According to the American billionaire Bill Gates, a lazy person will always find an easy way to complete complex tasks. This logic not only applies to Microsoft jobs but also to everyday tasks, such as cleaning your room.
After all, lazy people and procrastinators aren’t pariahs of society: we coexist with the most overachieving and the energetic, we fight the same battles, we go through the same motions and routines, but our laziness motivates us to find the most efficient solution to a problem.
There are downsides to being someone who puts off doing everything until the last second or until it’s absolutely necessary. We tend to forego eating well instead of spending time making healthy meals, we’re less likely to exercise and be into the #fitness life, and we navigate our way through spaces (home, office, car) that seem to be walled by piles of our own stuff.
Luckily for those of us who put off doing chores because the thought of spending that much energy is unnerving, there are cleaning hacks conjured specifically by lazy people, for lazy people.
1. 5-minute microwave cleaner. Fill a glass bowl or ceramic cup with water and a halved lemon. Microwave it for a few minutes until the water boils. Then, wipe it down with a cloth.
2. Blender cleaner. You made yourself a smoothie, but now you don’t feel like disassembling the blender to clean it. Just fill it with water and a few drops of dish soap and blend thoroughly. Dump that soapy water, then fill the blender again with plain water and blend again.
3. Pans and pots. To remove the built-up scorching in a pan, just fill it with equal parts water and vinegar and boil. Then, take the pan off the heat and add two tablespoons of baking soda. Then, empty the pan in the sink and scrub away.
4. Cloudy glasses. You’ll notice that the mixture of equal parts vinegar and water is a miracle worker. Just spray cloudy glasses with that mixture and wipe using a paper towel.
5. Every time you get up to move around your place, put one thing in the place where it belongs. So, if you have laundry or dishes lying around, this is a perfect way to turn that big chore into smaller ones.
6. Buy a good doormat. That way, your floors will start to look cleaner. If you want to make the job of cleaning the floor easier, you could also enforce a “Shoes At The Door” policy.
7. While you’re cooking, keep a plastic bag close to you. That way, you don’t have to make a trip to the garbage can whenever you need to dump some peeling or wrapping.
8. Keep the inside of your refrigerator wrapped in Press N’ Seal wrap or plastic food wrapping. Again, the priority here is to prevent. You never know when you’ll spill something in your fridge.
9. Save those used dryer sheets. You can use them to wipe surfaces that tend to get dusty.
10. Sock puppet blinds cleaner. I’m 100% certain that every blind in your house is covered with a sheet of dust. Nobody likes to do a deep clean, so just put a sock on your hand and wipe away.
11. Clean stains off the carpet with an iron. Spray some of that vinegar and water mixture we mentioned earlier on the stain, then cover it with a damp cloth. Turn the iron on to its steaming setting and lay it over the cloth for 30 seconds.
12. Tape a dryer sheet over your AC unit to get rid of a weird smell in your room. Alternatively, you can just do this if you simply want a nice smell in your room.
13. Keep a bathroom cleaner and sponge inside your shower. That way, every time you shower, you can also spend a few minutes cleaning up a bit.
14. For those without a washing machine: if you don’t have any clean underwear but are too lazy to go to the laundromat, wash your underwear by hand while you’re in the shower.
15. Always keep some cleaning solution sitting at the bottom of your toilet brush holder. That way, your brush won’t get scummy and gross, saving you from having to buy another one.
16. Here’s a tip on how you can prevent soap scum build-up: Soap scum is caused by the paraffin in your bar soap, so switch it out for some liquid or gel soap or anything synthetic-based.
Cleaning your oven can be a daunting task, especially if you have to get rid of burnt-on grease and food remains. Ovens often demand deep scrubbing with harsh chemicals and fume-filled cleaners. Many homeowners tend to delay oven cleaning as a part of their cleaning schedules, so their ovens get increasingly dirty and hard to deal with.
There is no need to worry, though. If you want to spend less time scrubbing grease out of your oven, here are some tips to consider.
Before you start scrubbing the grime off your oven, remember to vacuum out the crumbs. In order to get rid of all food debris, you should use a vacuum with an attachment. Obviously, make sure the oven is turned off and cool before starting with work!
Baking soda and vinegar is the perfect combo for mildly dirty ovens. Vinegar has the acidity required to break down baked-on grease, while baking soda has mildly abrasive properties that can eliminate stuck-on food debris.
Unfortunately, natural solutions won’t help if your oven is full of food debris. Significantly dirty ovens require chemicals to do the hard work. In these cases, it is wise to try fume-free oven cleaners like Easy Off.
When it comes to piled-up debris on the inside of your oven or microwave, steam is the way to go. This is one of the most valuable natural oven-cleaning tricks. Once the steam loosens up the baked-on grease and food, wiping the inside clean will seem like a breeze!
Air fryers are useful and increasingly popular cooking appliances that can make your life easier. However, this doesn’t apply to their maintenance and cleaning. Below, we have listed some easy tips for cleaning your air fryer basket.
After each use of your air fryer, let the basket cool down, then use a sponge or soft brush to eliminate any remaining food particles or excess oil. Scrub the air fryer basket gently to remove any stuck-on debris.
Soak the air fryer basket in a sink previously filled with warm water and several drops of dish soap. Leaving the basket in this state for 10-15 minutes will loosen and remove any food residue or stuck-on grease.
Once you soak the air fryer basket, scrub it with a brush or non-abrasive sponge instead of harsh materials that could damage the coating. Pay special attention to the most stubborn spots.
Now that the basket is free of excess oil and debris, you should rinse it from soap remains with warm water. This is an important step because if you leave any cleaning agents on the surface, it may worsen the quality and taste of your food. Finally, dry it thoroughly with a clean towel or cloth before putting it back in your air fryer.
