32 pro cleaning hacks to save you time and effort

Top tips to make housework a breeze

Cleaning your house is a real skill. Without the right know-how and time-saving tips, you could end up creating more work for yourself in the long run. To help you perfect your cleaning regimen, we've compiled a list of housework hacks from social media 'cleanfluencers' and expert housekeeping gurus.

From cleaning routines to tried and tested products, read on to discover the best tricks to get your home shining in no time...

Make light work of big chores

Kacie Stephens, Australian social media star and owner of professional cleaning company The Big Clean Co, has five non-negotiable daily cleaning tasks that keep living spaces in order and in turn, make larger housework jobs less daunting.

Kacie says: "1. Make your bed every morning. 2. Give high-traffic areas a quick vacuum or mop. 3. Pick clothes up off the floor. 4. Never take today's dishes into tomorrow. 5. Clean your countertop after every meal."

Declutter regularly

Don't waste time organising and cleaning what's not needed. Before you even begin your housework, professional organiser Vicky Silverthorn, owner of You Need a Vicky, recommends filling a charity bag to clear away accumulated clutter. "Walk around each room of your home with your new eyes on. I bet you can easily fill a bag. Make it your mission to fill at least one bag during a sweep of your home," she says.

Clean with the curtains open

Cleaning company owner and house cleaning author Jan M Dougherty, also known as the Head Rag Dragger on social media, insists on only cleaning in good daylight. "Open all the drapes, blinds and shades or turn on all the lights," Dougherty says. "All cleaning should be finished by 3 pm because after that time, the light starts to fade and you don't see the dirt with the same clarity as you did at 10 am."

Stick to a routine

Professional cleaning company Molly Maid states: "if you have a busy schedule, a daily cleaning routine is a secret weapon." So divvy up those frequent cleaning tasks into lists for each room to make sure you don't forget anything. If you don't know where to start, there are plenty of downloadable lists online to work off including Molly Maid's cleaning checklist.

Clean clockwise

Cleaning and tidying a messy room can seem overwhelming but Gemma Bray, the woman behind The Organised Mum blog, has a great way of tackling the task. In Gemma's book, The Organised Mum Method, she says: "Always start in one corner and work your way around the room in a clockwise direction, it will keep you focused and on track."

Load up a caddy

Keeping cleaning products together in a handy caddy will slash time spent on chores. Choose one with a handle to make moving from room to room a breeze. Organise My House suggests the following cleaning contents: polish, duster, antibacterial wipes or spray, rubber gloves, window cleaner, cleaning cloths and bin bags. We also think you need to make room for a lint roller, especially if you have pets.

Repel dust with dryer sheets

Dryer sheets do so much more than prevent static in tumble dryers. Used dryer sheets are great for skirting boards, as the static will repel dust in the future. According to British cleaning expert Lynsey Queen of Clean aka Lynsey Crombie, they are great for blinds too. Lynsey explains on her blog: "Wipe the slats on your blinds weekly with them, you will be amazed at what they lift off."

Pick up pet hair with a lint roller

Lint rollers are great for removing pet hair and unwanted fibres from your clothes, but they do just as good a job on upholstery. Keep a lint roller in your cleaning caddy for sprucing over sofas, chairs, cushions, bed linen and lampshades too.

How to remove make-up stains

Make-up marks on soft furnishings can be difficult to remove. For foundation stains, check to see if the product is oil or water-based, advises professional make-up artist Saffron Hughes. Remove any excess and dampen the stain with cold water. If oil-based, add a teaspoon of dish soap, massage in and blot with a damp cloth. If it's water-based, use laundry detergent instead of washing-up liquid.

For lipstick, brush the stain with an old toothbrush, then spray it with hairspray. Let the stain sit, then wash as normal.

Meanwhile, mascara can be removed from upholstery using a cotton swab dipped in nail polish remover. Clean up any residue using another swab dipped in baby oil.

Deep clean your dishwasher

To keep your dishes sparkling and your kitchen smelling fresh, it's worth deep cleaning your dishwasher once a month. YouTube cleaning expert Melissa Maker first removes the lower rack and sprays the inside of her machine with an all-purpose spray, paying attention to the dishwasher frame, which she then scrubs with a toothbrush and equal parts bicarbonate of soda and washing-up liquid.

Then, place all removable parts of the filter into your sink and wash them in hot soapy water. Repeat for the cutlery basket. Unclog the water holes in the spinning arm with a piece of garden or picture wire. Return everything to the dishwasher, place a cup of white vinegar in the top rack and run through a cycle. After the cycle is finished, top up your salt and rinse aid and get ready for perfectly clean plates.

