People Are Sharing Cleaning Hacks And Tips That Every Adult Should Know By Now

Reddit user u/UJL123 recently asked, "What are some "good enough" cleaning tips to get you to 80~% of the way there?" and the tips shared by commenters are SO SIMPLE but SO HELPFUL. As someone who struggles to keep things clean and tidy, I'll personally be trying some of these out.

spongebob cleaning
Nickelodeon

Here are the top-voted tips:

1."I keep plastic baskets in my house where I can put things that go upstairs or downstairs. While I am straightening up, I can put things in the baskets and carry everything to the correct floor at one time. I have three floors and six baskets. They rotate around the house throughout the week."

—u/noideazzzz

2."I remember reading at one point that Disney did some kind of study that showed people were willing to walk up to a certain distance (I can’t remember the exact number, let’s say six feet) to throw something in a trash can. If it was further than that, they were more likely to litter. So Disney set up trash cans every six feet, and that cut down on littering. It’s more trash cans to empty, but it’s easier than picking trash up off the ground. And even if people do litter, it’s easier to toss out stray trash if there are a lot of bins close to you..."

"So I do that in my house, but with bins and other storage containers. The DVDs are in a cabinet next to the TV, because if it was farther away, the DVDs would end up all over the TV stand. We have two shoe racks and two boot trays, one for each door, so that we can take our shoes off at the door instead of needing to walk them to a shoe rack in a different room. Where do spare couch pillows and throw blankets go? In a lidded basket directly next to the couch, rather than the linen closet in the bathroom or something. Spare sheets and bed covers? Bin under the bed. Basically, don’t make me walk that far to get rid of something and I’ll be more likely to do it."

—u/boopbaboop

3."I keep small bottles of cleaning spray all over the house. Quick swipe of the desk, bathroom counters, flat surfaces, etc."

cartoon of a dirty sink being cleaned

4." I recently put a small laundry basket in the bathroom after 20-plus years of always leaving clothes on the floor there. It's made a HUGE difference honestly."

—u/Pangolin007

5."Housecleaner here. Buy a large pack of microfiber cloths and lint-free cotton rags. Use them only as cleaning towels. Spray the product on the surface to be cleaned, use a wet microfiber cloth to wipe it up, polish dry with a lint-free cotton towel. This three-step process works in every area. Your surfaces will be sparkling!"

person cleaning saying, sounds good

6."My hack is that each bed gets its own color or pattern sheets. If I'm doing a load of sheets, I can quickly sort out the patterned sheets that go in the guest room from my solid sheets that go in my room, despite them both being the same size."

lilo and stitch doing laundry

7."Never leave a room empty handed. Going upstairs? Grab something off the steps on your way up. Getting up to go to the bathroom? Take that dirty cup back to the kitchen. I have two young children and this helps keep the random stuff (toys, socks, hairbrush, etc.) from piling up."

—u/scarlet_firewood

"In the restaurant industry, this is known as 'full hands in, full hands out,' as in, leave the kitchen with food to run, come back to the kitchen with bussed dishes. If you’re gonna be walking there anyway, might as well be carrying something useful."

—u/Leonardo_DiCapriSun_

8."You can put a roll of trash bags at the bottom of the trash can so you can quickly replace the trash bag/liner."

—u/LessThanGenius

9."Robot vacuum. Every time I leave the house I push the button with one toe and he cleans all the floors. I bought the cheapest model possible and he does a great job. It makes such a difference to how tidy the house looks and it’s zero effort."

—u/Booboodelafalaise

"THIS. And it motivates you to keep the floor free of clutter unless you want the robot to eat it."

—u/boopbaboop

"I have three hairy pets and it saves so much time. I wasn’t vacuuming daily before...but needed to be. Now my vacuum just does it instead. Keeps the floors so clean!"

—u/hgewd

10."All of my bath towels, kitchen dish rags, face towels, are white. They can all be washed together and bleached without any issues."

—u/Playful-Natural-4626

11."I like to store put the sheets and duvet cover sets inside one of their matching pillow cases. I know lots of people do that already, but I only learnt about it a few years ago."

person pointing to their head

12."Clean your shower while you're showering. I spray the walls and tub near the end of my shower and then just point the shower head at the spots I sprayed. It takes about 10 seconds total."

—u/UJL123

13."I have a rule that whatever goes into my car comes out of my car at the end of the trip. No food wrappers, drink cups, kids stuff, shopping detritus, etc. left behind. No 'I'll get that later.' Nice to get in the car without all kinds of junk in there."

 —u/pete_townshend

14."I have some health issues so I have experimented a lot with trying to make things easier. Steam cleaners are great for dirty windows, toilets, and door tracks where you don’t want to scrub."

—u/MiniPeppermints

15."Hang two hand towels in the bathroom. One for drying hands and one for wiping water from around the sink after each use."

—u/brookieco_okie

16."Adding a cup of vinegar with towels in the washer makes them softer."

person standing in the laundromat

And finally...

17."You can just clean the mess, not the whole room. This has been a lifesaver with a toddler. Sometimes, I just don't want to vacuum the whole living room, so I just get the pile of crumbs she left on the floor. I also used to treat every clean as a DEEP CLEAN. It was a vicious cycle. I wouldn't clean for months after because it was too much work. But really it was too much work only because I hadn't cleaned for months. Half-assed is better than nothing!"

—u/noyoujump

Now it's your turn! What's a cleaning tip that works for you? Comment below!

Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.