Seven Apartment Cleaning Hacks That Will Change Your Life

Easy Cleaning Tips for Apartment Residents

If you are like most people, you don’t look forward to cleaning your apartment.  But with these easy do-it-yourself cleaning hacks, you will have your place sparkling clean in no time.

1) Treat Your Microwave to Lemon Water

A proper scrub down of your microwave can be exhaustive, time-consuming and plain old gross, which is where cleaning hacks like this five-minute microwave cleaner come in handy. Cut a couple of lemons in quarters and place them in a glass dish filled with water. Heat up until the water starts boiling, hit stop then let the whole thing sit for a minute or two.
When you open the microwave door, you’ll notice a billow of steam, which has loosened up the gunk and grease lining the walls of the microwave. Take a sponge to the mess and wipe it away with almost no effort.

2) Dust Ceiling Fans with a Pillowcase

Ceiling fans are great for circulating cool air in your apartment and reducing your energy costs.  But there’s no getting around it: Cleaning your ceiling fans is just a part of apartment life. No matter how agile and bendable your duster is, reaching the tops of those blades is a task meant only for skilled aerial artists.
The average Joe can dust ceiling fan blades with this simple cleaning hack: Place an old pillow case over one of the fan blades, and slowly pull it backwards, wiping the dirt and grime off as you go. Move on to the next blade and the next, leaving a shiny, crud-free surface along the way. Then, just throw the pillowcase in the wash.

3) Knife-Clean Your Air Vents

Hate your dusty old main air vent? Poke it with a knife.
Take a clean towel and moisten it with warm water (avoid using too much water, as it can cause rust), then wrap it around a butter knife to create an excellent tool for getting between the shingles. Make sure to hit all the vents in your apartment– even the ceiling vents.

4) Simmer Vinegar to Clean Cookware

At some time in everyone’s life, we all search for cleaning hacks for the burnt-on grease and grime at the bottom of pots and pans. Scrubbing scorched cookware might just be one of the least enjoyable of all household tasks, but a couple of household ingredients can make all the difference.
On your stovetop, fill the offensive pot or pan partially with water (enough to cover the stuck-on portions), then add a cup of white vinegar. Bring it to a boil and let simmer for a minute. Remove the pan from the heat, add 2 tablespoons of baking soda and enjoy the fizzling. Then, just empty the pan and scour as usual.

5) Grapefruit Scrub Your Bathtub

Grapefruits are more than delicious, nutritious foods– they can also be tools for cleaning hacks. Lemon is a common element of cleaners because the acid cuts through stuck-on grime and dissolves grease, and grapefruit has that same acidic power as well as a uniquely gentle zest scent.
Clean your entire tub by cutting a large grapefruit in half and sprinkle the top liberally with coarse kosher salt. Turn on the faucet for a moment to dampen the tub, and sprinkle more salt around the basin. Use the halves as little
hand-held scrubbers, squeezing the juice out as you go, and end by rinsing the whole thing clean with water.

6) Tackle Your Oven with Homemade Cleaner

Keeping your stovetop clean is one thing, but the inside of the oven is a whole other beast. Rather than spending money on oven cleaners that never really seem to work, create your own at home on the cheap.
In a bowl, mix together 4 tablespoons of white vinegar, 5 tablespoons of baking soda and several drops of dishwashing liquid. It will create a thick paste that you can spread over the surfaces in your oven using a sponge. Let it sit for about 15 minutes before scrubbing gently with a sponge to remove any grease.
For bigger messes, you can also use a lemon cut in half and a sprinkle of coarse kosher salt to do away with tough grime. A perk: The lemon leaves a fresh scent that fills the kitchen when preheating.

7) Apply Vinegar to Your Blinds

Taking down the blinds to clean them is tedious. Instead, leave them hanging where they are and combine equal parts water and vinegar in a bowl. Put an old, clean sock on your hand, dip it in the mixture and then run your hands over the blinds to get off any embedded dust.
Use your finger to get between the blinds and in the crevices. You can also put a clean, dry sock on your hands to wipe away dampness and any leftover grime.

Apartment Resident #LifeHacks was created in 2018 by Grady Management, Inc.  Grady Management was founded in 1965 and continues to provide a full service residential, commercial, and consulting real estate firm in the greater Washington and Baltimore metropolitan area.  Learn more from our website or Facebook page.