World's Top Home Lifestyle Bloggers Share Their Favorite Home Cleaning Hacks
- Brian Vargas
- Jul 24, 2024
- 10 min read
Updated: Jul 16
At Clean Home Theory, we're always striving to learn hacks for home cleaning. In the bustling realm of home lifestyle blogging, where creativity meets practicality, a select group of influencers reign supreme with their invaluable tips and tricks for maintaining a pristine living space. These tastemakers not only inspire with their impeccable home lifestyle insights but also divulge their most coveted home cleaning hacks. From ingenious solutions for tackling stubborn stains to time-saving methods that transform mundane chores into moments of efficiency, these bloggers have mastered the art of keeping homes both beautiful and effortlessly organized. Join us as we delve into the world of the world's top home lifestyle bloggers and uncover their favorite secrets to achieving a spotless sanctuary, through their top home cleaning hacks.
Our Honorable Contributors:
(Jump to response by clicking name below)
Becky Rapinchuk
Q: What is your favorite home cleaning hack?
My favorite home cleaning hack is to clean the kitchen sink every night after dinner. I call this my Nightly Sink Scrub and simply mix 2 cups of baking soda and essential oil in a mason jar and keep it under my kitchen sink. After the kitchen is cleaned up for the night and dishes are put away, I sprinkle a little bit of the scrub in my wet sink, squirt some dish soap in the sink and scrub with a scrub brush that I use for cleaning the sink. Rinse and dry, put out a fresh dish towel and ‘close’ the kitchen for the night.
Connect with Becky Rapinchuk @cleanmama
Jaide Bidwell
Q: What is your favorite home cleaning hack?
Cleaning the bathroom, especially the shower, is often dreaded. Here's a hack that not only saves money but also makes the task much easier—and you’ll thank me for it! All you need is a cleaning stick with a scrubber on the end. Fill it with equal parts white vinegar and dishwashing liquid. This simple mixture works wonders on shower glass, tiles, and rubber seals. Just scrub and rinse, and you'll be amazed at how effortlessly it cuts through grime and soap scum. It’s one of the best-kept secrets for maintaining a sparkling clean shower with minimal effort.
Connect with Jaide Bidwell @stayathomemum
Amanda Paige
Q: What is your favorite home cleaning hack?
There are SO many amazing cleaning hacks to choose from! If I had to pick one that I couldn’t live without… I would have to say Slow Vacuuming. Slow vacuuming is something I began doing years ago, and I’ve never looked back! If you haven’t tried this cleaning hack, it’s where you vacuum your floors as usual, then empty the canister. Then… you vacuum them a second time! Only this time, you push & pull your vacuum sooooo slowly! If you’re wondering if you’re vacuuming slow enough, slow down even more (haha). Doing this will allow your vacuum to really get to work in pulling up ALL the dust, dirt & hair that would have otherwise been left in the fibers of your carpets & rugs. As you go throughout a single room, you may find yourself filling up a second canister, and a third. It’s very satisfying, but also disturbing to see how much a regular vacuum session can miss. I will typically do a “slow vacuum” session at least once a month, but I aim for every 2 weeks to help combat the fact that we have a bunch of fur babies & three growing boys at home! Happy Vacuuming!!
Connect with Amanda Paige @thiscrazylifevlog
Jessica Kielman
Q: What is your favorite home cleaning hack?
For burned on food on sheet pans or in pots and pans, coat burned areas with Dawn dish liquid and sprinkle with baking soda. Leave for 30 minutes, then scrub with a green scouring pad...the burned on bits will come off with ease! Rinse and dry :)
Connect with Jessica Kielman @jesskielman
Alexis Rochester
Q: What is your favorite home cleaning hack?
One of our favorite cleaning hacks that is pretty unknown, but blows everyone's mind when we share it is using zeolite rocks for a natural odor remover. You buy these types of rocks online or at places like pet stores, fill a bowl with these natural rocks and set in areas like bathrooms, closets, drawers, or any area with an odor. The chemical structure of these rocks allows for absorption of odors and will trap it in the rocks. You can recharge the rocks by setting them out in the sunlight for 24 hours! We shared this cool science cleaning hack six years ago, and it is still popular.
Connect with Alexis Rochester @alexis.roch
Joshua Fields Millburn
Q: What is your favorite home cleaning hack?
