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Buzz Feed
04-05-2025
- General
- Buzz Feed
Efficiently Eliminate All Kinds Of Gross Home Cleaning Conundrums With These 35 Tips
We hope you love our recommendations! Some may have been sent as samples, but all were independently selected by our editors. Just FYI, BuzzFeed and its publishing partners may collect a share of sales and/or other compensation from the links on this page. Shopping · Kick it all to the curb: Grime on your stove vent filter, hard water buildup on your glass shower, and layers of pet hair in your rug. 1. Soak your cooking fat-coated vent hood filter in a sink full of hot water and dish soap for an hour — I weighed mine down with a jar of peanut butter — then rinse to reveal its original shine and grease-catching ability. 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. 2. Get deep down in those dirt-packed window track crevices with a cleaning brush specifically designed for the purpose. Paired with your favorite all-purpose cleaner and some paper towels to wipe, in less than five minutes you'll be saying "bye" to the eyesore! Sure, you could use an old toothbrush for this too, but it'll take you longer because the brush head's not nearly as long as this one. Reviewers say the stiff scraper end of this brush really helps get into tricky corners, too. Get a pack of two from Amazon for $4.99 (available in 5 color combos). 3. Eliminate nasty, seemingly-impossible nicotine, grease, and smoke stains with an industrial-strength degreaser. The reviewer who got these pictured results used Purple Power, which works wonders on stuff like nasty car wheels, greasy clothing stains, and built-up oil on stoves. While it's excellent for heavy-duty problems, it is a tad harsh, so always test it in a hidden area before using it on painted surfaces or fabrics. Get two spray bottles of it from Amazon for $22.61. It's also available as a gallon of concentrate for $6.97. 4. Secure a plastic bag filled with vinegar + baking soda around your shower head to descale hard water stains and break up mold or mildew while you go back and sit on the couch. I do exactly this about every six months or so, and it works every single time! See my full shower hack review. 5. Wipe down your fingerprint-smear-riddled, sneeze-droplet-encrusted, dust-covered TV and laptop screens with an extra large MagicFiber microfiber cleaning cloth that's exactly like the tiny cleaning cloths that come with your laptop and phone, except HUGE. Nope, you don't need anything else. And it's so good, it won't take you long to make those screens look perfect. 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. Get a three pack from Amazon for $14.99. 6. Work a miracle on your disgusting toilet tank by pouring in a cup of citric acid, topping with some boiling water, and walking away for a few hours. The step-by-step: 1. Turn the water to your toilet off with the little metal valve in the back. 2. Flush the toilet so the tank empties, but doesn't refill (because the water's off). 3. Pour a half cup of citric acid in the tank. 4. Fill the tank up with hot water (some people boil it, some people just use hot from the tap). 5. Let it sit for at least two hours, and up to overnight. 6. Give it all a scrub with your toilet brush. 7. Turn the water back on, and flush a few times till all the mess is gone! Get a two-pound bag from Amazon for $14.99. 7. Brighten your greying, dirty, and mildewed white grout by running some bleach gel over all the worst spots. From Classy Clutter, who also uses a drill scrub brush to supplement. Note that this only really works for white grout, and could even change the tone of any grout with color. TIL that the pictured Clorox bleach pens were discontinued, womp womp. I recommend either DIY-ing your own (Happy Money Saver has a how-to) or opting for the Skylar Life bleach gel, which you can get from Amazon for $14.99. 8. And run a line of the same mold and mildew remover gel along your mold-infested caulking to banish even seemingly embedded black spots from your bathroom without having to do more than simply rinse it away after a few hours. You do have to let it sit for four to five hours (or even overnight), but the results, as proven by the review photos like the one here, are worth it. The gel formula lets it stick and stay exactly where you put it down, which is why it works better than just spraying with regular bleach: The bleach stays right on the mold stain until it's gone, without drying up or running off. My best friend bought some of this from one of my posts and said it worked exactly the way I said it did — and when I saw her shower, all the grout and caulking were perfectly white! Get one bottle from Amazon for $14.99 or three bottles for $36.99 ($12.33/bottle). 9. Melt away years of rusty stain buildup all over your bathroom with some spray-on cleaning gel — all you do is spray, wait a minute or two, then rinse to reveal your bathroom's ~sparkle~. 10. Save yourself lots of fruitless scrubbing with a toilet brush and use a pumice stone to quickly banish those impossible rust and mineral rings in your toilet bowl. Citric acid could work here too, if you want to leave it sitting overnight. But if you want that ring gone in five minutes of scrubbing, the pumice stone's the way to go. Get one from Amazon for $10.80. 11. And if you have to pumice regularly, start dropping in a weekly-ish citiric acid-infused toilet bomb and you might not have to scrape those hard water stains off ever again. Bombs Away / Etsy 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. These are both made and sold by Bombs Away, an Elizabethtown Pennsylvania-based small business that sells hand made cleaning and bath products. Get them from Etsy for $11.99+. 