Top Secret: Cleaning Made Easy

Real Simple polled readers on most-hated spring-cleaning jobs, from cleaning ovens to scrubbing toilets and came up with easy, time-saving techniques to make the worst more tolerable.

The results of spring cleaning are satisfying, but the road there is not one most people enjoy. If you dread certain cleaning tasks, we have some tips for you! From cleaning small appliances to making your bathroom shine, the magazine Real Simple offers some excellent advice.

Small Appliances

• Microwave: From oatmeal overflows to instant soup explosions, microwaves take a lot of abuse. To soften up grease and food with the consistency of cement, place a bowl of water mixed with lemon juice in the microwave and run it on high for one minute. Then use a food-safe sanitizer (such as Lysol’s version, Food Surface Sanitizer) to sanitize the microwave. You can use an all-purpose cleaner or a mildly abrasive powder to get rid of streaks and fingerprints on the door. Follow up by buffing with a rag or microfiber cloth.
• Toaster: The first step in cleaning your toaster is to unplug it (and any other appliance you clean). Then, slide out the tray, dump the crumbs and wipe it down. You can then use a computer-keyboard cleaner to blast the inside with air. For the outside of the toaster, you can get rid of stubborn rust spots on chrome with a ball of crumpled aluminum foil.
• Coffeemaker: Little did you know, but your coffeemaker could be building up oily residue from coffee grinds and caked-on minerals from the water. Every one to six months, buy a descaling solution (such as Barista Cleaner and Descaler from Starbucks) and run it through the machine. Then rinse it thoroughly with clean water. Before you start cleaning, however, check your coffeemaker’s instruction manual for any tips or warnings.

Large Appliances

• Refrigerators: First, pull out food bins and clean beneath them using a food-friendly spray cleaner, like those available from Home Thymes. To be really nice to your refrigerator, pull it out from the wall and dust the condenser coils with a coil brush or with your vacuum cleaner’s crevice tool. The coils are located on the back of your refrigerator, usually at the bottom.
• Cooktops and ovens: How annoying are those caked-on splatters on your stove? To make your life easier, soak them before you scrub. Remove cook-top grills and saturate stains with an all-purpose cleaning product. Let it sit for about 10 minutes and then wipe clean. When you work on your oven, you will need a powerful, highly alkaline oven cleanser. It may contain lye, so use caution. There are many fume-free products available, such as Easy-Off. Keep in mind that oven cleaners are NOT safe to use for self-cleaning, as they can damage the interior.
• Dryer: “Lint is highly flammable,” says Captain Jim Doucette of the Sacramento Fire Department. What an incentive to keep your dryer clean! Once a year, check to see if any air is exiting through the vent on the outside of your house. If you can’t feel air, feed a lint-removal brush up the duct or hire a professional to do a thorough cleaning. You should also vacuum in the slot that holds the lint screen and behind your dryer several times a year.

Bathroom

• Toilets: The most dreaded job on anyone’s cleaning list. Use a swivel-head mop (such as Mr. Clean Magic Reach) to clean away the “damp dust” that collects near the base of the toilet. Laurie Kilpatrick, cocreator of the video series Miss Laurie’s Smart Guide to House Cleaning, recommends emptying a bucket of water into the toilet to empty the bowl. This lets you clean with less sloshing. You can also try a brush with disposable pads (such as the Scotch Brite Disposable Toilet Scrubber) to avoid dealing with that yucky brush.
• Tiles and Grout: Use a cleaner that’s tough enough for stain-loving, porous surfaces, such as Ceramiclean Tile & Grout Cleaner. When using the product, open a window and wear rubber gloves. Also, read the instructions before using and dilute accordingly. To stay one step ahead of dirty grout, “keep an old toothbrush in the shower and scrub away mildew the moment you see it,” recommends Kilpatrick.
• Tubs and showers: Soap scum is made up of soap, sweat, body oil, dirt and mineral deposits and can be tough to remove. Use a product that is intended to break it up, such as Scrubbing Bubbles Shower Cleaner. You can also try a mildly abrasive powder and a nylon-backed sponge, which will protect the surface while getting up the dirt. You can also check out a flexible scrubber with a single-use pad, like Clorox’s BathWand.

Living Room

• Sofas and Chairs: Use your vacuum’s stiff, short-haired upholstery brush on your sofas and chairs to get rid of debris and stubborn pet hair. In between vacuumings, you can put on a latex rubber glove, moisten the fingertips with water and glide your hand over the cushions to pick up hair.
• Wood Floors: Winter is hard on floors, so spring is a good time to do a good cleaning. Most wood floors today have a polyurethane finish, so you can mist them with no-wax cleaning products that fill in small scratches and add shine. Try Method’s O Mop kit, which includes a microfiber mop head, curved pole and a bottle of cleaning solution. “Never use these cleaners on waxed floors,” warns Sean Flynn of New York Flooring in Manhattan. “they only add resident that will need to be waxed away.” For baseboards, try your vacuum cleaner’s round dust brush.
• Window Coverings: Row upon row of dusty blinds can be daunting, as can curtains that need to be removed to be cleaned. To dust blinds—whether they are wood, plastic or metal—close them and use a lamb’s wool duster or a microfiber chenille duster. For dusty drapes, you can use your vacuum’s crevice tool on the cloth’s folds and pleats, setting the suction on low to avoid harming the fabric.

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