7 Common cleaning hacks you should never try, according to cleaners themselves. Baking soda on your refrigerator? Newspaper to clean your dirty windows?
Neither are ever doing you a favor or even doing your home any good. Never take word for it. Many cleaning professionals have asked professional cleaners to share their most horrendous cleaning hacks that they have come across, and what should be done instead. Here are a few tips from those who’ve been there.
First off, NEVER clean something that is dirty inside the house. You would never clean a dirty window. Instead, take the glass cleaner out of the trashcan and put it somewhere where the air is fresh and where it’s not going to get smeared. Get some newspaper and put the glass cleaner on the paper. Put on a rag, and then put the rag over the glass cleaner. This works great because the rag will keep the rag clean, but the glass cleaner stays nice and clean, which means you don’t have to worry about it getting smeared and getting in the way. It’s also more sanitary to leave this outside of the house than to use the glass cleaner in the house.
Never use water stains. Use an absorbent mat. You can buy one at any hardware store. Use the mats when you’re cleaning anything that has water.
Never try to scrub furniture with your hands. Hands are very messy, they are not sanitary, and they can even make the stain worse. Instead, get some cleaning products and use them to wipe the stained area down. Washing them with dishwashing soap is also okay. Just wipe it down with the products and let it sit for a few minutes to dry.
Never scrub furniture that is not meant to be scrubbed. For example, hardwood floors are not meant to be scrubbed. If it’s not meant to be cleaned, chances are you just don’t have the skills, patience, or ability to do it right.
Never use baking soda to clean your carpeting. It actually does the carpet harm. If you want to use baking soda for cleaning your carpet, use a neutral pH cleaner on your carpet and let it sit overnight. Then use the neutral pH cleaner on the baking soda and vacuum.
Never use baking soda on your curtains. They can soak it up if it’s not neutral. A neutral pH cleaner can be used instead.
These are only a few of the cleaning hacks you can avoid. The biggest thing that you can do to make your life easier is to read the manual of your cleaning product to find out exactly what it is intended to do.