12. Then stamp some gel into your clean toilet to actually keep it that way for weeks and months at a time. Tap to play GIF Scrubbing Bubbles All you have to do is re-stamp as needed. 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! Get enough to keep your toilet clean for up to 10 weeks from Amazon for $4.67. 13. Wipe away built-up layers of soap scum and hard water stains on your glass doors with the help of a soft cleanser — the reviewer who took the photos below said they didn't even have to scrub. 14. Leisurely dab up even the most impossible and old set-in carpet and upholstery stains with the help of a spray-and-blot spot remover. Yes, really: the pictured stain below was *six years old*, and even it came up. I've used this stuff on a week-old strawberry smoothie stain (on a blue and white rug), chocolate stains on fuzzy pillows, and other mystery stains, and have seen it for myself — it really does work! It's great for all kinds of stains, like oil, makeup, food, dirt, rust, ink, and wine; even if they're years old. (It won't work on, say, hair dye stains, though. It's a cleaner, not a bleach.) Get it from Amazon for $6.65; or if that's sold out, from another listing for $17.79. 15. Have pets that shed? Pick up every last little bit of their fur that's embedded in your carpet using the squeegee-side of a rubber broom. Can you believe the German Shepard owner who took this pic uses a Dyson pet vac — and THAT is how much hair the broom got that the vacuum didn't?? Amazon It also works wonders on hardwood floors and tile! It won't take very long for this thing to pluck every last piece of pet hair out of your space. One reviewer recommends using short, quick strokes to make it happen as quickly as possible! Get it from Amazon for $12.99. 16. And use any old squeegee and some water in a spray bottle to easily clean pet hair off your sofa, furniture, and basically anything that's upholstered with fabric. Just spritz once or twice, squeegee, and watch it clump up. Then use your hands or a vacuum to suck up the clumps. It's the same concept as the broom above, but for smaller areas than your floor, and you probably already have a squeegee at home! From CareaBearaSara. Get a similar squeegee from Amazon for $10.99. 17. Nab entire neighborhoods of dust bunnies in a single swipe with a reusable, extra-thick microfiber mop pad designed to fit snugly on your Swiffer and wash effortlessly in the laundry. Get it wet (squeeze it out before attaching) to wipe up dried mud, pasta sauce, or whatever everyday gunk's gracing your floors after the dust's gone. You'll cut down on single-use pad waste while making everyday cleaning about ten billion times easier. Get a set of two from Amazon for $11.49. 18. Or enlist iRobot's Roomba Robot Vacuum and Mop Combo to sweep and mop at the same time so you don't have to. Your dogs shed significantly too much hair for you to even attempt to keep up with it. IDK about you, but there's no way I'm ever going to vacuum or mop every day without one of these little buddies doing it for me. The little microfiber mop pad is washable and reusable — it says up to 30 times, but I've had a lot of microfiber cleaning towels in my day and I suspect it would last significantly longer than that. You still may want to get extras though ($64.99 for several replenishment parts) so you can have several in the laundry! Get it from Amazon for $149. 19. Or if you have carpet / hard floor combos, splurge on a robo vac. Regular vacuuming = the best way to keep all that pet hair, tracked-in kid dirt, and wafted-in tree pollen under control so it doesn't build up into a coating on your barefeet when you walk through the kitchen. *Gag* And like I said, I'm not one to vacuum or sweep or mop every day unless something like this does it for me. This vac moves between hard floors and low-pile carpets/rugs without a glitch and can pick up all the accumulated dust, dirt, and hair left strewn about your home while you go do literally anything else. The reviewer who took the pic on the right above says that with a goldendoodle in the house, it picks up that much dust and hair EVERY DAY. Omg. Get it from Amazon for $229.99. 20. Clean and polish your stainless steel in a single, quick, satisfying step with this spray-and-wipe cleaner. 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 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! Get it and a large microfiber cloth from Amazon for $19.95. 21. Kick all the gunk and scum out of your dishwasher, including hard water buildup, by running it empty with a cleaning tablet. Get six tablets for $8.99 from Amazon. 22. Microwave a bowl filled with water + lemon for three to five minutes — then leave the door closed for a few minutes so everything can steam — and you'll be able to wipe off every single dried-on food bit with one swipe of a paper towel. Tap to play GIF Natalie Brown / BuzzFeed, Facebook: watch This also works with water + vinegar, or honestly just plain water. And of course you can wipe off with a sponge instead. I've been doing this for years, and have yet to find a gross microwave where this doesn't work wonders. Read my full review or watch the Nifty video. 23. Spray some fume-free foam cleaner in your oven, let it all sit overnight, then easily wipe away the crud in the morning — the oven will look brand new. 