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I'm a mom, Senior Editor on the BuzzFeed Shopping team, and BuzzFeeder since 2015, and am constantly on the lookout for smart, genuinely effective problem-solvers, especially anything cleaning, home, parenting, fashion, and skincare related.

Maybe you're living on your own for the first time and realize you have no idea what you're doing. Or you've simply been caught up in the routines of life and one day noticed (oops!) that shower door's gotten really grimy. Either way, here you'll find the correct and effective tip, product, or idea you need to get important stuff in your kitchen, bathroom, and everywhere else in your home into shipshape! 

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! Both sponge holders are from Amazon: The Oxo is $11.99 and the travertine is $37.99. 

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.)

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, $12.86 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.

Simply wet your surface with a cloth, sprinkle the cleanser, give it a scrub, let it sit for a few minutes, and wipe it up. Reviewers love it for making blackened stainless steel cookware look new, too! It's on Amazon, $15.74 for two cans. 

(The benefit of this over the premixed soft cleanser? You get to decide what consistency you want the paste to be. But both are good choices!)

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 $10.90.

Then simply wipe clean. From My Thirty Spot. Need a dish brush? Pick one up on Amazon for $7.95.

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.

Technically, you can let this sit anywhere from two hours to overnight to get results. And while you might have to do *some* light scrubbing, it should be much easier than it would've been without this cleaner! 

You can spray it on the racks, too, if they're stainless steel. If they're coated, though, skip the cleaner and follow the manufacturer's directions. 

I first heard about this from blogger Two Twenty One and have successfully done it with vinegar several times over the past few years. 

The CLR directions say to let it sit on surfaces for only two minutes to avoid damaging finishes, because it's powerful stuff, thanks to lactic acid and gluconic acid! But Amazon reviewers treating their faucets confirm that's enough time. This person uses and old toothbrush to gently scrub away the loosened bits after the soak, and this person said it only took one minute of soaking for the buildup to wash away. 

You can get CLR on Amazon: A small bottle for $16.79 ($0.40/ounce) or a one-gallon jug for $24.97 ($0.20/ounce).

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 $9.99 on Amazon.

You can get a three-pack of Affresh from Amazon for $7.98.

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. 

My review: My mom's had stainless appliances for well over a decade and a half now, and discovered this spray from reading our posts, and said it works *wonderfully*, truly 100% better than any other kind of stainless cleaners she'd tried in the past!! So naturally, I bought a bottle when we moved to a place with stainless steel appliances, and I second every word she says. It's fast, cleans off all kinds of stains, and leaves a like-new shiny finish with a simple spray and wipe! If I'm in a hurry, I'll also use it on our granite counters and wood cabinets, and it works well there, too.

Because this product also includes a polish, it cleans off current fingerprints and smudges and helps protect the surface of your stainless steel from future messiness. The 16-oz bottle comes with a large microfiber cleaning cloth — the key is to spritz the cleaner on the cloth, so you don't end up with too much product on your appliance (which can cause fingerprints) *or* a slippery residue on your floor. One reviewer notes that it needed to be left to dry for a bit after buffing before it became fingerprint-resistant.

Get a bottle and the included cloth from Amazon for $19.95.

They also eliminate similar buildup inside reusable to-go coffee mugs. A pack of 36 tablets is $24 on Amazon.

Many of our readers like you have tried this over the years and say so in their reviews! Here's a highlight — and yep, that's their before and after on the right. 

Promising review: "I saw this product in a BuzzFeed article and thought, 'for the price, what the heck.' I almost exclusively use my Yeti cups for coffee and WOW!! I attached pictures of my old and stained Yeti I had quit using bc it got too stained, and look at it now!! Amazing. I can only give 5 stars, but I would give 10!" —Jada Rambin

You can use it up to once a week or so; basically, it washes away all the built-up coffee residue and oils from the brew chamber and the pour spout, which will keep your coffee tasting more like it's supposed to (especially if you switch between different coffees regularly). It's also good to use right before a tea or hot chocolate K-Cup so that any coffee flavor doesn't contaminate it. Note that you'll still have to occasionally descale with vinegar — these don't touch the water chamber or the other inner parts that get the mineral buildup from water — but you can use this along with that for a truly deep clean.

Get a pack of five from Amazon for $8.09.

You can make your own spray cleaner by mixing one part dish soap ($15.28 for two refill jugs) with one part warm vinegar ($0.88 for a small bottle or $27.95 for two gallons; full directions from Goodful). 

Or purchase a premade option; all from Amazon: 

Mix many bottles of all-purpose cleaner from a concentrate like Simple Green ($5.98 for one gallon) or Mrs. Meyer's ($9.99 for 1/4 gallon). 

Or get fancy with it: Capri Blue makes a Volcano cleaner — the Anthropologie scent — for $16. Partial to sandalwood scents? I've enjoyed using this L'Avant Collective concentrate (although it's no more effective than the cheaper options) for $15.50. 

Yes, you can substitute a glass cleaner for your mirror, if you prefer! And any of these would work well for basic cleaning in your kitchen, too. 

