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*bookmarks for cleaning when I feel like it, which is definitely not right now*

No elbow grease required. You can also add lemons for a ~fresh scent~, but they're totally optional. (I promise this works — that's my microwave pictured above, and I've done it dozens of times since.)

Good Housekeeping found this actually works; try to do it at least once a week, if not every three days or so. Then replace it every couple of weeks, and try to keep it away from raw meat. If you heard a few years ago that microwaving doesn't help, well — all those news reports were inaccurate.

(It's also essentially equally effective to run your sponge through the dishwasher, on the top rack, with the heat-dry setting, if you prefer to do that instead.)

That'll help prolong its life between cleanings! The cat sponge holder is $14.95 or you can get a basic stainless steel one for $13.96, both from Amazon.

And rinse it out with hot water when you're done.

It works for lots of different types of sinks: brushed stainless steel, cast iron (porcelain), Corian (solid surface), composite, acrylic, and vitreous china. 

My fellow BuzzFeed editor Maitland Quitmeyer swears by this stuff: 

"It cleans beautifully, but the *best* thing about it is its ability to repel stains after cleaning. You know that thing when you rinse out your coffee cup and the coffee water just lingers in your sink and you have to purposefully rinse it out for two minutes? You don't have to do that — the coffee can't stick to the sink and just goes RIGHT down the drain. Time saved, sink clean — this is really a Virgo dream product right here." 

It's on Amazon in a small size for $9.95 or a value size for $29.95. 

(You can also try baking soda + hydrogen peroxide, but that might take a little more elbow grease, and won't provide the water- and stain- repelling benefits.)

It works for basically all garbage disposals. Why the paper plate photo? One reviewer found it's the solution to blocking any spraying bits of gunk as you scrub. It's $8.49 on Amazon.

This gets rid of any odor, although it won't unclog your garbage disposal — for that, you'll have to call a plumber. This is a product one of our readers recommends (see the review below), and it's available on Amazon, $12.89 for eight uses in a lemon scent.

Promising review: "Holy cow I didn't realize how easy and quick it was to clean a garbage disposal. I stumbled across this through a BuzzFeed article. Very simple instructions, literally takes five minutes and some hot water and VOILA! You have a clean, no-longer-stinky garbage disposal. Anytime I got a whiff of an odor, all I did was drop one of those packs in the disposal and the smell was GONE! Plus the blue foam bubbling through the sink was amusing to watch." —VadersGirl

Just put a little bit of oil on a paper towel, and wipe; it'll come off like a charm! If you don't like the oily residue, just use water and dish soap to clean that right up. (You can also use olive oil for this, but if you do, definitely wash it off; otherwise it might go rancid and smell bad.) From One Good Thing By Jillee.

The Amazon reviewer pictured just added a few drops of water to make a paste the consistency of glue, then scrubbed it onto each dirty burner, let it sit for a few minutes, and wiped it up. If you need a can of the cleanser, you can get one on Amazon for $6.39.

You simply seal them up in a plastic bag and let it do its work — just don't mix ammonia with any other cleaner, and do read the tutorials from Fabulessly Frugal and The V Spot before you try this at home. You can get a bottle of ammonia on Amazon for $9.05.

Then simply wipe clean. From My Thirty Spot. Need a dish brush? Pick one up on Amazon for $7.99.

The razor scraper's key here, because it's the best way to tackle the few spots that will inevitably remain after your initial scrub with the cleanser (which is also included in most kits like these). Don't be afraid to put some elbow grease into it! The kit that produced these gorgeous before and after photos is available on Amazon for $21.98.

That's exactly what I did with our filter, which hadn't been cleaned or replaced in over three years, and it worked like a charm! Yep, I took these pictures myself! And yes I also made sure the PB jar's lid wasn't close to submerged, and I washed the jar afterward.  

Sure, it's not expensive to buy a new filter (they run about $10 from Amazon), but we're renters and I wasn't sure what brand we needed to get. Our NYC landlord was not about to replace it for us without a loooooot of hassle. Aluminum ones like these are perfectly washable. If you have a charcoal filter, though, you'll need to replace it if you want it to remove odors the way it's designed to. 

You'll still have to use a *little* bit of elbow grease, but really the dish soap's gonna do most of the work for you. From Ask Anna Moseley and BuzzFeed Nifty.