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! Don't forget to spray it on the racks too (unless your racks have a special coating on 'em, then skip it and stick with soap and water for those). Get a 24-ounce can from Amazon for $8.98. 25. Or if you have a metal or enameled gas stove, enlist a soft cleanser to easily scrub off that cooked-on gunk that's layered itself up into a very nasty looking situation. I'm talking the stuff that soap and water don't touch. Kayla Suazo / BuzzFeed Kayla, a former editor here a BuzzFeed, tested it out herself when she used it on her enameled stove — and it made the stains completely vanish! Get a bottle from Amazon for $7.45, or read her Barkeeper's Friend review for more. 26. Run a knife wrapped in a damp cloth through the gap between your oven and your stove to extract all the crumbs and crud lodged in there. Then cover that gap with a pair of stainless steel covers so you never have to clean that spot out again. They simply slide right in there, or you can use an included adhesive to make 'em more permanent. Because they're stainless, they won't warp with the heat. Get them from Amazon in two sizes: 20-3/4" long for $34 or 23-3/4" long for $45.59. 27. Dissolve hard water stains on your water faucets by wrapping them up in vinegar-soaked paper towels for an hour — they'll wipe off in one go. 28. Grind up a garbage disposal cleaning packet — its foam will reach into the depths of the disposal to clean every. single. last. inch. Bye, nose-wrinkling stench. Note that if you're disposal's clogged, though, this definitely won't take care of the problem. For that, you'll probably need to call a plumber. Get a pack of eight from Amazon for $10.84. 29. Pick up that grimy, sticky dust that seems to inevitably accumulate on your stove and vent hood with a few drops of mineral oil (or even olive or vegetable oil) on a paper towel. If you do opt for veg, olive, or some other food oil instead, make sure to wash it off any surfaces thoroughly when you're done to prevent it from going rancid and smelling bad. From The Manly Housekeeper (which doesn't seem to exist anymore, sigh). Get a 16-ounce bottle of mineral oil from Amazon for $8.40. 30. Spray Dawn's Foaming soap on especially nasty, grease-caked things like griddle pans, countertop appliances, and your favorite pink skillet that doesn't look so pink anymore from all the years of cooking oil that have burned onto its sides. Let the soap sit for a few minutes to do its work, then marvel at how easily it all wipes away. In fact, Elizabeth Lilly, an editor here at BuzzFeed, swears by this stuff! She says: "I live without a dishwasher, and I honestly use that as an excuse to order takeout. But, as soon as I got my hands on a bottle of this stuff (regular Dawn is my go-to dish soap, BTW), I put it to use on both a saucepan I used to make homemade enchilada sauce *and* the casserole dish I baked those enchiladas, which had a ton of caked-on food. It really does work like I say it does! Like, scary well." Get four bottles from Amazon for $16.63. 31. Press a boot scraper into the ground next to your back porch to help get all the gunk off your shoes before going inside, especially if you have a particularly mucky yard or garden. The less you track in, the less you have to clean later. Forge and Flower / Etsy It works for all kinds of shoes, of course! This one's made by Forge and Flower, a small Massachusetts-based family-owned business. Get it from Forge and Flower on Etsy for $55. 32. You could even take it one step further and create a designated spot for everyone to take their shoes off at (or right inside) the door. Amazon Keeping your floors clean without having to actually clean them constantly starts with eliminating sources of dirt! Set it up wherever you enter and exit your home the most. There are lots of options out there: Large cabinets that'll look like any other piece of furniture ($162.99 from Amazon), big cubbie benches that could be the start to a DIY mudroom ($106.83+ from Amazon), smaller shoe ottomans for tiny apartments ($96.82+ from Amazon), basic racks that could sit just inside the back door ($24.87 from Amazon), or even over-the-door cubbies you could stash inside your coat closet ($32.97 from Amazon). 33. And if you have dogs who constantly bring dirt in from the yard, wipe down their paws with an old towel — or if a towel just doesn't cut it, a paw washer — before they come back inside. Amazon Enlisting an old beach towel really can work wonders to keep your floors cleaner, especially if you're consistent about giving them a quick wipe-down. But if you deal with lots of mud or sand that gets embedded between their toes, a paw washer could help. Its silicone bristles are super gentle so many dogs don't mind them, and they help rinse off most dirt and mud with just a quick dip or two (for particularly muddy days, you may have to change the water once or twice, but that will still be easier than pulling out the hose). Just imagine how much cleaner your floors would stay if your dogs stopped bringing dirt inside with them, period! Get one from Amazon for $16.99+ (available in three sizes and eight colors). 34. Grab that bottle of stain remover from number 14 again and use it to make the years-old mystery stain on your mattress vanish right before your eyes. Or at least make it look, like, 1000x better. Get it from Amazon for $6.65. 35. Bust through the layers of dirt and hard water buildup on your most-used kitchen and bathroom cabinets *and* condition the wood and finish so they gleam in one fell swoop with a wood polish and cleaner. *mic drop* Get it from Amazon for $19.95. You, waving farewell to the mess you just cleaned quickly and easily: Warner Bros.
