DIY Cleaning Tips for Kitchens and Bathrooms

We all know time is valuable, even more so when our lives get busy. 

 

Pro tips to save hours or minutes become gold when time gets crunched. 

 

After performing over 30,000 cleanings, we’ve learned how challenging and time-consuming cleaning bathrooms and kitchens can be. So we’re throwing out our best cleaning tricks to speed up those unavoidable cleaning tasks we all need to do in between hiring a professional to clean. 

 

All these tips come straight from the Tidy Casa cleaning pros. 

 

Here is Tidy Casa’s list of DIY cleaning tricks and tips to speed up cleaning in the most challenging areas of the home, the kitchen, and the bathroom! 

 

 

Kitchen wonders with voodoo-less cleaning formulas.

If only cleaning after was as fun as making the mess and cooking. Since we can’t make it fun to clean, these cleaning tips will at least make it 1,000 times easier to get the kitchen back to a shape that even Gordon Ramsey can complain about.  

 

Floors, walls, and baseboards. By Alyssa Eden

Grease is a big challenge as we clean surfaces in a kitchen. You’ll need a spray bottle and rag to break up grease and other food build-ups.

 

Next, mix the following in the spray bottle:

• Hot water. Make sure the water isn’t hot enough to burn you or melt the bottle. Think tepid water. 
• Dawn dish soap.
• Alcohol. 
• A small spoon of tide laundry soap.

 

How it works:

• Tide laundry soap helps break down food particles. 
• Alcohol disinfects and allows the mix to dry faster, which leaves less streaking.
• The dawn dish soap breaks down grease and other grime.

 

Simply apply the mixture to the affected area. Let sit for 30-60 seconds. Then, wipe clean. Repeat, using elbow grease as needed. 

 

Coffee stains. By Ahmed Salo

The notorious coffee stain is a common challenge we’ve all had to face in the kitchen. After a coffee stain appears, the first step is to grab another cup of coffee because you’ll need it. Then, get yourself some toothpaste. It doesn’t usually go with coffee but trust us on this one! 

 

Dab a little bit of the toothpaste on either a dry cloth or a soft clean toothbrush!

 

Scrub the affected area softly, being careful not to scratch the material. 

 

It works great in bringing the color back from stained surfaces. 

 

NOTE: Be careful using toothpaste to clean surfaces that satin easily. Some toothpaste may have a bleaching effect on some surfaces. 

 

Microwave stains. By Ahmed Salo

Everyone who uses this super convenient cooking robot known as the microwave knows it gets dirty! Good news! Tidy Casa has a trick to clean hard-to-reach splatters and stains in the microwave. 

 

• Partially fill a cup with water and add a slice of lemon.
• Cook the water and lemon to a boil. This typically takes one or two minutes but will vary depending on how much water is used. 
• Leave the microwave’s door closed, and let the steam loosen the mess for 10 minutes.
• Open the door and wipe the inside.

 

The combination of water and acid from the lemon does a  great job of loosening gunk in the microwave so it can be easily wiped away. 

 

Epiphanies of the Bathroom

The bathroom is a perfect private zen space for a lot of us. The moment to unplug from the rest of the world, check social media, read the news, or hide from the children. We’ve all been there! 

 

While our bathrooms tend to be our private porcelain palaces, they get dirty faster than any other area of the home. Not to mention they take a lot of effort to clean. Don’t worry. Tidy Casa has you covered when it comes to quickly spruce up the bathroom in between professional home cleanings. 

 

Hard water calcium stains on shower Glass Doors. By Kendra Lewis 

As much as we’d like them to, showers don’t wash, and with a lot of hard water in Arizona, they can get foggy pretty quickly. To enjoy seeing through the glass shower door, any cleaner with phosphoric acid will do the trick. 

 

All you need is the following:

• Soft dish scrubber
• Microfiber cloth. 

Pro-tip: 

1. Boil a cup of white vinegar. Do not transfer the boiling vinegar while it’s still boiling! Give it some time to cool down. Then, transfer it to a bowl or spray bottle before it cools.
2. Soak some paper towels in the hot vinegar and adhere them to the glass door like big stickers. 
3. Allow them to sit for 20 – 30 mins so the vinegar has time to break down the calcium. 
4. Apply ample baking soda to a damp cloth or sponge and gently wipe down the shower door. Scrub gracefully to avoid scratching the glass.
5. Use distilled water to rinse the baking soda and vinegar from the shower door. 
6. Finally, Dry the glass door with a microfiber cloth.

 

Rings in Toilets. By Cass Marilao

No one enjoys a dirty toilet, especially someone else’s toilet! Don’t subject your home company to filthy porcelain. 

 

While cleaning a toilet, use a cleaner that has hydrochloric acid:

• Zep toilet bowl cleaner.
• Misty.
• Betco’s Pull (works best for all bathrooms that need a little more love).

 

How it works:

1. Dump a bucket of water into the bowl to make the water go down to the base of the toilet bowl.
2. Put cleaners of choice inside the top bowl where the water runs down. 
3. The chemical should dissolve throughout the bowl. 
4. Close the lid and leave it inside the toilet for about 10-15 minutes (depending on severity)
5. Then flush and scrub. 

Notes:

1. Use a pumice stone for parts that won’t come off.
2. Wet the rock, and then lightly scrub around the bowl.
3. Scrub with a toilet scrubber and flush.

• Never use a pumice stone on toilets that look like they need reglazing. It can make it more challenging to reglaze if done incorrectly. 

 

All these tips come straight from Tidy Casa’s Amazing Cleaning Staff. Don’t want to spend time cleaning on your day off? Give Tidy Casa a call, and we’ll take care of the dirty work so you can get that time back in your life.