This version's heavy-duty so it works well on grills and BBQs too! Simply heat the oven to 200 degrees, turn it off, and get to spraying, waiting 10 minutes, and wiping away. You can get a can on Amazon for $10.95.

Promising review: "This is the ONLY product that got rid of years of oil globules stuck to my oven door window. You couldn’t see through the window, then the cleaner MELTED the oil in 10 minutes and I wiped it off with a wet rag and no elbow grease. I didn’t properly keep up with cleaning my much-used oven, but I know a few treatments with this will help destroy layers of grease. Absolutely recommend this product." —Sunshine

I first heard about this from blogger Two Twenty One. You can get a one-gallon jug (128 ounces) for $24.98 ($0.20/ounce) on Amazon.

You'll still want to give them a good wash with soap and water after every time you use them (never let it soak, that'll harm the wood), but this is good for a ~deep clean~ and conditioning. A bottle of cutting board oil is $11.99 on Amazon.

There are a couple of dishwasher cleaners out there. You can get a three-pack of Affresh, the tablets used in the photos above, from Amazon for $8.98.

You can also use soapy water to wipe out the inside, doors, and seals on your refrigerator and freezer; just make sure to rinse well. If you have glass shelves, let them come to room temperature before you hit them with the hot water — if you don't, they could crack or shatter. 

You can hang it on the included hook or just set it on your shelf; it's $9.95 on Amazon.

They also work well to break up the buildup left on the inside of reusable to-go coffee mugs. A pack of 36 tablets is $15.67 on Amazon.

It'll also remove any rust stains from color-safe fabrics, among many other surfaces. (Some reviewers use it with a Magic Eraser, for extra oomph). Two bottles are $17.07 or three bottles are $17 on Amazon.

Whether it's calcium, lime, rust, or some impossible combination, the pumice stone can take care of it. A pack of two is $9.97 on Amazon.

I've known about the toilet seat tip for ages (h/t Ask Anna Moseley, who has a full tutorial on this) and finally tried it myself, as you can see in the pictures above. I wasn't able to persuade the screws all the way off, but I got them loose enough that my trusty all purpose cleaner and I could quickly banish the disgusting gunk that had gathered underneath the spot where the toilet seat screws into the toilet.

Basically it cleans just a little every time your toilet gets flushed. I used this all the time in college and it really does help prevent mildew and toilet rings. Once there's only a teensy bit of the gel left, you can use that to scrub things down, then add another dab. (Although if you have particularly hard or rusty water, you might need something stronger, like these drop-in tabs). A pack that will last up to ten weeks is $4.48 on Amazon.

Leave it anywhere from a couple hours to overnight, then remove and voila!

To get the bubbles, add in a dash of baking soda; I've had it work well both with the combo and with just plain vinegar. Some people swear the bubbling reaction loosens the particles more quickly. Others note that, once the reaction's over and the bubbles stop, the vinegar will just be water with a bit of salt; but you do you.

This is another good tip Ask Anna Moseley (who pairs the cleanser with scouring pads, like these, $2.62 on Amazon) swears by, along with several Amazon reviewers.

Any version of BKF should work just fine, but some people say the glass cooktop version does this particular task better; get three bottles on Amazon for $19.86, or two for $15.90.

And wash your shower curtain itself, separately and according to the directions on the tag. While you're at it, throw in your bath mats, and change out your towels. Freshen everything! Bitz 'n' Giggles has the step-by-step for washing a shower curtain liner.

Practically Functional also vacuums the fan itself before replacing the cover.

That's what the reviewer above used, and they say those stains came off "in minutes"! Bioclean's on Amazon for $14.77. 

You just insert it down your drain, twist it a few times via the handle, let the grabby micro-hooks on the tip (similar to Velcro) do their work on the stuck, clogging hair and debris. Then pull it up, and your sink will drain like it's new! Get one with five included refills on Amazon for $19.99; or opt for a reusable version (you just have to be willing to clean the gunk off) for $8.99.

I use and LOVE this brush, have had it since 2017, and it's absolutely the easiest and fastest way to clean grout (maybe besides bleach, which I don't like to use). You literally see the dirt come up and the grout lighten with just 30 seconds of use. They make a specialty grout head you can buy for it, but TBH the default brush works just as well, unless you have incredibly narrow grout lines. (Some reviewers like to use it with a grout and tile cleaner, but I just use some Castile soap diluted with water. I haven't tested to see if one is faster than the other!)

