House Cleaning Hacks 101

We will share some house cleaning hacks that most people had this type of experience and wondered how to solve.

Clean and disinfect the plastic cutting board

After a while,  the white plastic cutting board turns yellow and stain residues don’t go away.

Also, bacteria can grow in grooves that may have been cut.  The easiest way is to put the cutting board in the dishwasher and run a hot cycle.

If you want to use more natural ingredients to clean and disinfect, use white vinegar. Soak the cutting board in the white vinegar and let it sit for a while like 10 minutes. After that wash with water and dish soap.

After you use lemons for lemonade, fish, salad, or any recipes, you rub the lemon on the cutting board surface. After that let the lemon juice sit for a while. The acid will definitely kill the little organism and bacteria.

An alternative way is using a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution. This item is so handy around the house. You must keep it all the time. Just spray on the cutting board and sit for a while for 10minutes or so. After that, wash it with soap and water.

Speaking of the cutting board, yellow stains look really unhealthy. In order to remove stains, make a paste with water, baking soda and salt. Scrub the surface. You will see the difference.

Smelly wash machine

The front-load wash machine is popular, the only thing I don’t like about the front-load is the rubber seal around the door inside.  That is a breeding ground for mildew. After the laundry is done, wipe around the rubber seal, so that is nicely dried. If you don’t, water sits inside and black mildew grows. After the laundry, please make sure to keep the door open for a while until it is dried inside.

When your clothing stinks after the laundry, it is time to deep clean the wash machine. Bleach is the best to kill mold and mildew.

Add 1 cup of bleach directly into your machine’s tub or pour the bleach into the laundry detergent dispenser. Start the hot water cycle and fill up the tub with water. After that. pause it then, let it sit for an hour or so. After that, finish the washing cycle.  I would recommend selecting the longest cycle.

Now mildew and molds are gone, it is time to tackle the stinky smell. 

Vinegar is the natural deodorizer for the cleaning. Also, the vinegar will remove hard water buildup as well as any leftover bacteria. Pour the 2 cups of vinegar into your machine’s tub and start the hot water cycle. Fill the tub with water. After that let it sit for an hour or so.  Finally, resume the cycle. Choose the longest cycle.

Additional Tip:

You can use vinegar for cleaning the dishwasher too.  Pour the vinegar into detergent dispenser, and run the hot cycle for cleaning. Vinegar will remove hard water buildup and it will drain much better.

Smelly Shoes

Wearing sneakers without socks in summer and sweaty feet will make your sneakers really stink. Even you wash with hot soapy water, they still stink.

Baking soda is the best deodorizer around your house. You can fill up the shoes with baking soda, and keep them overnight. Make sure to empty the baking soda the next morning. The only thing I don’t like is that even if you emptied, it still has white residues inside the shoes. Sometimes, just once won’t remove the smell entirely.

An alternative way is trying essential oils. Tea tree and cedarwood essential oils are natural deodorizers. Also, those oils deter bacteria growth due to antifungal properties. 5 to 10 drops of essential oils directly inside your sneakers and let it air out overnight or a day. If you want a nice scent, drop some lavender essential oils too.

Additional Tip:

You can use baking soda when your rug has an odor. Sprinkle the baking soda on the rug and then let it sit for hours and then vacuum the rug. Use a vacuum cleaner that has strong suction. That tiny powder sits on the bottom of the rug, if the vacuum cleaner’s suction isn’t strong, it won’t remove all baking soda residue. You might have to do a few times to remove the odor completely.

Personal Story:

I ended up buying a consigned hand-woven Persian rug. It was wrapped in the store for a while, it smelled really bad. Because of the smell, I got a great deal. Probably people didn’t buy it because of the odor. I used lots of baking soda and tried several times until the smell was gone.

I used both Bissell and Dyson when I vacuumed the rug. Dyson did a fantastic job removing all baking soda, it was much more powerful than Bissell. I don’t remember what the model number of Bissell was. It happened years ago. Removing the entire baking soda is important. After that, you sprinkle fresh baking soda again and remove it. Same procedure until the smell is gone.