Buzz Feed
16-03-2025
- General
- Buzz Feed
Can't Stand Dirt And Grime? These 28 Products Will Make It Magically Vanish
1. An extra large MagicFiber microfiber cleaning cloth that's exactly like the tiny cleaning cloths that come with your laptop and phone, except HUGE. I'm talking 16 x 16 inches. It'll literally make fingerprints, smears, and dirt on your treasured TV vanish immediately with a wave of your hand. You'll have to provide the magical sparkling noises yourself. A different type of microfiber than the towels you use for car and 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. Promising review: "Woah, oh, oh, it's MAGIC! This cloth is amazing! We have tried all sorts of cleaners and they made our TV so much worse. Then, while searching Amazon to find yet another "good" cleaner, I came upon these. No cleaner necessary it says and they were so right! It was that instant gratification you get when you buff the wax off your car." — Lane Get a three pack from Amazon for $14.99. 2. Some under-$10(!!) Purple Power Industrial Strength Degreaser because when you need to tackle a super big, tough cleaning job — like blasting through disgusting road grease on your car wheels or the thick oily buildup on your kitchen exhaust fan's filter — you want a potion so powerful, it seems brewed by the Sanderson Sisters themselves. Dilute it according to the instructions, apply to your surface, and wait for your jaw to drop. While it's excellent for the heavy duty problems, it is a tad harsh, so always test in a hidden area before using it on painted surfaces or fabrics. Promising review: " This stuff is like magic. I had used another brand always before, and ended up trying this one out. I used to have to scrub with a metal brush. This seems to melt the oil stain off the driveway and I have to scrub way less. It doesn't leave any residue after washing off with water." — Clay H. Pinkerton Get a gallon from Amazon for $6.97. 3. A shoe cleaner literally called Pink Magic since that's just how well it works! If your spring shoes from 2024 are covered in dirt but otherwise still have hundreds of wears in them, skip spending $$$ on new shoes. Instead, make last year's look brand-new again in just five minutes with this stuff. It works on polyester, mesh, nubuck, leather (including patent leather), and suede! Yes, use it on the laces, too. You get a bottle of soap and a cleaning brush. Promising review: " Literal magic in a bottle!!! A must-have for pristine sneakers! It took just a couple of minutes per shoe to get them white again. The cleaner effectively removes dirt and stains, restoring my sneakers to their original glory. It's especially impressive on white shoes, leaving them looking fresh and new. The cleaner is also gentle, ensuring it doesn't damage the delicate materials like suede and nubuck. The brush is sturdy yet gentle enough to use on different fabrics without causing any damage. The combination of the cleaner and the brush makes the cleaning process quick and efficient." — brad1856 Get it from Amazon for $19.95+ (available in three sizes). 4. A carpet and upholstery stain remover so you can extract all kinds of dirt, rust, grease, food, and other stains that you haven't been able to get out using literally anything else. It's the closest you'll get to Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover (yes that's a Harry Potter books deep cut) IRL. It might take a couple of rounds to fully work, but it's worth it because this spray doesn't bleach, doesn't need to be vacuumed up or rinsed, and doesn't attract new dirt to the area. It works well on stains like grease and oil, pet stains, wine, coffee, rust, food, makeup, and dirt, and on upholstery safe to clean with water. And can of course it doubles as a laundry stain remover. I took the pictures on the right, when I melted a chocolate chip into my favorite couch pillow. As you can see, this spray got every bit of it out! So much so that I took pictures of both sides of the pillow because I couldn't find where the original stain had been! You can read more about that experience in my Folex stain remover review. Promising review: " I used it on a mattress stain, and it worked like magic. The stain disappeared instantly, without any scrubbing or harsh chemicals. It's gentle yet effective, and I love that it's safe for use on fabric. The 32oz bottle will last a long time, and it's easy to use—just spray, blot, and the stain is gone. Highly recommend this for anyone looking for a quick and efficient way to clean their mattress or other upholstery!" — Britney B. Get a bottle from Amazon for $6.65. Editor's Note: BuzzFeed does not support discriminatory or hateful speech in any form. We stand by the LGBTQ+ community and all fans who found a home in the Harry Potter series and will work to provide a safe space for fans. If you, like us, feel impassioned about trans rights, learn more or donate here. 5. Or a solvent-based cleaner for any upholstery or fabric you have that has an "S" on its cleaning tag: "W" means you should use a water-based cleaner, so "S" means solvent cleaners are best! Quit staring despairingly at that pink strawberry milk stain that's graced your heirloom chair for over a year this to make it disappear like *abracadabra*. Any marked with a "W/S" means you can use either, of course. Promising review:"This cleaner works great on my code S couch! I've had to use it 3 times: chocolate stain, milk spill and cat vomit. It has magically taken all the stains out. The cat vomit was such a dark color and was really smeared into the fabric. I was sure the cleaner wouldn't get the stains out but it did! I added a mist cap on the bottle and I spray the areas thoroughly then I take a clean cloth and gently scrub. 