You can read my full Rubbermaid Reveal Power Scrubber Review for more, and it's on Amazon for $19.99.

Adventures of a DIY Mom tested a bunch of different solutions, and this one — tile seven — clearly made the most difference. A two-pound bag of Borax is $11.99 on Amazon.

She used an old toothbrush which totally works, but for something like this I'd reach for a bigger scrub brush to cover more area with less scrubbing effort, like this handled one, $9.97 on Amazon.

You can make your own spray cleaner by mixing one part dish soap with one part warm vinegar (full directions from Goodful); or mix an all-purpose cleaner from a concentrate like Simple Green ($6.98 for 64 ounces) or Mrs. Meyers ($8.99 for 32 ounces), both on Amazon.

And yes, you can substitute a glass cleaner for your mirror, if you prefer!

From One Crazy House. You could even clean all of your floor and ceiling vent covers at once.

A different type of microfiber than the towels you use for car and other house cleaning, these have a super tight weave that's safe for more delicate surfaces like camera lenses, eyeglasses, and modern flatscreen TVs. A pack of three goes for $12.74 on Amazon. 

Basically, you use a saturated mop to get your floors wet, then squeeze out your mop, use it to soak up the dirty water (in no more than three swoops at a time), and squeeze that dirty water back into your bucket. The Creek Line House has the full how-to. A similar microfiber, washable easy-wring mop is $37.20 on Amazon.

You'll capture all the dust inside the case, so you can go dump it outside or in the trash. And then wash the case, of course. I've done this too; it totally works! From the now-defunct blog Homemaker Chic.

From One Crazy House. A pack of 24 microfiber cleaning cloths is $9.59 on Amazon.

It comes with two duster options that you can either use with a handle or the extending pole (which starts at 29 inches and telescopes up to 49 inches). Get it on Amazon for $16.10.

This won't remove any stains, but it will help absorb any lingering odors. Get the how-to from One Good Thing By Jillee.

You only need to do it every few months, but it makes a difference! Get the how-to from The Happier Homemaker.

It works for both top and front loaders, and is yet another product recommended by thousands of reviewers. Six tablets are $11.98 on Amazon.

But I think the best solution for that problem is prevention: every time you're done with the washing for the day, dry off as many nooks and crannies as you can reach with a towel, and make sure to leave the door open. And yes, that includes that lip under the rubber seal, and I'd even pull out the detergent drawer all the way to dry that and the area where it sits.

Two lint brushes are $9.99 on Amazon, and can also be used to clean your refrigerator coils so it works more efficiently (check your fridge's manual to see if that's something you need to do).

The carpet washer that pulled off this before and after — and has over seven thousand five-star ratings — is $249.99 on Amazon. And a jug of stain remover is $20.99. Because you're wondering: it's a coffee stain.

You can also try to bleach them out using hydrogen peroxide; that may not remove more than the surface stains, though. Get a how-to here.

Just spritz once or twice, squeegee, and watch it clump up. From CareaBearaSara. A similar squeegee is $11.99 on Amazon.

I've used this a ton of times at my in-law's house and y'all, it's so quick and really does pick up like, all the hair. My sister also uses one and swears by it for picking up the small mountains of hair her Cavalier King Charles spaniel leaves lying around.* You open up the back to empty the hair out when you're done, and it's ready to reuse. It's $24.99 on Amazon.

*These days she's upgraded to an even faster handheld pet hair vacuum she uses on her couch and car, $89.99, if you want to splurge a little. 

Of course you could use your hand-held squeegee for this too, but this telescoping broom could make it easier on your back. Reviewers recommend using short, quick, rake-like strokes for the best effect. It's also handy for cleaning big windows and pushing snow off of cars in one swoop. It's $18.99 on Amazon.

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* If A Stain Has Been Bothering You *Forever*, Check Out These Tried-And-True Stain Removers

* Products To Help You Clean Up After Your Pets, Because Boy Do You Love Them, But They Know How To Make A Mess

* Crafty Cleaning Products For All Those Hard-To-Reach Spots Around Your House

* Powerful Cleaning Products That Do Not *Mess* Around

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