Wash throws regularly

That cosy comforter you snuggle up to on your bed or sofa might look nice, but they often get overlooked when it comes to refreshing a room.

The average person sweats up to one pint (500ml) and sheds a whopping 320,000 dead skin cells each night. In a month, that adds up to a staggering 3.3 gallons (15l) of sweat and a jaw-dropping 9.6 million dead skin cells! Add in saliva, body oils, make-up and transferred grime, and that throw is starting to look pretty disgusting. So pop it in the wash once a week and throw your cushion covers in for good measure.

Dust your ceiling fan with a pillowcase

When cleaning a ceiling fan, avoid dust and dirt falling onto your furniture or even onto you by dusting it with a pillowcase. Wrap the pillowcase tightly around the base of the blade, before pulling it slowly towards the tip. You'll trap all the dust inside the pillowcase, so all you have to do is empty it into the bin and throw it in the wash. Flannel or brushed cotton fabric will work particularly well for trapping dust.

Dust your houseplants

Not only will dusting your houseplants keep your home feeling fresh, but it'll help to keep them healthy too. Leaves covered in dust will struggle to photosynthesise, which not only prevents proper growth but can also impact the amount of oxygen released into your home.

Support each leaf from beneath with one hand, while gently wiping the top of the leaf with a clean microfibre cloth. Use a paintbrush on smaller, more delicate plants. Once all the dust is removed, wipe the stems and leaves with a damp cloth. Repeat weekly.

Wash pillows regularly

Shockingly, your pillowcase can accumulate 39 times more bacteria than a pet bowl, according to one study. "Not many people are aware that unwashed pillows can spread infections too," Rex Isap, CEO at Happy Beds, reveals. With that in mind, it's important to wash pillows every three months to eliminate bacteria, remove stains and neutralise odours.

Check to see if your pillow is machine washable. If so, add 0.4 pints (200ml) of white vinegar to the cycle to act as a disinfectant. If not, simply handwash your pillows in the bath with a capful of detergent. If washing sounds like too much of a chore, hang dry pillows on the line on a sunny day at the start of each season to naturally air and brighten them.

Learn to damp-dust

The Organised Mum blogger Gemma Bray also has a top tip for dusting rooms. Ditch the feather duster and start damp-dusting: "It purely means that I use a damp cloth (usually a microfibre cloth) to wipe over surfaces. When you damp-dust you trap all the dust on the cloth, which stops it from being sent in the air in the room. This makes it a great way to dust if you or anyone in your house suffers from allergies."

Wipe fabric conditioner on doors

Internal doors can easily get grubby, and handles are a prime location for transferring bacteria. British cleaning guru Mrs Hinch has a clever cleaning tip to keep internal doors immaculate without rubbing away paintwork.

Sophie Hinchcliffe told ITV's This Morning that one cup of fabric conditioner mixed with water will sponge off the dirt from internal doors without affecting paintwork. It also leaves doors smelling fresh. Finish the job by spraying anti-bacterial spray onto the handles and wiping with a damp cloth.

Invest in a flat sheet

Kate Henderson, Duty Manager at Daffodil Hotel in the UK's Lake District, knows how to give your bedroom a 5-star hotel feel. She starts with a flat sheet: "First step – forget the fitted sheet. When do you ever see a fitted sheet in a hotel? When you opt for a plain sheet you can easily recreate a ‘hospital corner fold’. And it's as simple as this: lift the edge of the sheet to form a 45-degree angle with your mattress. Pull and tuck the hanging fabric underneath the mattress. You can do this with your duvet too; simply lift and tuck!"

Clean your cabinet fronts

Kitchen cupboard doors soon pick up grease and spills from cooking, making them feel sticky and look grubby. In their book The Miracle of Vinegar, Aggie Mackenzie and Emma Marsden recommend "wiping them down with a cloth soaked in a warm solution of washing-up liquid and a capful of vinegar. Take care, not to over-wet wood. Rinse with another clean cloth wrung out with plain water and buff dry."

Go deep into rugs

Rugs require special attention with a deeper clean at least twice a year. Check your product's care label and follow the guidelines for its specific materials.

Daniel Prendergast from The Rug Seller explains: "Nylon rugs can be steam cleaned (you can rent a machine and do this yourself), you can also clean by hand using water and a light detergent. Wool rugs are very hard-wearing but require a gentle approach. Polyester rugs are often machine washable so check the label. Remember – don’t get your rug too wet, blot gently and remove excess moisture."

Pop spare bags in the bottom of bins

Steal a trick from housekeepers in hotels. Keep a stash of new bin bags at the bottom of small bins in bedrooms and bathrooms. That way, a new empty bag will always be at hand when you need to take out the rubbish.

