Household Tips from The American Homemaker

I thought I'd share a few household tips and hints that I have used over the years.

Once a week:

To keep your dishwasher fresh and clean: Pour a cup or so of white vinegar into the bottom of your dishwasher and run it empty.

To keep your kitchen sink & drain sanitized: Fill up both sides of the sink with hot water. Add bleach. Let sit for 10-20 minutes. Drain and rinse. I've had my food handlers permit since I was 14 with very little lapses. I know some people don't like using bleach, but I love it! I'm sure my love for bleach comes from the food handlers training classes.

To keep your garbage disposal blades sharp: Pour ice down the drain and chop.

To help keep your bathtub from getting clogs: Pour a pot of boiling water down the drain to melt soap build-up.

Once a week throw your dish drainer, scrubby, etc in the dishwasher to keep them clean and sanitized.

Misc.

I keep my dish soap in an old hand soap dispenser. It makes it easy to pour dish soap one handed and keeps my sink area looking nicer.

I learned from my mom (who used to clean houses) that water is the best glass/mirror cleaner. Use a wet rag to wash the windows and a dry rag or paper towel to dry them right after. There are no streaks and they come out perfectly sparkling clean.

Clorox wipes are fantastic cleaning the toilet. I use them a couple of times a week.

Magic erasers are magic! When we had rentals we used them like crazy! Be careful, they are sooo addicting! You clean up the crayon or grease or whatever from the wall and then you see that the part you didn't clean looks dingy compared to what you cleaned. So then you clean the whole wall. Then the other walls look dingy compared to that and soon you're magic erasering the whole house.

What some of your household tips?