Everyone wants a sparkling clean kitchen and bathroom, preferably without spending hours on it. Fortunately, there are clever cleaning hacks that make cleaning faster and more enjoyable. In this article, we share practical tips – from quick tricks to handy habits – so your kitchen and bathroom become sparkling clean with minimal effort. Discover how to save time and still clean thoroughly using everyday products and a few useful tools.
Quick tricks for a clean kitchen
- Cleaning the microwave with lemon: Trouble with baked-on food residues in the microwave? Fill a microwave-safe bowl with water and a few slices of lemon and let it run for about 5–10 minutes at full power. The steam loosens the dirt, so you can simply wipe it away afterwards. This fresh lemon trick saves you a lot of scrubbing and leaves a pleasant scent.
- Descaling the dishwasher with vinegar: A dishwasher works better and lasts longer if you clean it occasionally. Pour a cup of vinegar into an empty dishwasher and run a short cycle. This removes grease and limescale deposits inside the machine. Result: a fresh dishwasher and shiny dishes without extra cleaning agents.
- Addressing the hob and oven immediately: Make it a habit to quickly wipe your hob and oven after each use. Just a warm soapy cloth or an all-purpose cleaner spray like Fabulosa over it and grease won’t get a chance to bake in. For stubborn, baked-on residues in the oven, you can use a powerful cleaner. The Pink Stuff cleaning paste, for example, is known as a revolutionary all-purpose cleaner that removes dirt, stains, and even limescale effortlessly. With a Scrub Daddy sponge – hard in cold water, soft in warm water – you can quickly scrub away baked-on dirt. This makes even oven cleaning a breeze.
- Quickly freshening the fridge: Keep unpleasant odors and sticky shelves in the fridge under control with a simple routine. Weekly, wipe the shelves and drawers with a damp cloth and some mild cleaning agent (for example, dish soap or a splash of all-purpose cleaner). Spilled something? Clean it immediately so it doesn’t dry in. Placing an open box of baking soda in the fridge can also help neutralize odors. This keeps your fridge hygienic and fresh without a big cleaning session.
- Drain and sink hack: Prevent a clogged or smelly sink with a simple kitchen cabinet hack. Once a week, sprinkle half a cup of baking soda into the sink drain and pour a cup of cleaning vinegar after it. Let this mixture fizz for a few minutes – the bubbling reaction helps loosen stuck dirt and soap residues. Then rinse with boiling water. This routine keeps the drain clean and odor-free. Bonus tip: many sink filters can be removed; occasionally put them in the dishwasher so the strainer gets nice and clean too. For really stubborn clogs, you can use a special drain cleaner, like the popular foam cleaner from Yugou, but regular maintenance usually prevents this from being necessary.
- Countertop clean and ready: Keep your kitchen counter clean all day with mini actions. Boiling water or something simmering on the stove? Use those few minutes to wipe your countertop with a damp microfiber cloth. This takes hardly any time and prevents dirt from accumulating. Keep a stack of microfiber cloths within reach and possibly a pack of cleaning wipes for quick wipe actions. A clean countertop only takes about 30 seconds instead of a long scrubbing session later.
Handy hacks for a sparkling bathroom
- Descaling the showerhead without scrubbing: Trouble with a clogged showerhead due to limescale? Let the showerhead soak overnight in a container with warm water and vinegar. The next morning rinse it off – all limescale is gone and the water jet is full of pressure again! This trick takes you at most a minute to set up and saves you from scrubbing with aggressive descalers.
- Streak-free mirrors with black tea: Shiny mirrors without expensive spray? Brew a cup of strong black tea, let it cool, and use it to clean your mirrors. The tannins in cooled tea make the glass shine without streaks. Wipe with a clean, dry cloth and your mirror is crystal clear again – an old-fashioned hack that works surprisingly well.
- Toilet cleaning bomb: For a sparkling clean toilet bowl, you can use kitchen ingredients. Sprinkle a few tablespoons of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) into the bowl and spray some cleaning vinegar over it. The mixture will fizz vigorously – let it work for a few minutes and then scrub with the brush. The bubbling reaction helps loosen deposits and stains, so you need to scrub less for a thorough result. Flush and your toilet shines. This hack is not only effective but also more environmentally friendly than many chlorine-based products.
- Daily maintenance of shower walls: Prevent soap and limescale residues on your tiles by taking action immediately after showering. Squeegee the glass shower wall and quickly dry tiles and faucets with a cloth. By drying the shower corner or bathtub right away, dirt and limescale can settle much less quickly. Drying afterwards may sound like extra work, but it saves you scrubbing and descaling in the long run. Don’t feel like wiping with a cloth every time? Then consider a daily spray session: there are handy shower sprays you can mist on the wet tiles; dirt then adheres less quickly.
- Small routines, big effect: Make cleaning in between easy for yourself by keeping supplies within reach. For example, place a cleaning cloth and a bottle of bathroom cleaner in your bathroom cabinet. When you’re in the bathroom anyway (for example, brushing your teeth in the evening), you can wipe the sink and faucet in 1 minute. Those small daily cleaning sessions prevent dirt from piling up. Anything that takes less than 3 minutes to clean is best done immediately – this way your bathroom stays continuously clean and you never have to do a huge cleaning marathon again.
With these clever cleaning hacks for kitchen and bathroom, you save time and effort. Try a few and discover what works best for you. Whether it’s lemon steam in the microwave or drying the shower daily – such small tricks make your cleaning routine much easier. The key is regular maintenance: this way your home stays sparkling clean without stress. Happy cleaning!