10/10 recommend." — Amazon Customer Get a bottle from Amazon for $9.50. 6. A rechargeable air blaster so you can feel like a genuine air bender, wielding the powers of the wind to clear the thick layer of dust, dirt, crumbs, and pet hair from all those finnicky little buttons in your car's dash. It's better than putty or slime because air leaves no residue and it's better than canned air because it's reusable! It has three settings (low, medium, and high) and, according to reviewers, can only run for a few minutes at the highest blast. BUT use it like you would canned air — in several short bursts for small areas — and literally a few seconds later, it'll look like your dashboard and laptop keyboard were detail cleaned! It's great for areas where you want to avoid moisture, like electronics. The kit comes with three nozzle widths and a collection of 10 small brushes to use alongside the air. Promising review: "The best word I can use to describe this tool is PO-WER-FUL!! This air duster packs so much power! I was able to dust my fans, keyboard, and hard-to reach areas in my car where the vacuum can't reach, and blew the dust away. If you have a dusty home INVEST IN THIS!!" — S. Get it from Amazon for $59.99. 7. A jewelry cleaning kit because it comes complete with everything you need to clean your entire collection: a silver polishing cloth, a stone cleaner, and a detail brush. It's basic chemistry, but it's so easy, it'll feel like something out of a fairy tale. It's effective and safe for all metals and stones, including costume jewelry. Just skip it for your pearls; those you should only clean with a damp soft cloth. Promising review: "I didn't take care of my Pandora bracelet and it became very tarnished. I used this product one time and it literally worked like a magic eraser but for jewelry! The solution didn't have a smell, it was very easy to use. Everything shown came as described." — Josiphine Casarez Get it from Amazon for $24.99. 8. A set of reusable, extra-thick microfiber mop pads for transforming your everyday Swiffer into what might be called a wizard staff equipped with the power to nab entire neighborhoods of dust bunnies in a single swipe, and to, when wetted, wipe up the layers of everyday gunk gracing your wood, tile, and other hard floors. Even more magical? It's designed to fit snugly on your Swiffer and wash clean effortlessly in the laundry. You'll cut down on single-use pad waste while making everyday cleaning about ten billion times easier. Promising review: "A truly great eco-friendly cleaning product! These clean like magic! So much better than the wasteful disposables. Another plus: they clean with just water so no unpleasant artificial cleaning smell." — Sarah D Get a set of two from Amazon for $11.49. 9. Some Goo Gone because gives you the power at your fingertips to quickly and painlessly remove mysterious sticky substances, pretty much wherever you find them. Duct tape gunk on the wall? So long. Sticker muck on your car or fridge or floor? Farewell. Cooked on grease at the bottom of a skillet? Auf wiedersehen. Chewed bubblegum on your couch cushion? Goodnight (to the stain). I bought a bottle of this stuff when I moved in 2021 — it was super useful then, and since that point I've used it to clean stubborn grease off of kitchen cabinets and my stove's hood several times, and pulled it out for several other mystery sticky stains and messes. But the move story is the most compelling: Back then, my partner had hung up these posters that used big foam adhesive squares (no, they were not Command Strips), and when we pulled them off the wall, they left a bunch of foam and sticky stuff behind. Goo Gone (plus a plastic scraper) came to the rescue! It took a little patience, but the stuff would never have come off without the Goo Gone. It helped break down both the foam stuff and the adhesive, which came off in little bits, leaving nothing behind. We did then wash off the paint with some dish soap and water — Goo Gone is super greasy — but by the end, you couldn't tell anything had been there at all, and the paint was undamaged. Promising review: "This stuff is magic. I had previously bought some other adhesive remover which was so pungent. This stuff worked better than that at removing adhesive residue. The residue came off effortlessly by wiping with a cloth wetted with the fluid. AND: no discernible smell whatsoever. Just MAGIC." — AH Get two bottles from Amazon for $15.97 (they also make a spray-on version for $19.98). 10. A pack of dishwasher cleaning tablets featuring citric acid to dissolve that gray-looking mineral buildup, wash away lingering grease, and leave behind nothing but a lovely lemony scent and shiny, new-looking stainless steel. Close the dishwasher door like it's a magician's secret box, run a cycle with a tablet, click your heels three times, and voila! Use one monthly to maintain the shine and avoid future buildup! Promising reviews: " Worked like magic! Our dishwasher had so much hard water mineral buildup. The inside was almost covered in a white coating. We used the two tablets initially as the directions suggested and the dishwasher looks brand-new." — KB Get a box of 24 from Amazon for $18.95. 