17 Mind Blowing Cleaning Hacks to Save Time

Does the thought of spending countless hours deep cleaning your home send you into a mini panic attack?

You, my friend, are the luckiest today because I’m going to clue you in on some brilliant cleaning hacks to save time (and energy) so you can get back to other enjoyable activities.

Cleaning never seems to end. It’s like there are always dirty dishes waiting to be tossed in the dishwasher, light fixtures that need dusting, messes everywhere courtesy of our kids, pet hair that needs to be vacuumed…………the list goes on.

And with a million other important things to do, most of us don’t truly enjoy spending hours scrubbing and getting rid of messes that will eventually reappear. So, what to do?

Glad you asked.

With these time-saving cleaning tips and tricks that I’m about to share, you’ll avoid bad cleaning habits, and get your house squeaky clean in half the time you normally take. Yes, you read that right.

Let’s dive right into the best house cleaning hacks you never knew existed!

*This post contains affiliate links. Full disclosure here.

How to Save Time When Cleaning (17 Must-Try Hacks)

A few things are as satisfying as seeing your home looking spotless after a thorough cleaning. But as much as we love the end result, most of us dread a cleaning session that extends beyond a few hours.

To help you out, I’ve compiled some of the best cleaning hacks that can save you precious time and make housekeeping a little easier:

#1 Always work top down

Sure, cleaning an entire room can be a hassle.

But for the sake of your sanity, always begin cleaning from the top going down.

For instance, if you’re cleaning the living room, dust your ceiling fan and windows before you wipe your coffee table and vacuum the floor. Not the other way around.

Otherwise, as the dust falls from the top surfaces onto your newly-cleaned table or carpet, you’ll have to clean again *palm on face*.

#2 Have a proper place for everything

The easiest way to make your home appear like a bomb went off inside is to leave everything everywhere.

If you don’t have a designated place to keep stuff, cleaning will always feel like a drag. That’s because you’ll take too much time decluttering before you get into actual deep cleaning.

So, be sure that the kids’ toys, mails, house keys, dirty clothes, cleaning supplies — everything — have a place to go to at the end of the day to avoid build-up clutter.

Here are a few of my favorite storage organizers that not only hide stuff, but they look nice too.

This works perfectly to help keep kids books nice and tidy, this net will keep the stuffed toys in some kind of order, I had one of these for my kids toys when they were younger, this works well for keeping your mail and keys in order.

Let’s continue on with our cleaning hacks, shall we?

Need some help getting your home clean uber fast, check out our speed cleaning checklist when unexpected guests turn up!

#3 Work in short bursts (set a timer)

Sometimes, getting started on this must-do chore called cleaning can feel like preparing to swim through treacle.

Fortunately, there’s a hack to jump-start your cleaning motivation while saving time — doing quick bursts of cleaning for a few minutes, taking a timed break, then carrying on.

Cleaning and organization expert, author Rachel Hoffman, vouches for this hack as it puts your mind in “marathon cleaning mode”. It will motivate you to clean as much as possible within a short time frame.

For instance, in fifteen minutes, you can toss dishes in the dishwasher, dust a few light fixtures, take out the bin bag, quickly wipe the water rings on your kitchen counters, sweep any broken glass, and clean your microwave by microwaving water mixed (with lemon juice or vinegar) in a microwave-safe bowl.

#4 Soak your tub or shower in cleaning spray

Cleaning the tub or shower has got to be the most dreaded task. And the reason is obvious — it can be strenuous and time-consuming.

So, what’s the secret?

Using the right products and cleaning techniques.

Rather than pouring elbow grease or your favorite cleaner in the tub and scrubbing right away, simply fill the tub with warm or hot water mixed with a bathroom cleaner and leave it for about ten minutes.

There are two super effective and eco-friendly cleaning products that you can use in place of store-bought cleaners: vinegar and baking soda.

Here’s how to go about it:

Fill your tub with hot or warm water, sprinkle about a cup of baking soda and white vinegar, and let this solution sit in the tab.
Once you do this, combine vinegar and baking soda in a spray bottle, add water, and spritz the solution on the tub surfaces that aren’t soaked in the solution. You can also simply sprinkle plain baking soda on every dirty surface in the tub.

