Growing up in an Asian household means your mom probably took on the responsibility of nagging at you to do your homework, study hard and get good grades for a “better future”. While you’re studying, she would painstakingly clean every part of the house until it was spick and span. Here are some of her resourceful cleaning tips that you probably never noticed all your life.
1. Use a wet paper towel to clean small messes
@shimmyshim17 ##lifehack ##cleaningtiktok ##foryoupage ##DoritosDuetRoulette 😉
♬ It's A Vibe - 2 Chainz
This hack was posted by user @shimmyshim17 on TikTok and went viral quickly. First, wet the end of a paper towel and place it on your floor, just beside the mess. Then, sweep a small pile of crumbs and dirt onto the paper towel. This trick is so effective and saves the effort of using a dustpan that more often than not, cannot effectively contain small messes.
2. Clean tile grout with a toilet bowl cleaner
@cynthiasierra071 Cleaning a very dirty grout! #fyp #cleaning #foryoupage #satisfying
♬ original sound - Cynthia Sierra
This is another amazing TikTok hack discovered by user @cynthiasierrie071. It is really just as simple as squeezing toilet bowl cleaner into the space between your tiles containing all the nasty grout. Leave it on for 5-10 minutes and you will see dirt floating up to the service. Use a toothbrush to scrub and all the dirt will easily come off within seconds!
3. Scrub with a spud
(Image Credit: Peter Schad)
Potatoes remove stains very effectively and can be used to remove tough and stubborn stains around your kitchen. Double the effect by dipping half a potato — use a sprouted one if you don't want to be wasteful — in salt and scrub your pots, pans, and stove to give them the marvellous shine that they deserve.
4. Blow dry oil and grease away
Did you know? Oil oxidises and breaks down at high temperatures. A ‘hot’ cleaning trick is to spray a generous amount of multi-purpose cleaner on the surface of your greasy kitchen utensils. Wrap them with plastic cling wrap and blow dry on high heat for 2 minutes. Then, remove the plastic and wipe with a sponge and your utensils will look as good as new.
5. Tea is not just for drinking
(Image Credit: Manki Kim)
Chamomile tea, earl grey tea, peppermint tea… Whatever your favourite tea may be, brew a strong pot of it and pour some on a hand towel. Wipe your wooden furniture with it to give it a nice gloss and fragrant smell. Just a pot of tea and you can have your home left smelling like flowers. You can still sip on and enjoy the leftover aromatic tea after cleaning hard!
6. Use a pillowcase to get rid of the dust on your ceiling fan
(Image Credit: Pinterest)
If you use your ceiling fan often, its blades are definitely going to accumulate dust. To prevent the dust from flying around and being thrown off the blades every time the fan is turned on, don’t use a feather duster. Instead, slide your pillowcase over one blade and pull it down tightly. The pillowcase will trap all the dust inside and you can shake it off into the bin afterwards. Do this for the rest of your fan blades. You will absolutely love this no-mess and fuss-free solution for your ceiling fan blades!
7. Tea bags can remove shoe odour
A simple remedy to relieve the stinky shoe odour is to place dry tea bags into your shoes for a day and the shoes will absorb the herbal, floral scent. For a stronger effect, pour a few drops of essential oil into your shoes and they will be left smelling aromatic.
8. Microwave your sponge to remove germs
(Image Credit: Pinterest)
You have been cleaning your dishes with a sponge that is just as dirty or even dirtier! Imagine the millions of bacteria that you cannot spot yet are transferred from a dirty sponge to your dishes. Stop this practice immediately and be sure to clean your kitchen sponge often. Simply wet your sponge, place it onto a microwavable surface, and then into the microwave. Let the microwave run on high heat for 2 minutes. This will eliminate 99% of the harmful germs residing in the kitchen sponge.
9. Tongs are a great tool for cleaning window blinds
TikTok user @simplisticallyliving shared a cool way to make use of tongs in our daily cleaning routine. All we have to do is to put on a pair of old socks onto a pair of tongs. Then, use the tongs to pinch a blind and slide it across to wipe. With just a few wipes, dust and dirt will be collected onto the socks. Cleaning your window blinds can now be made quicker and easier!@simplisticallyliving Spring Cleaning Hack! #fyp #lifehack #springclean #cleaninghack #cleaningtips #blinds #dusting #learnontikotok
♬ Ultimate life hacks - Kelly - The Life Bath