11. A handheld steam cleaner that's the closest you can get to pointing to an object, exclaiming "clean thyself!" and watching the grime dissipate before your very eyes. Why? It does the job with JUST WATER, no solvents or surfactants. Sure, it may take a little more effort than using the nonwater chemicals, but if those irritate you, go with this for impressive results. Anything that can benefit from (and withstand) heat and moisture = perfect for this. For example, dried-on stains in your car mats, sticky grease in the kitchen, and ground-in dirt in grout. Promising review: "The product works like magic. It cleans walls, appliances, rugs, and just about anything you can think of. Take the steamer to an area that you think "looks" clean and you will be shocked. 5 stars!" — MS Get it from Amazon for $55.99. 12. A tub of The Pink Stuff cleaning paste so you can instantly shine or de-gunk dozens of different surfaces without having to scrub for hours *or* worry about scratching your chrome, marble, porcelain, wood, glass shower door or stove top, or stainless steel. TBH idk why they call it "Pink Stuff" when they could have accurately and aptly called it "Pink Potion!" Promising reviews:"Wow. Gave it a try on our shower glass... it was fantastic. Tried it on our porcelain sink... fantastic! Tried it in our oven, and worked very well, with no fumes. Used it on some coffee cups that had coffee stains in them, and it worked like magic. Used it on my son's shoes to clean off some streaks and stains... came off like magic. I used it on some of my BBQ tools that were greasy and the stainless steel is super shiny now. It is a great paste to have around, and once you see how well it works, you start looking for more stuff to clean and use it on!" — Toothsquatch " I saw this in a BuzzFeed article and thought, no way it's THAT that good. It's better than good. My shower looks better than new. It took rust stains off tile. It took years of hard water scale buildup off in seconds. It is literally a miracle product." — Amazon Customer Get it from Amazon for $5.97. 13. A soft cleanser that, with very little effort on your part, will banish years of built-up hard water stains on tile or glass, truly transforming your shower right before your eyes. Tinkerbell herself, with all her infinite pixie dust, couldn't do a faster, more thorough job than this stuff. Promising review:" This cleaner works magic on our glass shower doors! Removes stubborn hard water stains like no other cleaner. I just rubbed it on with a damp sponge, let it sit a few minutes then rinsed with the shower head. I must say the price is a little inflated here but I'm just happy the product works as great as it does!" — FitDaddy Get two bottles from Amazon for $13. 14. A Baseboard Buddy — it's designed specifically to pick up all the grime from the hard-to-reach nooks and crannies like baseboards, moldings, and grates in one quick wipe, zero bending over or crawling on your hands and knees required. You literally just walk around your house holding this next to you, and *poof*! Dust is gone! It includes three washable, reusable pads that you can use wet or dry. One reviewer who's over 65 swears by it because it's so difficult for them to get up and down! Promising reviews: "Works like magic. Finally I don't have to crawl around the floor to clean the baseboards." — Kelly tomolonis "Easy to use and care for! By far the best investment I've made as a professional cleaner. No more needing to bend over and hurt my back and knees! Washing the cleaning pads is also super easy and convenient!" — Y&M Rico Get it from Amazon for $24.99. 15. A bottle of makeup brush and sponge shampoo that will vanish all the embedded layers of foundation, contour, concealer, powder, and eye makeup on your favorite applicator like it was never there, à la a vampire's reflection in the mirror. And it'll do it so quickly and easily you'll hate washing brushes a little (just a little) less than before. At least enough that you'll be willing to do it regularly! And it could help with your acne, too, because washing your makeup tools cuts down the amount of dirt and bacteria that tend to accumulate on them over time. (Oh, and it's cruelty-free.) Promising review:"Cleans like magic. My mind is blown at well this soap works. I have tried all kinds of soap (Beauty Blender soap, Ivory bar soap, MAC brush cleaner, Dawn dish soap, etc). I am very thorough but could never get my sponges or brushes completely clean. But a little soak in a small bowl with this Eco soap, and the makeup comes right out. A little rubbing and squeezing is all it takes. I'm a convert." — ss3745 Get it from Amazon for $6.99. 16. And a brush spinner so you can get every last bit of makeup out of even the dirtiest brushes AND dry 'em — all in less than a minute. Think of it like your mini brush-cleaning witch's cauldron. All the bubble bubble, none of the toil and trouble. You charge up the wand with a USB, put your brush in the wand, and choose one of three different speeds to spin it clean in a pretty little glass bowl. Promising Review:"Took me a hot minute to get the hang of sticking the rubber piece just right on the machine as well as the makeup brush, but once I did... magic ensued! I love this. Some of my brushes have white tips that hadn't seen the light of day in a very long time! Love it. I was a little skeptical of the price, but with it being rechargeable it's TOTALLY worth it!" — Tylor Wiltgen Get it from Amazon for $23.99+ (available in two colors). 