Baking soda and white vinegar are highly effective as they cut through soap scum and other sticky stains on bathtubs.

Leaving the tub to soak for ten minutes is a smart cleaning hack for two good reasons:

One, you’ll have time to do other chores during those ten minutes — like scrubbing your shower head, cleaning your bathroom sink, washing your shower curtain, garbage disposal, or removing lint from your clothes using a lint roller.

And two, your tub will require minimal scrubbing once it’s time to clean it up.

The baking soda and vinegar will have already softened and dissolved the dirt and grime, which means you won’t spend a lot of time and energy removing the stuck-on stains.

All that will be left to do is for you to put on your rubber gloves, drain the solution in the tub, wash everywhere with a soft cloth (like microfiber cloth or magic eraser), rinse the tub, then let it air dry for a few minutes before buffing it with a dry towel.

This is one of my favorite cleaning hacks — enjoy!

#5 Dust before you vacuum

We’re still unsure what came first — the chicken or the egg?

But unlike this puzzle, here’s something we’re a hundred percent sure of: When cleaning, dust first, then vacuum last.

The reason is pretty simple: While dusting, dust particles and pet hair float around and eventually settle on furniture and curtains.

If you vacuum then dust later, you’ll re-introduce the dust particles to your clean furniture and freshly-vacuumed floor. That means wasting time doing another round of cleaning.

#6 Clean up before you vacuum

A golden rule to remember before vacuuming is to move furniture and every other obstacle out of the way. This cleaning hack will help you vacuum faster and save time.

Bumping into things as you clean will mean pausing and restarting vacuuming too many times.

#7 Use different types of vacuums

Let’s not even imagine how laborious cleaning would be without the invention of vacuum cleaners.

These time-saving cleaning equipment come in different shapes and sizes, and for the sake of this cleaning hack, I’ll focus on the size aspect.

Imagine having an easy-to-carry vacuum cleaner that’s small enough to fit and clear dirt and pet hair on those hard-to-reach places on your furniture, mattress, car seats…….and even help you get rid of the spiderwebs cornered on your ceiling?

That’s why we recommend having both a large and a small vacuum cleaner.

While large vacuums come in handy when doing thorough floor-cleaning duties, like cleaning baseboards, you’ll save time with a hand-held one as it will help you do quick clean-ups with minimal effort.

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while now, you know how much I love using my iRobot vacuum, I clean everything off the floor, and set it off in a different place every day. It’s one of my favorite time saving cleaning hacks, because it does all the work for me!

#8 Always pick up as you go

“Pick-as-you-go” is a pretty straightforward hack that can make a huge difference in your cleaning time.

As you clean a certain room, ensure that you don’t leave behind any trash you spot.

When you finally sit down to relax after the end of your cleaning session, you’ll be glad there’s no pending task to interrupt your new found freedom.

#9 Put baking trays lined with foil in your oven

Think of how much time you’d spend cleaning your oven if food residues and God knows what else hit the oven floor every time you cook or bake. You’d exhaust all your dryer sheets!

You can prevent this from happening and save time by lining baking trays with foil and placing them on the oven floor.

These trays will act as drip trays — they’ll catch much of the food spills that would have otherwise settled on the oven racks and floor.

Honestly, it’s much easier to dispose the soiled foil liner than to clean an oven floor and racks covered in grease and hardened food spills. So, foil-lined baking trays all the way!

I also enjoy using oven liners, they help enormously to prevent stains on my oven racks.

#10 Use a damp sock as a mitt to clean slatted blinds

Guilty of letting dust and grime linger on your blinds until it’s deep cleaning day? You’re not alone.

Dusting can be quite tedious, true story. But if you don’t regularly go over your blinds, you’ll be in for a rude shock when you finally decide to deep clean your home.

It doesn’t have to be this way, though. You know why?

There’s a grime-buster chilling in your closet that you can use to routinely remove dirt and stains on your blinds and restore them to their spotless glory — an old sock.

All you need to do is dampen the sock with warm water (mixed with dish soap), wring it to remove the excess soapy water, wear it like a glove, and gently wipe your blinds.

And if there’s too much dust covering the blinds, a hair dryer can come to your rescue.

Simply set the hair dryer to the cool setting and go over each slat to blow away the excess dirt before cleaning off with a damp sock or dryer sheets.

