Residential Cleaners in Manhattan: Simple At-Home Cleaning Hacks

Cleaning Hacks You Can Use Around Your Home

When it comes to cleaning your home, your brain can become pretty creative in concocting excuses why you shouldn’t get the task done. “You’ve had a hard day, you deserve time to relax,” it mischievously tells you. “It can be done tomorrow,” is a classic. Sometimes your mind doesn’t even try very hard, coming up with reasons such as, “Your dog is sleeping, you don’t want to wake it do you? You’d be monster to clean now!” Even though you know this is ridiculous, you listen anyways and push off cleaning once again. Before you know it, you’ve procrastinated so long that your place is a disaster and has reached the point of no return. Might as well move out.

We understand that cleaning can be a bothersome task for many individuals and easy to dismiss, but living in a clean home feels so much better than living in a pigsty. At UMG Cleaning, we’re here to help. We strive to be the best residential cleaners in the Manhattan area, so if you’re in need of our services, be sure to contact us! We’d also like to help by giving you a few cleaning hacks for around the house that are not only simple, but will save you time and effort.

Use Your Dishwasher for Items That Are Not Dishes

Yes, you read that right. You can use your dishwasher to clean things aside from dishes! Seem too crazy to you? Bear with us. The dishwasher has a rack that can fit an assortment of household items big and small, and it’s main function is to clean using water and soap. So why do the dishes get to have all the fun? Here’s a quick list of some of the items you can clean using the dishwasher:

Toys (children’s or dogs’)
Shoes
Mouthguards
Removable light fixtures- saving you the hassle of hand washing or dusting them!
Combs and hairbrushes
Golf balls
Coffee pot
And so much more!

All we ask is that you use logic when deciding what to put in the dishwasher! If an item melts easily, you’re going to want to avoid having it going through a hot wash cycle. Also be smart in where you put the items, smaller things should be put in the silverware bin, toys and rubber products should be on the top

Vinegar!

Vinegar will become your new best friend when it comes to cleaning your home. For generations it has been used to clean household items. With its affordability and versatility, all while being environmentally safe, vinegar is a miracle worker when it comes to cleaning. Here are just a few of the countless ways you can use vinegar in your home and avoid spending money on toxic and expensive products:

Clean Your Carpets

You’re able to clean spots or the entirety of your carpet just with vinegar! Throw away those costly and toxic carpet cleaners and replace them with what’s already in your home. For the whole carpet, simply fill up a steam cleaner with full strength vinegar and go to town!

For spot cleaning, use a spray bottle filled with half water and half vinegar, shake it up, and spray directly on stains followed by a light scrubbing with a clean cloth. Voila!

Window Cleaner

That’s right! Do away with even more of those chemical cleaners! Simply mix hot water with distilled vinegar in a spray bottle. Dampen the window with the simple concoction, moisten a sponge and wipe away the grime. After this, use a slightly wet squeegee and clean the window from top to bottom to reveal a gleaming window.

Microwave

To clean that nasty, neglected microwave of yours, here’s what you’ll need:

Vinegar
Water
Microwavable bowl
Sponge or cloth

Mix the vinegar and water equally into the bowl place it in the microwave to heat up for up to ten minutes (the duration really depends on how gunky the microwave is). Let the bowl sit for a couple minutes to get a real good steam. Safely remove the bowl from the microwave, and dampen the cloth or sponge in the vinegar water. Proceed to be amazed as the grime and leftover food will wipe away with ease!

Dishes

For an extra sparkle to your dishes, pour about two cups of distilled white vinegar in the bottom of your washer and do a cycle like normal (including detergent). When the wash is done, you’ll visibly see the difference.

Squeegee?

Pet hair can get so deep into your carpet that even the most powerful vacuum can’t get it all up. Easy fix, a squeegee! While running the squeegee along the carpet, the rubber will collect the hair from the fibers. It’s that simple! Why this isn’t more common knowledge baffles us.

Lemons

Garbage Disposal

Lemons are another miracle when cleaning the house. For a pleasant smelling disposal, simply grind up a lemon and breathe in the lemony fresh aroma! To go the extra mile, put chunks of lemon in an ice tray, fill with vinegar, and freeze. Once frozen, throw a couple of cubes in and turn on the disposal. This will not only provide you with that pleasant smell, but also cleans out some of the guck.

Chrome

For any of your chrome faucets and knobs, use half of a lemon and rub directly onto the area. This will remove spots and leave the chrome sparkly!

Cutting Board

To clean any of the wooden cutting boards you have in your house, all you will need is half a lemon and some coarse salt. Spread the salt evenly across the board and proceed by rubbing the half lemon along the surface, squeezing for juice as you go. Let it soak in for a little bit, and then scrape off the liquid. Finish up by rinsing the board with some hot water and you have a darn clean cutting board!

UMG Cleaning

So there you have it, just a few cleaning hacks you can use around your home saving time, money, and effort, all the while staying eco-friendly! Whether you want to use these tips or want to leave it the professional cleaning services of UMG Cleaning is up to you! If you’re in need of green residential cleaners in the Manhattan area that will leave your home looking brand new, be sure to contact us today!