17. A leather stain remover spray because even though leather's usually relatively stain resistant, years with kids, pets, spouses, or just our own messy selves eventually take their toll on car leather, leather furniture, and even leather purses. Nab this to zap away all those marker drawings, queso drip remnants, and built-up skin oils like you're waving a magic wand. This also works on durablend, vinyl, compound, saffiano, faux and other leather or leather-like surfaces. Promising reviews:"Was skeptical using this product on my favorite Celine bag, so I tested it out on a stain on the bottom of my bag just in case something bad happened. It quickly removed that stain and I continued to use the spray on a stain I got from my black jeans. Like magic the stain was gone and my bag has been restored! Would definitely recommend!" — Sarah P. Get it and a microfiber cloth from Amazon for $19.98. 18. A pack of Bottle Bright fizzing cleaning tablets — they're like a spell in lozenge form. You simply drop one into almost any seemingly permanently stained travel mug or stainless water bottle to banish built-up stains without scrubbing even one little bit. Yes, even the mug you've entrusted with your black coffee to for two years now and only really rinsed out with water the whole time. Promising reviews: "My Yeti tumblers are used for tea. Every day. I've been using them for years. And there is a disgusting build up that I can never scrub off, not even with a magic eraser (its tannins). These are magical little nuggets of cleaning. My Yeti that is 5+ years old and had 5+ years of tea tannins built up is now sparkling clean like it was brand new!! I put boiling hot water in each cup, dropped in the magical nugget, and let it sit over night. A good scrub and I could sell this as an unused Yeti tumbler!! Worth the money and time!!!" — B.J. Claywell Get a box of 12 tablets from Amazon for $8. 19. A automatic scrubbing brush that's ready to transform you into the valiant Knight of Cleaning, becoming your enchanted sword that you simply move back and forth over whatever stubborn, sticky, rubbed-in mess you're cleaning up this time. Like a giant electric toothbrush, it scrubs up to *sixty times each second* for you. Y'all, I have used it consistently since 2018, and it REALLY works. You literally see the dirt come up and the grout lighten with just 30 seconds of use. Grout, tough mold, mystery sticky stuff, and stubborn dirt don't stand a chance. 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. Promising review:"One of my favorite products of the year. Strongly recommended. Where has THIS been all my life? I have tried for years... literally years... To clean the grout of my bathroom floors, to no avail. I tell you it's simple and works like magic and the grout in my 10-year-old bathroom tile floors has been restored to as new condition. I could not possibly recommend this thing more highly." — Mr. helper Get it from Amazon for $19.63. If you want even more info, check out my full Rubbermaid Reveal Power Scrubber Review. 20. A tub of 90 oversize heavy-duty cleaning wipes perfect for making tough jobs look as effortless as a Penn and Teller trick. You know that grease and dust wasteland that's the top of your stove's hood? This reviewer says these wiped that off "like it was nothing." Genuinely jaw-dropping. It only takes a few swipes to remove grease, oil, tar, ink, paint, permanent marker, food stains, and so much more from all kinds of surfaces like fabric, carpet, leather, and painted walls. They're GREAT for cleaning dusty outdoor furniture in preparation for warm weather, too! Promising review:"Magical. Look no further. These wipes got — no joke — 50 year-old tape goop off of the walls in our home's laundry room. I have a wall in my kitchen that my big dog likes to lay against and I have never been able to get it 100% clean. These wipes made it look like I put a fresh coat of paint on the wall. Get these for anything you need to clean that you thought was hopeless. You won't regret it!" — Joy Get a tub from Amazon for $14.98. 21. A microfiber duster to replace all other dusters in your life, because it attracts and holds onto dust like a *magnet* instead of brushing it into the air just to settle again later. Actually getting rid of the dust is THE key to a home that needs less dusting. If that's not magic, idk what is. This one from Oxo is very thin so it can squeeze into tight crevices. To clean it you just run it through a gentle cycle in the washer and air-dry. You can buy extra covers for $12.99 each and a long-handled version for $17.99. Promising reviews: "My housekeeper loves this for dusting. Easy to toss in the wash." — PT " I hate dusting. I normally would go through many paper towels or rags just to dust around the house. It was such a pain in the neck. After buying this, my dusting days have become much easier! I simply dust and then toss the microfiber part in the washer. It doesn't fall apart in the wash either. Works beautifully!" — PCamps Get it from Amazon for $11.99. 22. A bottle of Angry Orange Pet Odor Eliminator, which you absolutely NEED if your witchy familiar (aka your cat or dog) or wizard's apprentice (aka your toddler) causes 99% of your big problem SMELLY STAINS. Think pee, poop, and vomit funk specifically. Even if there's not a stain but there's still a lingering wet dog smell on your couch, this stuff will make it go *poof*. Angry Orange, a small biz started in 2014, makes all kinds of supplies to clean up after your pets! Promising reviews:"I decided to buy this product after reading the reviews. I bought it because we have four big, BIG, HAIRY dogs that think they are Chichuahuas and should be inside all the time, and I'm very self-conscious of their smell any time someone comes to our house. I vacuum everyday, and I use carpet deodorizers often, but still... there is always a faint dog "scent" that remains. Angry Orange smells very orangey (of course!) when you apply it, but the scent doesn't last long. When it fades, it takes with it the dog scent also. It doesn't mask it, like other products, it takes it away!!! I have a couple of family members that have very good noses and who are very vocal and opinionated, and even they said that they could not smell dogs after using this magical concoction." — Miriam B Get it from Amazon for $17.99+ (available in three sizes). 