean the fridge! I’ll definitely give it a try. And the alcohol tip for shine works very well. Thanks for sharing!
One thing I have found that works well to clean ceramics you are nervous about hand cleaning is the foaming type bathroom cleaner. The type that is like “scrubbing bubbles”. I use a generic brand. Place the ceramic item on newspapers, old towels or paper towels and spray liberally. Let sit for a few minutes and then rinse with hot water. The dirt washes off and there is no scrubbing necessary. I recently did this with a textured white angel ceramic which would have had to be scrubbed with a brush of some sort which really concerned me. It was quite fragile. It was dirt and dust stained and tobacco stained. It cleaned up wonderfully and was snow white and clean again.
I have used the foaming type bathroom cleaner on both the exterior and interior of my refrigerator to clean with. Spray down and wipe off the dirt. I have a textured refrigerator that can be hard to clean because of the grooves. Also works well on smooth surfaces. Works great on most any surface other than wood items as well! I use it on my microwave, counter tops, bathroom fixtures, stove top, and almost everything. Rinse well.
To clean a microwave that is heavily soiled, place a cup of water in the microwave and heat on high for a minute or two and let it sit for at least 5 minutes. BE CAREFUL WHEN REMOVING THE WATER. IT IS VERY HOT. Then simply wipe off most spills with a damp cloth or sponge.
Wow, I never thought about using foaming bathroom cleaner on ceramics! I’ll have to try that out, especially for delicate items. And the microwave cleaning tip is really helpful too. Thanks for the suggestions!
In reference to the wonderful article about the woman who cleans with “scrubbing bubbles” generic brand. Besides all those household tips it does work great on, it also works marvelously on the vinyl roof on cars.
Many years ago, I bought a 2 year old car with a nice, but dirty vinyl roof. After trying many cleaning items, and nothing worked, I remembered I used the “scrubbing bubbles” inside, why not outside too.
I sprayed it on, let it sit a few minutes and wiped it off. To my SURPRISE, it was like BRAND NEW. I then decided to try one other additional household item, and rubbed some Mop-N-Glow all over it to cover and seal it. It worked great sealing it so no more dirt ever got in the groves and I literally didn’t have to clean it again for a long time.
Good luck finding your inside cleaning agents outside now too! Thanks for the opportunity to add my 2 cents worth!
Who would have thought that “scrubbing bubbles” would work on a vinyl roof? That’s amazing! I’ll keep that in mind for my own car. The Mop-N-Glow tip for sealing the roof is a clever idea too. Thanks for sharing your experience!