Your best cleaning tips

[sleepingbooty]

I'm not a very good housekeeper, but this time of year I get motivated to get everything super clean (this will last until school's out, then I'm on to other things ) What are your best cleaning tips? I could use them! Especially, does anyone have the secret for getting hard water stains off the toilet? I know, if I cleaned more often, they wouldn't get there in the first place

[d_m_n_n]

My best advice is to go to the flylady dot net (I believe) site. They give some fantastic information on keeping your house organized and neat for those of us that struggle in this area. I can happily say that my house is usually 15 minutes from being "company ready," not perfect but neat enough I'm not embarrassed!

[quicksand]

Not really a tip, but a new product I found. Its an all purpose cleaner called Fabuloso. It makes everything smell fresh and clean. Even my kids comment on how good the house smells!

[JMTStone]

I put 1/2 box of baking soda in all of my linens. They're so soft.......

Sorry I have nothing for hard water stains.....

[imaprincess!]

I have messy closets, but I'm a pretty good cleaner! I think my #1 tip is to surface clean the whole house and get the laundry done. Once you see your house looking nice, you can start to zero in on what really needs to get done, whether it's organizing cabinets/closets, shampooing rugs, etc.

[sleepingbooty]

I do have one good tip to share: when it comes to cleaning baseboards, I used to scrub with a sponge. But I always got annoyed with those little dust crumblies that would sort of ball up and get dragged along - you know what I mean? Anyway, I found that using a dry washcloth or towel, preferably a rough one (like one that has gotten wet and then air dried) works really well - no dust crumblies.

[magicofdisney]

Especially, does anyone have the secret for getting hard water stains off the toilet? I know, if I cleaned more often, they wouldn't get there in the first place

My kids' bathroom toilet got really bad at one point . After my baby got a little older and I had a wee bit more time, I read on another board to use a pumice stone on the toilet bowl. I'm not sure if it will work for hard water stains, but whatever it was on our toilet, it took it off. And I had tried EVERYTHING else to remove those stains. There was a lot of elbow grease involved, but it looks new again!

[jacknsally02]

mr clean magic sponge cleans anything

[sleepingbooty]

I read on another board to use a pumice stone on the toilet bowl. I'm not sure if it will work for hard water stains, but whatever it was on our toilet, it took it off.

Wow, seriously? Like the kind you use to rub callouses off your feet? That seems like it would scratch off the ceramic glaze surface - no?

[TheDuckRocks]

The hardest thing for me to learn about housekeeping was to not clutter. If you don't have a bunch of junk sitting around your whole house just looks cleaner and most people won't notice if you've got a dust bunny or two lurking in the corners.
On the toilet bowl issue I just recently read that a couple of Alka Seltzer tablets works wonders, just a brush and flush and you're done.

[magicofdisney]

Wow, seriously? Like the kind you use to rub callouses off your feet? That seems like it would scratch off the ceramic glaze surface - no?

That's the one I'm talking about. I too was scared it would scratch up the bowl, but it didn't.

[merlinmagic4]

My best cleaning tip is never, ever put the kid's paint cups in the dishwasher. Especially when it is your brand new, first time ever dishwasher. Your whole dishwasher AND all the plastic dishes will remain that same shade of blue and your husband will make fun of you forever

[Magic Smiles]

My best cleaning tip is - let you husband do it. My husband does the housework as I can outlast him before I feel that it has to be done. Unfortunately for us, he is a neat freak and we aren't.