Stock up on microfibre cloths

As well as a cleaning caddy, stock up on rubber gloves and reusable cleaning cloths. Beth Mcgee, author of Get Your House Clean Now, explains: "Rubber gloves help you move through your icky cleaning tasks uninhibited... microfibre cloths work for the majority of tasks from kitchen and bath to dusting."

Disinfect daily

Areas referred to as high-traffic zones contain items that are commonly touched by multiple household members every day. According to cleaning brand Zoflora, taps, for example, can harbour over 6,000 bacteria per square inch (38,700 per sqcm). Your sink may also be home to over 2,700 bacteria per square inch (17,400 per sqcm), so these items need a quick once-over with your favourite disinfectant each day.

Use a squeegee in the bathroom

A bathroom squeegee may have a funny name, but it's certainly a serious tool when it comes to wiping streak marks and water stains away from shower screens. Cleaning company Merry Maids highly recommends these inexpensive cleaning gadgets as they are "quick and easy, effective and low-maintenance." They can also be used to wipe clean tiles, mirrors and windows.

Take in a different view

For a truly professional finish in the bathroom, take a pew on top of the toilet seat lid and inspect the areas you can see – there may be the odd dusty corner or radiator valve that you missed during cleaning. Then, stand up, turn around, face the toilet and inspect again. That way when guests use your facilities, every inch in view will sparkle from top to bottom.

Vacuum the bathroom

Cleaning whizz @clean_with_jen recommends vacuuming your bathroom before you dive in with any cleaning sprays. In one of her TikTok videos, Jen explains: "Dust is everywhere in your bathroom and it can make cleaning up so much more difficult."

Jen reveals the best way to tackle dust in the bathroom, which never seems to go away with a wipe, is to vacuum it first. But be sure the bathroom is dry so as not to damage your vacuum cleaner.

Use a mop to clean bathroom tiles

Bathrooms with floor-to-ceiling tiles can be tricky to clean. This is where a floor mop comes in. British cleanfluencer Kelly says: "...with [a mop's] extra-long handle you no longer have to climb into the bath to scrub your tiles, you will even get the top tiles clean without having to stretch up high." You can also mop the bath panel while you are at it too.

Refresh the mattress

We should all be washing our bedding regularly but how much attention are we paying to what’s underneath? Nic Shacklock from Online Bedrooms suggests giving your mattress a thorough clean as part of your regime: "Remove all of the sheets and start by vacuuming the mattress, making sure the head of the vacuum is clean. Then go ahead and spray some disinfectant spray all over and leave the mattress to air out for a couple of hours."

Make stainless steel shine

Keep your stainless steel appliances shimmering by using a specialist cleaner. Instagrammer Clean Freak and Germaphobe says that her favourite cleaner for a variety of stainless steel appliances (even black) is Weiman stainless steel cleaner and polish. She advises: "Use it with a microfibre cloth and always wipe against the grain to get the highest shine."

Let steam do the hard work

Steam cleaners work by heating water past the boiling point and pushing the vapour through nozzles in the cleaner head. The temperature and pressure loosen dirt and vaporise bacteria, making them a natural and thorough cleaning tool without the need for harsh chemicals.

Steam cleaners can be used on almost every surface. Just keep away from painted walls and any material that hasn't been sealed and can be damaged by moisture.

Keep a clean fridge

Ensure your kitchen isn't filled with bad smells every time you open the refrigerator door. Food writer and TV personality Mary Berry says: "It makes sense to overhaul [the fridge] when there's not much food inside. Take the opportunity to examine what you have and chuck out anything that's past its best."

To give your fridge a deep clean, Mary recommends taking out all the drawers and washing them in warm, soapy water. Then, wipe the interior of the fridge, including the seals, with fresh, warm soapy water. Dry the inside thoroughly with a clean tea towel.

Don't spray directly onto surfaces

According to cleaning expert Heather Barrington, spraying cleaning solution directly onto countertops, glass or furniture makes it harder to remove the product. As reported by British newspaper The Sun, she says this can lead to streaks and stubborn stains that are harder to remove. Instead, Heather advises spraying the product onto your cloth and then wiping.

Or... spray and leave

However, some cleaning products do need to be sprayed directly onto surfaces to allow chemicals to work their magic and lift stains and bacteria. Always follow the instructions carefully to make sure you're using your products in the most efficient way.

For instance, the professional favourite, HG Bathroom Mould Spray, directs you to spray surfaces from 1 inch (3cm) to 2 inches (5cm) away and then leave to work for 30 minutes to get the best results. That's plenty of time to work another room or pop the kettle on for a well-earned break.