From water stains to mildew: Cleaning stubbornly dirty household items

Some things never seem to get clean, no matter how hard you try. You can scrub and scrub and make little progress. Here are some cleaning hacks for areas that are known for being difficult to clean.

Cleaning between your oven window glass

Cooking and cleaning-up is a time-consuming task already, which explains why many people never really have the time to clean out their ovens and regularly as they should.

A particularly hard part of the oven to get at when cleaning is the space in between oven window glass.

To clean this hard to reach area, you need an old steel clothing hanger, a rubber band, and a cleaning wipe.

Firstly, stretch out the wire hanger until it is straight. Then place a cleaning wipe over the hanger end with the hook and secure with a rubber band.

Use this contraption to clean the glass.

Cleaning the mildew off vinyl shower curtains

Cleaning the mildew and scum from our shower curtains is a difficult task.

More often than not our efforts will result in a slight improvement with the stains still visibly there.

The solution to this problem is easy; simply throw your curtains in the washing machine.

Put some bleachable towel in the machine, these will add a scrubbing motion to the process. 

Place the liner in between these towels evenly. Add your laundry detergent and turn the washing machine on for a warm cycle.

Once the machine has run for a few minutes add a small amount of bleach to kill any germs that have accumulated on the curtain.

When the machine cycle is finished, rearrange the liner and towels so no water is puddled in the liner then put them on for a spin cycle.

Now you will have a shower curtain that looks like new.

Get rid of water-stains on furniture with salt and olive oil

Don’t you hate when your quality furniture is ruined by ugly watermarks and stains?

A guest may have left a beverage on your table or it may be watermarked due to its age; whatever the reason there is a solution for you watermarking problem.

Surprisingly this solution can be made right out of your kitchen pantry. Olive oil and table salt are perfect for getting rid of watermark stains.

Simply mix some olive oil and salt in a bowl until it is a thick paste and rub onto the damaged area.

Leave the solution to sit for 30 minutes and then wipe it off. The stains should be gone.

Disguise scratches and clean wood floors with black tea

Black tea is known as a delicious drink, but did you know it could also be used as a cleaning solution for your hardwood floors.

Black tea contains polyphenolic compounds that prevent microbial growth that can keep your floors germ free.

The blackness of the tea is also great for staining any scratches and making them blend in with the natural wood details of your floors.

To use this method simply boil 2 litres of water and steep 8 bags of black tea in the water for 10-15 minutes.

Remove the teabags and let the mixture cool to lukewarm. Transfer to a mop bucket and test some of the solution on the wood with a small rag.

Continue to apply the solution in the direction of the woodgrain until finished. Use the solution sparingly across the wood as you should never soak wood floors.

Are you going to try out any of these methods? What cleaning hacks do you use at home?