#11 Put old newspaper in the bottom of your trash can

This is one of those brilliant cleaning hacks, that everyone should know!

Does it always seem like every time you lift the bin bag, there’s a filthy-looking liquid beneath it?

I bet you nodded in agreement.

If you had already cleaned your floors, only for this to happen, you’d have to wipe the floor again.

Fortunately, there’s a cleaning hack to prevent these trash bag leaks — line newspapers at the bottom of your trash bag (both on the inside bottom and the outside bottom)

#12 Clean one room at a time (Don’t jump around)

Cleaning in an orderly manner makes tasks feel less overwhelming.

For this reason, I recommend this cleaning hack: tackling one room before moving to the next one.

If you start cleaning one area, leave it halfway, move to a new room, then get back to the previous half-cleaned room, you’ll feel like you’ve been cleaning since forever and you might be tempted to postpone the remaining tasks.

You may find yourself still doing cleaning on days that you’d have been free.

#13 Keep your vacuums clean

Your vacuum cleaner will struggle to function efficiently if you fail to maintain it properly.

Working with a poorly-maintained cleaner means you’ll take longer than usual to complete simple vacuuming tasks.

To avoid this, always empty and clean your vacuum dust cup often (lemon juice works wonders), wash or replace the filters, and inspect and wipe the brushes, hoses, and belts with a microfiber cloth.

You can use rubbing alcohol and a microfiber cloth to quickly clean your vacuum to perfection and save time.

#14 MicroFiber is your friend

Microfiber cloths are considered kitchen heroes for a good reason — they are lint-free (unlike paper towels) and won’t gunk up surfaces.

Whether you need to clean your air vents, wipe down your shower head, clean your dishwasher, dust your coffee maker and ceiling fan, wash your bathroom sink, get rid of stubborn wine stains, or deep clean your cast iron cookware, microfiber towels will save the day.

Paper towels can’t match the effectiveness of these handy little towels.

#15 Create a family information center

To be fair, you don’t have to be the only warrior present in the never-ending war against a messy house.

Consider getting your family on board with house chores by creating a family command center.

Sounds sophisticated, I know.

But it’s basically a warm and inviting household calendar that captures your to-do list and shows who’ll be responsible for completing what cleaning task.

And since we’re all looking for unique ways to bond with our families, there’s no doubt this cleaning hack will make cleaning time memorable for you!

#16 Clean windows easily with this trick

Until you experience its wonders on windows first-hand, dishwasher rinse aid may sound like a cleaner that strictly belongs to the dishwasher.

Not true.

We all aim for a streak-free finish when cleaning windows and mirrors. But that doesn’t mean you must spend several hours on your glass surface with countless cleaning supplies to get that final pristine look.

With just a few drops of dishwasher rinse aid and a couple of coffee filters (avoid using a paper towel), you’ll achieve spotless windows in no time.

#17 Remove water marks from chrome taps with toothpaste

If there’s one thing hard water is good at, it’s leaving “I was here” signs on chrome taps — hard water marks.

Seeing hard water stains on your bathroom and kitchen chrome taps can make you think your faucets are doomed for life — that they’ve lost their shine forever.

You’re wrong.

There’s a simple cleaning hack to get rid of hard water stains and scuff marks on chrome taps faster and save time.

So, what’s this secret weapon besides wax paper? Toothpaste!

Toothpaste contains ingredients that dissolve hard water stains. Simply put on your rubber gloves, apply toothpaste on the stained area, scrub lightly with an old toothbrush, and wipe with a damp cloth (microfiber) afterwards.

Time-Saving Cleaning Hacks: Final Thoughts

There you have it: the best house cleaning hacks to help you keep your house clean in the least amount of time.

As busy moms, we know there’s a lot you’re juggling. So, finishing housework faster will help you save time and make your life much easier.

By incorporating these time-saving cleaning hacks into your cleaning routine, you’ll have extra time for more fun and relaxing activities.

Have you used any of these cleaning tips and tricks before? Or do you have more cleaning hacks that you’d like to share with me? We’d love to hear all about it.

Feel free to brag about your cleaning success in the comments below!

17 Mind Blowing Cleaning Hacks to Save Time