Let’s face it, even the thought of “decluttering” is boring at best, dreadful at worse. I mean, who wants to spend their weekend cleaning out their closet, attic, and garage? Bluck! That’s exactly why we created the 30 Day Minimalism Game—to make decluttering fun by injecting some friendly competition. Here’s how it works. A new month is always approaching, so right now is a great time to find a friend, family member, or coworker (or archenemy) who’s willing to minimize their stuff with you next month. Each person gets rid of one thing on the first day of the month. Two things on the second. Three things on the third. So forth and so on. Whether you donate, sell, or recycle your excess, every material possession must be out of your house—and out of your life—by midnight each day.
Connect with Joshua Fields Millburn @theminimalists
Wendy Mallins
Q: What is your favorite home cleaning hack?
Our favorite home cleaning hack is DECLUTTERING - honestly, we can't big this up enough, if you declutter your home, get rid of anything you no longer use, store away neatly anything you want but don't need to have on display. Cleaning your home and keeping everything fresh, and clean is super simple! Declutter, give everything a home and you'll breeze through the cleaning.
Connect with Wendy Mallins @daisiesandpie
Jessica Litman
Q: What is your favorite home cleaning hack?
Declutter what you don't use first, then cleaning is easier!
Connect with Jessica Litman @theorganizedmamaco
Chrissy Halton
Q: What is your favorite home cleaning hack?
Use a squeegee in your shower each day to clean down the glass panels and tiles. This will stop any water marks building up, and keep the shower screens looking sparkling with minimal effort.
Connect with Chrissy Halton @organisemyhouse
Annette Belnap
Q: What is your favorite home cleaning hack?
I use a customizable cleaning binder that helps me tackle cleaning my home as easy and manageable as possible. There is a page for each day of the week with a list of the jobs that need to be completed. Then there are bi-weekly. Weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly jobs that can be added to your calendar. That way we remember to do those things like cleaning the air ducts, flipping mattresses, washing floorboards etc. It’s been a lifesaver! This downloadable and printable binder is available through the links on my social profiles.
Connect with Annette Belnap @tipsfromamom
Ronald L. Banks
Q: What is your favorite home cleaning hack?
Hack: Declutter First, Organize Second
My detailed explanation for this is below...
Most people decluttering focus entirely too much on organizing.
- How can I better organize my home?
- How can I live an organized life?
- How can I be more organized?
While I understand these questions, they aren’t the best for most people decluttering their lives—despite the common narrative you can find online.
Reflecting on these questions, I’ve come to an interesting realization:
You cannot supplement decluttering with organizing and expect a clutter-free environment.
This is because decluttering and organizing are entirely different actions, and we should treat them as such.
Read More...
The Problem:
What often happens when we start decluttering is we attempt to declutter and organize at the same time.
The problem with this is that it creates unnecessary friction and frustration during the decluttering process.
Suddenly, organizing becomes the problem we are trying to solve rather than the clutter itself.
As a result, we tend to search for organizing hacks and creative storage solutions to help us quickly clean up the visual mess.
This leads us to believe that we are creating a clutter-free environment for ourselves because things are well-organized and neatly packed away.
But is that truly the case?
The Challenge:
We live in a society where appearance is often more valued than functionality.
This is evident in how we dress, the cars we drive, the technology we use, and how we design our homes.
This belief presents a significant challenge for those who want to declutter, as it overemphasizes the importance of organization and how things are organized.
This creates the false impression that being organized equates to being clutter-free, which is not always true.
A clutter-free environment should not depend on how organized your possessions are.
Organizing is simply a preference for how you want to store your things, and it does not necessarily translate to a clutter-free environment.
The Solution:
Like any problem and the challenges that come with it, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The quicker you realize that decluttering and organizing are two independent actions, the easier it will be to avoid the illusion of organizing and produce actual clutter-free results.
While finding creative storage solutions can be helpful, it doesn’t necessarily address the underlying clutter issue.
Similarly, using closed storage can be a great way to hide unattractive household items, but it doesn’t solve the underlying problem of too much stuff.
If you find yourself struggling with clutter, it’s necessary to avoid the illusion of organizing. Instead, focus on decluttering and reducing the amount of stuff you have. From there, you have two paths you can take:
Path 1: Organize slow
If you’re nervous about creating a big mess when decluttering and are worried that may discourage you from continuing this journey. Then, organize slowly.