It's the same process as in the kitchen: get the tub wet, scatter the cleanser over everything, use a rag or a cleaning brush to scrub-a-dub, let everything sit so the chemistry can do its work, then wipe up. It's on Amazon, $15.74 for two cans. 

(Again, the reason to choose this over the premixed soft cleanser = You can make a more or less concentrated paste with the granules. But either option's great!)

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 $16.01 ($8 each) or three bottles are $18.98 ($6.32 each) on Amazon.

Skip it for stains on glass, faucets, and other finished, shiny metals, though; those, it would scratch. Keep reading for recommendations on those! 

You can get a pack of two stone bars from Amazon for $9.99. 

Just swish once or twice, let it fizz for about five minutes, then scrub for a minute or so with a toilet brush. You'll probably still need a pumice stone to get it clean the first time, but regular use of these can help keep your toilet hard-water-stain-free for longer, thanks to citric acid's mineral-dissolving powers. 

These are both made and sold by Bombs Away, an Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania-based small business that sells handmade cleaning and bath products. 

Get them from Etsy for $11.99+ (available in six scents and unscented). 

I've known about the toilet seat tip for ages (from a now-defunct cleaning blog) 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.

If you can't imagine not using your toilet brush, you can use the small remaining bit of gel to scrub down the bowl before applying more. I used this in college and can personally attest it really does work! Our readers like you agree:

Promising review: "I bought this product after reading about it in one of those BuzzFeed must-have product lists. While it doesn't replace manual toilet bowl cleaning, it does a great job at extending the time between the dreaded task. The first couple of times I used this stamp, there was a bit of a learning challenge, but now that I have the hang of it, it is pretty simple to use." —Jane and her Dragons

Get enough to keep your toilet clean for up to 20 weeks for $10.98 on Amazon.

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

At the time I took this photo, I added a dash of baking soda to create bubbles, but I've since learned that fun fizzies produce essentially neutral salt water, which doesn't have much cleaning power. So stick with the vinegar! I've done it many times, and it works wonders. 

If you need vinegar, get some from Amazon: $0.88 for a small bottle or $27.95 for two gallons. 

Get a pack of two bottles from Amazon for $16.99 (about $8.50 each). 

A reader like you has tried this and loved it! 

Promising review: "I think I almost fell over after I used this!!! Saw a post on BuzzFeed about how amazing it’s supposed to be. So, I thought, why not? The skeptic in me had no hope, but hey. 🤷🏼‍♀️ I’ve been using EVERYTHING I could think of to clean these shower doors. TWO YEARS. I just figured it was etched in at this point. The package comes, and I immediately try a spot on the doors. LITERALLY MAGICAL!!!!! Sooo little effort to even apply! My jaw was literally on the floor!!! If I could give this 100 stars, I would." —Wendy Thomsen

My review: The magic of chemistry yet again! When I initially tested it on a small section of caulk (pictured above), the mold completely vanished in just two hours. Application is as easy as using a bottle of elementary school liquid glue. Err on the side of laying it down thickly, so it covers every little bit of the mold on the caulk — you can see a few tiny spots in the after photo that didn't get covered. Not surprisingly, they disappeared when I touched them up, and I finished bleaching the rest of the mold with flawless results. 

Yes, it contains bleach, but because it doesn't run at all, I find it easier to use without accidentally staining my clothes than other bleach products. Though I still wear an old t-shirt to be safe! As long as I run the bathroom fan, it doesn't smell too fume-y. 

Some reviewers report needing to let it sit for four to five hours (or even overnight) for full effect, but the results are still worth it. It likely depends on your grout, humidity, and how thickly you apply it. 

BTW, if you have mold in your front-loading washing machine gaskets, reviewers say this can clean that, too!

You can get a bottle from Amazon for $9.99. 

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.

If your vacuum didn't include a dust brush, you can get one with a universal adapter for $11.99 on Amazon. 

You just insert it down your drain, twist it a few times with the handle, and let the grabby micro-hooks at 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! This reader tried and loved it! 

My review: I used it myself in 2023, and it worked wonders: It wasn't hair clogging my sink, but the remains of a luxury soap bar that made so much gross residue it built up over time. It was gross, yes, and I had to insert it, clean it, and re-insert it a few times, but it was sooooo worth it — and effortlessly removed all the grime, leaving the sink draining nicely again. The refills were nice too, because apparently I didn't learn my lesson and had to do the same thing again in 2024, this time for a luxury liquid soap. Thankfully, this worked yet again!

You can get one with five included refills from Amazon for $19.99. Or opt for a reusable version — you just have to be willing to clean the gunk off — for $8.99.

My review: I use and LOVE this brush, have had it since 2017, and it's absolutely the easiest and fastest way to clean grout (besides maybe bleach, which I only like to use when necessary). 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!) I've also found many other uses for it over the years — stuck-on stove gunk, mystery buildup in the shower window, lurking mildew in the crevice behind sink faucets — basically any time I run into stubborn grime, it has my back. 

You can read my full Rubbermaid Reveal Power Scrubber Review for more, and it's on Amazon for $20.99.

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 $12.99 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, $9.89 on Amazon.

