Sparkling Solutions for Household Cleaning

Excerpt from FC&A's Fast Fixes and Simple Solutions.

Get disposable gloves for free. Need to get down and dirty? Save those plastic produce bags you tear off in the grocery store and turn them into disposable gloves. Slip the bags over your hands and hold them in place with rubber bands. When you’re done, just toss them out.

Bounce odors with fabric softener. Freshen the scent of your bedroom or bathroom without throwing away money on fancy-smelling air fresheners. Just put a fabric softener sheet in your wastebasket.

Prevent toilet trouble with baking soda. To put the lid on toilet bowl backups and odors, pour in one cup of baking soda once a week. Strike a match to strike out odor. One of the most effective ways to mask unpleasant bathroom odor is also one of the easiest. Simply light a match or two, and you’ll camouflage any smells. Keep a few matchbooks in your bathroom for emergencies.

Spray away shower scum. Commercial shower cleaners can clean out your wallet if you use them every day, so make your own daily cleaner instead. Pour 8 ounces of rubbing alcohol in a 32-ounce spray bottle and top it off with water. Spray this concoction on your shower walls and curtain after every shower. You won’t even have to rinse it off.

Stop mildew before it starts. Scrubbing mildew off your shower tiles can be as much fun as going to the dentist. Instead, prevent mildew from growing in the first place by running a squeegee over your tiles after every shower. Keep the squeegee in your shower stall so you won’t forget to use it.

Clean your shower while you sleep. Make cleaning mildew and muck on your tub or shower tiles as easy as calling it anight. Spray bleach on paper towels and spread them on the grungy areas. The wet towels will stay in place and clean throughout the night. All you have to do is rinse off the tiles in the morning.

Fight soap scum on tiles. To clean grime off your bath-room tiles, whip up a solution of equal parts Epsom salt and liquid dish detergent. The salt adds friction, which helps the detergent scour away the scum.

Wash mildew down the drain. If your shower is becoming mildew’s favorite hangout, mix three-quarters cup of bleach in one gallon of water. Rub this powerful solution on your tile and grout, and wipe down your plastic shower curtain. Once the mildew fades away, rinse with plain water.

Muscle out bathroom mildew. Cleaning your bathtub and shower regularly can stop mildew in its tracks. That’s because a clean bathroom doesn’t contain the things mildew thrives on, like soap scum, shampoo residue, and body oils. To deprive mildew of the moisture it needs, leave shower doors or curtains open right after you’ve bathed or showered. Keep the bathroom door open to dry the room out, too.

Erase dirty grout this ‘elementary’ way. Erase dirt between your bathroom tiles with a circular typewriter eraser. Simply roll it along the grout to rub it clean. Many of these erasers come with brushes to sweep away the eraser dust left behind.