23. An automatic pool cleaner that, speaking of witchy familiars, crawls around the bottom and sides of your pool and picks up dirt, bugs, leaves, sand, and pebbles while you just chill out with your latest poolside fantasy read. Okay, sure, you're not using your pool right now, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared for next season! Amazon, Yes it's a splurge but like, it beats manual scrubbing with that big broom! Some reviewers mention it even helps keep algae down after rains. The scuff-resistant hoses are also included. Promising reviews: "I'm simply blown away by the amazing and creative engineering design. I was concerned at first by how it operated and the lack of wheels; thinking there was no way it could work after submerging. Boy was I wrong! It started jerking backwards in a rhythmic motion, cleaning the pool in a magical fashion like that of a creature designed for sucking up the dirt and debris of the ocean." — Matt Murdock, Avocado at Law Get it from Amazon for $324. 24. An oil stain remover because with the magic of science, it'll banish that olive oil stain that's tormented your stone countertop for the last two years once and for all. Who knew one leaky EVOO bottle could cause such chaos? Any kind of stone can benefit from its wonders, whether it's untreated *or* sealed and polished. If you're dealing with a particularly nasty situation like the reviewer below, it make take a few rounds because this soaks up the oil on the surface while also pulling up oil below the surface, causing the stain to seemingly reappear. Nope, it's just that oil from below coming up now. Thus, you need a new round of product to soak up the new surface oil, and pull up more of the oil below. If one bottle leaked for a few days, it'll work much faster. Promising review: "This thing worked like magic. Several cans of vegetable oil, soy sauce, fish sauce, chili oil, vinegar, etc. were on a granite counter and regularly used for cooking, and the fluids leaked for 6 months continuously. I applied this repeatedly as instructed on the container. It looked as good as new after about 2 weeks." — programmer dude Get it from Amazon for $23.80. 25. Some citric acid, which will work a legit miracle on your disgusting toilet tank when you simply pour in half a cup, top with water, and walk away for a few hours. Yes, that's all you do! Promising reviews: "Worked magic on our brown toilet bowl. After having tried everything, including pumice stone, we decided to google what we needed to remove old brown water stains from our toilet. Someone recommended this so we went for it. It did the trick! Two applications and a little brushing and our toilet looks good as new! Amazing!" — Jasper Eliot "After reading online, I decided to purchase citric acid in hopes to clean the rust from our toilet tank caused by mineral deposits in our hard water. I emptied the toilet, filled with a bucket of hot water and one cup of citric acid, then left alone for three hours. Here's the results after flushing. I could not believe how well this worked!" — Kay Rich Get a bag from Amazon for $14.99. 26. A stainless steel cleaner and polish that I suspect will work both *faster* and *better* than pretty much any other stainless steel cleaner you've tried — because it did for my mom AND the 13,000 other people who have left 5-star ratings. Less time spent + easy results = magic! My mom tried like, three or four different stainless cleaners before I showed her this one, and y'all: she swears by it because it's easier and faster to use than the others, and makes all of her stainless appliances SO SHINY! Promising review:"Where this cleans just as well as others, it streaks less thus taking less time to use. It does smell good, but even better, it actually protects your appliances from getting fingerprints again so quickly! I have spent an hour cleaning all my appliances just to have prints again as soon as kids are home. This cleaner has kept my appliances smudge free for over a week! It's magical!" — JenniK Get a bottle and a streak-free cloth from Amazon for $19.95. 27. A squeegee broom so you can extract years' worth of built-up, embedded pet hair from your carpet and rugs like you're The Queen of Cleaning Fairies herself. Can you believe the German Shepard owner who took this pic uses a Dyson pet vac — and THAT is how much hair the broom got that the vacuum didn't?? One of our readers owns this and loves it so much they commented about it: "I bought the squeegee broom and it did wonders for getting hair (both mine and my cats) out of the carpet, carpet looks great now!" — socks1234, from this roundup of hall-of-fame products It features rubber bristles along one edge, and if you flip it, a wide rubber squeegee on the other — some reviewers find the squeegee side is more effective on carpet than the bristles, so could be worth a try! Oh, and the handle telescopes 36–60 inches, so you can store it easily but also like, use it to squeegee off high windows if necessary. You, working your cleaning magic as powerfully as Cinderella's fairy godmother: Disney