That's so the water your dishwasher pulls in is as hot as possible, which helps clean away anything that's a little greasy. 

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, eye glasses, and modern flat screen TVs. A pack of three goes for $15.98 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 $34.95 on Amazon.

2026 Update: Since having a baby, I've used this stuff on my carpet at least once a week. First, it was spit-up, now it's food stains from when he decides to throw pasta sauce or blackberries. (We're working on it.) Still works like a charm! In the gif, I'm cleaning up a ketchup stain. I sprayed and blotted three times to get every little bit out of the fibers, but the stain disappeared after the first blot. 

My review from 2022: I first discovered Folex thanks to this job — the dozens of amazing before and after photos on Amazon really sold me on it! — and have used it dozens of times with great success: on both blueberry smoothie and dog poop on rugs, when I dropped hummus on my sweater, for multiple drink spills on the couch, and, as illustrated above, when I accidentally melted a chocolate chip into my favorite fuzzy pillow and discovered it like, three days later.  

To succeed with Folex, it's important to know how it works. Technically, it's a surfactant, which basically means it stirs up the little particles that are causing the stain and grabs onto them, so you can then soak it up with a paper towel to pull them off whatever surface they were staining. The directions ask you to spray it on liberally, gently massage the stain with your fingers to help the liquid grab a bunch of the stain particles, then use a paper towel to soak it up. For the pillow example, I repeated the spray-and-soak process about three times, and now you can't even find where the stain was in the first place! That's why I have two after pics here — when I came back after it had dried to take a pic a few days later, I literally couldn't find the spot the pillow had been stained again, so I wanted to show y'all both sides for proof.

I will say it's not the best for pet accidents, because those tend to need an enzyme to help really get rid of the smell (like the popular Rocco & Roxie cleaner), but it definitely works in a pinch. And I still — luckily! — haven't needed to try it out on red wine, non-food grease, ink, or makeup stains, all of which reviewers say they've had success with. I couldn't recommend it more for all the random food and drink spills that are bound to happen in life! 

Get it from Amazon for $12.08+ (also available in multi-packs). 

This also works on Durablend, vinyl, compound, saffiano, faux leather, and other leather or leather-like surfaces. Yes, including fashion items too, like handbags and wallets. One reviewer says it may take a couple of treatments, but it's 100% worth it when you see the results! It contains a blend of leather-safe surfactants, which help lift the little bits of gunk causing the stain away from the leather. 

Note this is not safe for suede or nubuck — instead, opt for a kit especially for those materials for $25.49.

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.

The tongs idea comes from One Crazy House. Huck towels were originally made for hospitals, but reviewers, including two professional cleaners (here and here), love them for lint-free cleaning. Like all towels, they'll stay more absorbent if you skip the fabric softener in the laundry. 

A pack of 24 microfiber cleaning cloths is $10.35, or a pack of 12 huck towels is $22.99, both 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 $18.67.

Vacuuming picks up dust and other allergens. Baking soda won't remove any stains, but it will help absorb any lingering odors. Get the how-to from One Good Thing By Jillee.

The Little Green pulled off this before and after — it's ultra-portable, doesn't take up much storage space, and is best for individual stain clean-up. It has over *70,000* 5-star ratings because it works so well! Get it from Amazon for $99.99. 

The Hoover Power Scrubber, on the other hand, is the way to go if you want something to regularly wet-clean every inch of your wall-to-wall carpet or large rugs, as well as your upholstery, thanks to its multiple attachments. Get it from Amazon for $239.99.  

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. Haven't cleaned your washer recently — or maybe ever? You may need to run three cycles of cleaning tablets on the hottest, heaviest wash setting. Six tablets are $11.98 on Amazon.

Note that if you have a front loader with mold problems, this may help some, but probably won't completely fix it; for that, you'll probably need bleach gel, $14.98.

But I think the best solution to that problem is prevention: every time you're done 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 $8.45 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).

Just spritz once or twice, squeegee, and watch it clump up. From CareaBearaSara. A similar squeegee is $10.99 on Amazon.

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 $24.95 on Amazon.

*These days she's upgraded to an even faster handheld pet hair vacuum she uses on her couch and car, $79.39, 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 $19.99 on Amazon.

It works on both finished and natural woods, including wood floors. Get a bottle from Amazon for $11.48.

FYI, if you're facing much damage that's a little worse than that, you might want to try their other (also well-reviewed!) product, called Restore-A-Finish, first; it does more to hide minor scratches, white heat rings, deep water marks, and stuff like that. The two products are actually made to be used together! Get that from Amazon for $9.99+.

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BuzzFeed Shopping is service journalism first: our writers and editors spend all day shopping so you don’t have to, vetting products, fact-checking brand claims, and surfacing what actually helps in real life. We center readers over revenue, recommend products with authenticity (using real experiences, not ad-speak), and reflect our diverse audience, inclusive of a variety of price points, people, and needs. We cut through fake deals, favor useful info over glossy fluff, and recommend both budget and splurge options with context so you can decide what’s right for you — and still have a little fun along the way.

Reviews have been edited for length and/or clarity.