This means that after completely decluttering an area, you should lightly organize the items you kept but not obsess over the details.
Repeat this pattern for every area you successfully declutter.
- Declutter area 1
- Lightly organize that area
- Declutter area 2
- Lightly organize that area
- Repeat
Following this path will help you see the effects of your decluttering efforts from start to finish, calm your nerves, and develop confidence for the next project.
Path 2: Organize last
If you want to make a change quickly and are not concerned with organizing right away, then the answer is to organize last.
Declutter your entire environment and live with the items you choose to keep as they are. These items should have a dedicated home, but they are not organized.
Following this path will allow you to develop a routine within your newly clutter-free environment before organizing your possessions.
When you’re ready to organize, do so one area at a time, approaching it the same way you approached decluttering.
Regardless of which path you take, the overall goal is the same:
Organize for preference, not as a solution to your clutter, because it’s not one.
Connect with Ronald L. Banks @ronaldlbanks
Erin Kennedy
Q: What is your favorite home cleaning hack?
Clean your glass stovetop easily:
1. Start by just drizzling some Dawn dish soap all over the stove.
2. Drizzle some hydrogen peroxide.
3. Sprinkle a good amount of baking soda on top.
4. Take a brush and mix it all together while brushing the top of the stove.
5. Take a damp paper towel and wipe the soap mixture off. Boom! Clean as a whistle. I used the brush over a couple of trouble spots, but they came up super easy and I just wiped it off.
Connect with Erin Kennedy @mythirtyspot
Roman Peysakhovich
Q: What is your favorite home cleaning hack?
You can clean your entire home with vinegar and dishwasher solution! Mix them together in a 50/50 ratio in a spray bottle and that's all you need. Spray it anywhere you need cleaned (except for granite or stone and unfinished wood), wipe it up, and that's all it takes. Not only does vinegar kill bacteria, but it also eliminates bad odor as well and can even be used in the washing machine to remove bad odor from clothing.
Connect with Roman Peysakhovich @bookcleango
Marysa Nicholson
Q: What is your favorite home cleaning hack?
Before you take a shower: Scrub your shower down and let the cleaner sit before taking a shower. Rinse off the cleaner, and then when you go in the shower, scrub the shower thoroughly with a scrub brush.
Connect with Marysa Nicholson @anationofmoms
Jennifer Rodriguez
Q: What is your favorite home cleaning hack?
Crumple a sheet of aluminum foil and use it to scrub tarnished silverware. This method works by creating a mild abrasive surface that helps remove tarnish without scratching the silver. Additionally, you can line a bowl with aluminum foil, add hot water, a tablespoon of baking soda, and your tarnished silverware. Let it sit for a few minutes, then rinse and dry. This method leverages a chemical reaction to clean the silverware effortlessly.
Connect with Jennifer Rodriguez @prohousekeepers
Catherine
Q: What is your favorite home cleaning hack?
Lemon is my favorite savior: 1. Use lemon and salt to clean wooden furniture. 2. And we can use lemon to cleaning and removing unpleasant odors from a trash can
Connect with Catherine ferbena.com/author/catherine
Suzy Cacic
Q: What is your favorite home cleaning hack?
Using baking soda to clean the stovetop is probably my favorite cleaning hack because it makes your life so much easier! I experimented with a lot of things until I figured out that putting baking soda onto a sponge with a little bit of dishwashing liquid and water, does miracles for getting stubborn grease and stains off your stovetop. The grease literally just rolls off, as the baking soda neutralizes the acids and breaks down the grease. No more scrubbing for hours or using harsh chemicals to clean. Plus it’s so cheap, it's a win-win!
Connect with Suzy Cacic betterdecoratingbible.com/about/
What's your favorite home cleaning hack? Let us know in the comments below!
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Clean Home Theory serves residents living around Maryland in such cities as Bethesda, Potomac, Rockville, Gaithersburg, North Bethesda, North Potomac, Travilah, and Silver Spring. With home cleaning services including one-time, recurring, and moving, we are fully prepared to accommodate any cleaning needs you have.
We also provide a free virtual in-home consultation to discuss your needs so you're never left wondering what is being done in your home.
