Last updated : Wednesday, January 27, 2010

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RealSimple.com: 11 Surprising Household Cleaners

Photo Credit: Rick Lew

Forget all of the fancy sprays and scrubs, sometimes the trick to a clean house is already in your cabinet! Read on for a list of secrets that will make your home shine, no extra materials required!  

1. Vegetable Oil
Original purpose: Frying up a tasty batter.
Aha! use: Shining leather shoes. Use a damp cloth to wipe away dirt, then apply a small drop of oil to a soft cloth and rub the surface to remove scuff marks.
Reward: A polished look from heel to toe.

2. Lemonade Kool-aid
Original purpose: Quenching your thirst.
Aha! use: Cleaning lime deposits and iron stains inside the dishwasher. Pour a packet of lemonade Kool-Aid (the only flavor that works) into the detergent cup and run the (empty) dishwasher.
Reward: Citric acid in the mix wipes out stains; you don't have to.

3. Mesh Vegetable Bag
Original purpose: Toting home potatoes, onions, and tomatoes on the vine.
Aha! use: Scrubbing up after dinner. Cut ends open, scrunch, and add soap and water.
Reward: After a gooey mac-and-cheese cleanup, you can throw this freebie sponge away guilt-free.

4. Lint Roller
Original purpose: Restoring your black turtleneck to its fuzz-free glory.
Aha! use: Dusting a lamp shade. Run the roller up and down the outside to get rid of small particles that shouldn't be there.
Reward: The satisfaction of knowing that every surface in your living room will pass the white-glove test.

5. Lemon
Original purpose: Adding zing to soups or salad dressings.
Aha! use: Removing tough food stains from light wood and plastic cutting boards. Slice a lemon in half, squeeze onto the soiled surface, rub, and let sit for 20 minutes before rinsing.
Reward: A house that smells like a lemon grove rather than chemicals.

6. Baking Soda as Silver-Polisher
Original purpose: Making cakes rise.
Aha! use: Polishing silver. Wash items, then place on aluminum foil in the bottom of a pot. Add a baking-soda solution (¼ cup soda, a few teaspoons salt, 1 quart boiling water) to cover for a few seconds.
Reward: A chemical reaction that gets the black off the gravy boat.

7. Salt
Original purpose: Unlocking flavor in your favorite dishes.
Aha! use: Cleaning up a spilled egg. Heap a handful of salt on the mess, leave for two minutes or so, then wipe up.
Reward: The egg sticks to one paper towel instead of sliding off five or six.

8. Coasters
Original purpose: Keeping wet glasses from making rings on Mom's mahogany coffee table.
Aha! use: Catching escaping drips of sticky stuff from bottles and jars in cupboards.
Reward: Shelves that don't require a full wipe-down after every spoonful of honey, slather of jam, or glug of olive oil.

9. Cooking Oil
Original purpose: A hot bath for fried foods.
Aha! use: Removing adhesive from glasses. Apply cooking oil to the sticker using a paper towel or a soft cloth, rub firmly, then rinse with warm, soapy water. (If the adhesive is stubborn, use a dab of toothpaste along with the oil.)
Reward: Goo Gone be gone―one less cleaning product to buy.

10. Car Wax
Original purpose: Shining up the sedan.
Aha! use: Polishing faucets, sinks, tile, even shower doors. Turtle Wax leaves behind a protective barrier against water and soap buildup, so your hard-earned sparkle will last past the next tooth-brushing.
Reward: A gleaming bathroom all week long.

11. Newspaper as Food-Container Deodorizer
Original purpose: Daily source for information.
Aha! use: Food-container deodorizer. Stuff a balled-up piece of newspaper into a plastic container, seal it, and let sit overnight. By morning the paper will have absorbed food smells.
Reward: That lingering curry scent is yesterday's news.

More from Real Simple:
18 Time-Saving Tips
31 Ways to Makeover Your Closets
101 New Uses for Everyday Things

And for more on cleaning & organization, go to the At Home section.

 

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