Cleaning & Home Hacks

Cheap foam shaving cream is mostly soap and air, which makes it a handy spot cleaner. Here’s where it works, and where it doesn’t.

Baking soda is a gentle scrub and a real odor absorber. Here are nine jobs one box can handle, and the two things it shouldn’t touch.

A viral trick says to drop bars of soap in the toilet tank for a fresh bathroom all day. Here’s why plumbers don’t love it, and the simple things that really work.

Coffee, tea and pan marks turn a white sink dull and yellow. Baking soda and hydrogen peroxide bring it back without scratching the finish.

A thin film of shaving cream or dish soap keeps a bathroom mirror clear after a hot shower. Here’s how to do it and how long it lasts.

Yellow underarm stains come from sweat reacting with deodorant, and bleach makes them worse. This simple paste lifts them.

You can’t put a mattress in the wash, but you can spot clean it. Here’s the simple mix for yellow sweat marks and spills, and how to dry it properly.

Gray, dingy socks usually need a soak, not more detergent. This simple soak with baking soda, dish soap and hot water brings them back.

Towels that smell sour even after washing have detergent and softener trapped in the fibers. Two hot washes, one with vinegar and one with baking soda, strip it out.

Baked-on grease on stove grates comes off with a long hot soak and a baking soda paste. No oven cleaner or ammonia needed.