Keep a piece of white chalk in the laundry room to rub on grease stains and absorb the oil. Launder as usual and the piece should come out clean. This should do the trick on butter, salad dressing, cooking oil, and more. No chalk on hand, but need an immediate solution? Break out the cornstarch from your baking caddy or talcum powder from the medicine cabinet and sprinkle it over the stain, let sit for 10 minutes to soak up the oil, and wash.

Pushing the vacuum forward is mostly about getting it into the right position. It’s pulling it that actually removes any soil. Slow down on the pull pass for cleaner carpets!  When cleaning hard floor surfaces, vacuums can blow around a lot of the debris you are trying to clean up. Avoid the hassle by sucking up dust and furballs using the vacuum’s wand attachment first, then give the floor a pass with the machine on the hard floor setting. If your floors still don’t seem to be coming clean, it may be time to invest in a new machine.

When you use a product or chemical to clean, there’s often residue left behind. Soil and dirt adhere to the residue, requiring further cleaning. A steam cleaner uses a vapor of hot water to remove soil and dirt without any sticky residue.  You can even use a steam cleaner to freshen carpets.

Add a teaspoon of cornstarch to a cup of white vinegar and a cup of water (a standard window cleaning solution) and the results are incredible. says Melissa Maker. The glass becomes shiny and crystal clear. The cornstarch is the magic ingredient as it’s a very fine natural abrasive that helps work away grime and leave behind a streak-free shine.

Saturate a paper towel or microfiber cloth with white vinegar and place over the deposits. Let it sit for five to 15 minutes, then wipe away. The acid in the vinegar breaks down the deposits, leaving your faucets and fixtures shiny. Use a similar trick for your showerhead: fill a shopping bag with vinegar, tie it around the showerhead, and leave it overnight to soak. Run the shower in the morning to rinse clean.

Wet a Brillo pad to clean glass shower doors as it cleans soap scum and water spots faster and easier than anything else. (And no, it won’t scratch the glass).  Every three months or so apply Rain-X Original Glass Treatment to repel water spots in the first place. Another way to avoid buildup is to squeegee the glass shower doors after you hop out of the shower.

Clean a room from top to bottom so that you never have to clean a surface twice, and always start at the corner furthest from the room’s entrance, working your way out the door. Map out your routine so you take the most efficient route for the time you have allotted.

In the bedroom start by dusting the ceiling fan blades, then move to the tops of furniture, and make your way down to the sheets, and ultimately the floor. As you go, dust that doesn’t collect in your duster or on your microfiber cloth will fall to the floor, which you will tackle last.

Cleaning the toilet is not fun, but this might make it easier. After brushing, close the toilet seat on top of the toilet bowl brush handle so it can drip-dry into the bowl (for about 10 minutes or until dry) before setting the brush back in its holder. A wet toilet bowl brush is disgusting. Work in this order when wiping down the rest of the toilet: handle, tank lid, the front of the tank, top of the toilet lid, inside lid, top and underside of the seat, rim of the bowl, outside of the bowl, toilet base, to the back.

If you have smelly sports gear that can’t be washed (like a helmet) put it in an extra large plastic zip top bag and place it in the freezer overnight. The smell is from bacteria and the cold air kills that bacteria and eliminates the scent. You can use the freezer to remove gummy sticker residue from synthetic fibers or wax from table linens. The freezer will harden the material and make it easier to pick or gently scrape off. The best thing about the freezer is because bacteria can’t grow in its zero degrees temperature, you hardly ever have to clean the freezer itself.

The easiest way to clean coffee stains from the inside of your mug is to wet a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and wipe them away. Everyone’s favorite cleaning sponge is made of melamine foam, which acts as a gentle abrasive to agitate stuck on stains like these.

Got a coffee stain on your shirt? Stretch the fabric over a bowl and carefully pour boiling water over the spot from about a foot above. The pressure of the hot water should flush the stain from the fabric. Launder as usual.

Using a wet pumice stone will naturally remove toilet rings and other stains. Always be sure to wet the stone, as a dry one may scratch surfaces. If you really want to deep clean the bowl, first dump a cup of baking soda in, let it sit for a few minutes, then brush and follow that with the pumice stone trick for good measure.