10 ways to clean your home you never thought was possible

Everyone has a different schedule for cleaning house. Some people clean a different room every day, while others give the whole house a thorough cleaning every week or two. And, of course, there are those who wait until guests are on their way over before they barely remember to quickly run the vacuum before anyone walks through the door. No matter your cleaning schedule, though, it's possible that there are certain areas you forget (or maybe intentionally neglect).

But these parts of your house are just as important and in need of a good cleaning. Maybe they are the areas that are too out of the way, so you forget about them. Or maybe cleaning them is just too much of a hassle, so you just keep promising yourself to get to them next time, all the while knowing you never will. Instead of ignoring these dirty sections of your home, try a few of these tips to make sure every inch of your house is spotless.

1. Window blinds
Do you currently use a feather duster for your window blinds? While feather dusters work perfectly fine, they do a better job of moving the dust off of the blinds and into the air where it settles on other objects or the floor. Next time, try the tong approach. Wrap two soft cloths around a pair of tongs and secure them with with rubber bands. Then just clamp the tongs on each slat and slide them across. The cloths will pick up the dust instead of sending it into the air.2. Tile grout
If the grout between your tiles is starting to look a little disgusting but you don't want to spend hours scrubbing it, there is another option. Magnetically attach the head of a scrub brush to a cordless drill, dip the brush in soapy water and start the drill. This will help you get a deep clean in about half the time you would have spent scrubbing by hand.3. Wall art removal
Do you have kids? Have they ever invited you to view their latest masterpiece only to reveal that it's a lovely crayon portrait in the middle of your living room wall? Before you freak out and buy a can of paint to cover up your kids' artwork, try this quick tip. Dip a damp cloth into some baking soda and scrub over the drawing. You'll have your original wall back in no time.4. Mirrors
The mirrors in your house are going to end up with streaks on them more often than they'll be spotless, so you probably clean them fairly often. Instead of spending money of expensive cleaners and soft cloths, just put some water in a spray bottle and grab yesterday's newspaper. Spray some water on your mirror, crumple up a page of the newspaper and scrub over the streaks for quick removal.5. Copper and brass household items
If you have copper or brass pots, utensils or jewelry, then you know how easily they can tarnish. You could spend a lot of money to get these items cleaned or you could use ketchup. That's right; all you need is a bottle of ketchup. Apply a thin layer of ketchup all over the item, let it sit for around 30 minutes and then use warm water to rinse off the ketchup. If you still see a little discoloration, use a piece steel wool to buff it away.6. Oven racks
Oven racks are quite possibly one of the easiest things to clean despite being so often overlooked. To get baked-on gunk off of your oven racks, just place the racks on top of several dryer sheets in your bathtub. Turn on the hot water until the racks are completely submerged by a few inches. Squirt in some dish soap and let everything soak overnight. When you check on them in the morning, you can use the dryer sheets to remove any remaining gunk. Get the full tutorial here. 7. Microwave
Cleaning a microwave is so easy that there's honestly no excuse for not doing it. All you have to do is put a cup of water, half a cup of vinegar and a couple tablespoons of lemon juice into a microwave-safe container. Stick this combination into the microwave, set it for five minutes and walk away. After the timer goes off, use a sponge or rag to wipe out the inside of your microwave. Even the most stubbornly caked-on food will easily detach from the walls of the microwave.8. Dishwasher
You probably don't think about cleaning your dishwasher, considering that its sole purpose is to clean other things. But all of that cleaning can leave it with some serious gunk buildup. Next time you empty your dishwasher, pour a packet of lemon Kool-Aid into the detergent cup after. Run the empty dishwasher and let citric acid do all of the cleaning for you.9. Water stains
There are plenty of ways to get rid of water stains in your sink or bathtub, but I've found only one way so far that uses only natural products. Sprinkle some coarse salt over the water stain and use the cut side of half a grapefruit to scrub away the stain. The best part is that you won't have to deal with cleaning products that smell horrible.10. Washing machine
Your washing machine is another appliance that seems like it shouldn't need to be cleaned. But, just like your dishwasher, it can get dirty, too. To clean your washing machine, you'll need one quart of chlorine bleach and a quart of vinegar. Run the washer on its longest cycle with hot water and bleach and then repeat the process with the vinegar.