As wives and mothers of the 21-century, the homemaking tips we use now aren’t much different than what our grandmothers used.

What they grew up learning may not be something you were raised knowing how to do.  Most likely your mother worked a full-time job and didn’t have time to teach you what her mother taught her or perhaps you just didn’t pay much attention or have an interest in homemaking when you were young.

Whatever the season you’re in right now I want to help you find some easy and more productive ways to keep your home.

18 homemaking tips.

They are in no specific order just some things that might help you find a new way to complete some of your daily chores.

1. Having trouble getting the paper skin off your garlic before pressing it? I discovered that if you put the clove into the presser and crunch it a little bit, the papers come right off.
2. Are the dishes in the dishwasher clean or dirty? The second you empty it add soap to the dispenser right away. That way, you can easily see that the soap holder is closed – dishes are still dirty! If it’s open, you’re good to put the dishes away with no problem.
3. Baking soda for cleaning stubborn food dishes. If soap and a sponge aren’t quite getting the baked-on stuff off, throw some baking soda and let it soak in some water for a little while; it will come right off.
4. In an effort to use fewer paper towels, I turned to use flour sack towels. I feel like they work better than your typical kitchen towel, and I can also use them as a fine strainer if I’m making almond milk, or that time our French press broke, and we needed some coffee to drink!
5. Do a quick 10 minute tidy up before you go to bed at night and before you leave the house. If there’s a lot of clutter toss it into a laundry basket and stash it away until you can get to it. Just having the house LOOK tidy helps a lot.
6. Prioritize your bedroom. Make your bed every morning and do everything you can to make the room a relaxing and inviting place for yourself and your spouse.
7. Invest in a handheld steam cleaner. They’re like $30-$40 on Amazon and have endless uses buying a bunch of specialty cleaners. Shower doors, windows, tile/grout, your oven, carpet stains, disinfecting, dewrinkling clothes, cleaning gunk off kitchen cabinets… the options really do feel endless, and all you’re using is water.
8. With the oven cleaning; I got mine done in under fifteen. To clean the racks- put them on some old towels in your bathtub with scalding hot water and some laundry detergent and let them sit overnight. They’ll look brand new running a scrub brush over them with very minimal effort.
9. Cover up small holes made by nails in a wall. Use chalk (given the wall is white of course). Rub the chalk over the hole, and you won’t even notice it anymore.
10. Dishwasher detergent is a ripoff. One cup Borax, one cup washing soda. Insanely cheap per load.
11. Save the wrap that butter comes in. They become handy pre-greased sheets for greasing pans.
12. When you use a frying pan, add water to while it’s still hot/on the burner and slosh it around with your spatula. All of your egg mess will slide right off!
13. Don’t buy garbage. Every piece of trash that comes into your house eventually needs to be cleaned up, thrown out, and stuck in a landfill, so avoid products that produce garbage.
14. I carry my groceries home in a backpack instead of the plastic bags. I don’t bag any of my veggies in the produce department, they have to get washed when you get them home anyway, so may as well carry them loose. When I can for things like rice and beans and dried fruit, I buy from the bulk bins and use my own containers, so I don’t have to get packaging with them. Basically anytime I see a potential piece of garbage, I try and find a way not to bring it
15. Keep old toothbrushes for cleaning your runners/cheap jewelry/figurines; they’re good for detailed cleaning.
16. If you do bring your groceries home in plastic bags, they make great bin liners for bathroom/other small bins.
17. If you break an egg on the floor (or counter, whichever), pour salt on it and it’ll be much easier to clean up.
18. Do you have hard stains on your glass top cook stove? Pour some fabric softener onto your cooktop. Don’t dilute it or anything, just pour it right on there and let it sit for as long as possible, at least an hour or two. It should work to loosen up the burnt-on food. This also works for any cookware, baking sheets, etc.

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