11 DIY Cleaning Hacks That Leave No Excuse For A Messy Home

Keeping a clean home is an art form. At first it may seem like dusting and tidying will get you there, but in reality, beginners often have NO idea what to do with the caked-on food in the microwave or the funky goo that gets stuck on the oven racks.

Thankfully, there are hacks to clean the messiest of items in inventive ways, proving you don't need to be a pro to achieve sparkly-home bliss. Test them out, or give them to a roommate who might, ahem, need to give them a try. Your home will thank you.

1. Steam-clean your microwave with a lemon.

Don't scrub your microwave. Instead, microwave a bowl of water with lemon juice for five minutes, and watch as the steam loosens the caked-on foods.

(Flickr/Ennor )

2. Wipe away pet fur with a rubber glove.

3. Fix burned pots and pans with baking soda.

4. Make tiles sparkle with a toothbrush.

Get dirt out from between your tiles with a mix of baking soda and water on a toothbrush .

(Flickr/ranchredo )

5. Polish silverware, pots and jewelry with ketchup.

Ketchup makes cloudy-looking silverware shiny again, and it removes tarnish from copper pots and pans . You can clean jewelry with it, too.

6. De-gunk your fridge with baking soda and water.

Wipe away food residue with this simple mixture .

7. Banish faucet buildup with a lemon.

8. Disinfect your mattress with vodka.

Yup, a spritz of vodka is said to kill odor-causing bacteria and disinfect . Just be sure to spray a light layer, and let the mattress dry before adding sheets.

9. Clean grimy oven racks with dryer sheets.

Soak the racks in warm water with a few dryer sheets for an hour, then rub the goop off.

10. Run lemons through garbage disposals to stop the smell.

11. Let ammonia clean the oven for you.

Pour half a cup of ammonia in a bowl, and let it sit in the oven overnight . Voil! Crusty food falls away, and all you have to do is wipe down.

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