Self–Reliance and house cleaning may seem an odd combination. But what it means for me is being able to keep my home clean and relatively germ free without relying on those brand name commercial household cleaners out there. You know the ones—they are mostly harsh chemicals and foul smelling. And who knows what the fumes do to us.

So I love it when I discover simple, inexpensive and safe ways to clean my home. Here are a few tips that I would like to share them with you today.

Cleaning Window Blinds:

I don’t know about you, but one of the chores I’ve always hated the most is cleaning those window blinds. I like having the windows open—a lot. Which of course allows dust and dirt particles to accumulate. In no time, I’ve got black dust on those nice white blinds. Cleaning it off was a messy process, until I found this new way.

Here’s what you do: mix up equal parts of vinegar and warm water. Now find an old sock (white cotton works the best). Slide the sock on your hand and dip it in the solution, wipe the dirt off the blind with your sock hand. The wet sock keeps the dirt contained to the fabric, instead of letting it fly all over the room, or falling to the floor.

When the sock becomes too dirty, rinse it in clean water and repeat the cleaning process. I was delightfully surprised at how easy and quick this process is in getting those blinds clean. Hint: I put on a rubber glove before adding the sock, to keep the solution from getting on my hand, but it isn’t necessary.

Cleaning the Bathroom Exhaust Fan:

Keeping the bathrooms clean is probably one of our biggest priorities—right? But how often do we forget to look up? That exhaust fan can get pretty nasty in a short time. But here’s a quick and easy way to keep it clean.

Most likely you probably have a computer in your home. Which also means you may have a can of compressed air. If you don’t, it’s an inexpensive purchase. We use canned air to blow dust and dirt particles out of the crevices on the keyboards. You may have found other uses for canned air, too. But it can work just as well on those vents in the exhaust fan. Just give it a shot!

Cleaning the Metal Faceplate on Your Iron:

Over time the metal faceplate on your iron can get a build up of chemicals (if you use spray starch) and corrosion on it. Or if you accidentally iron over one of those t-shirts with writing on it that melts with heat. Ugh—now you have a mess. Here’s a way to clean it up without using more chemicals.

I slide a pillowcase over the end of my ironing board to make cleanup easier. Then pour out some salt onto the board. I heat the iron to one of the hotter setting (such as Cotton). When the temperature is ready, I simply iron over the salt. I keep it moving slowly and repeatedly until it has a chance to clean off the metal plate to a sparkly clean again.

When you finish, carefully pull off the pillowcase and dump the salt.
All done!

I hope you find that these Life Hacks help make your cleaning chores a breeze.

Now—I must finish those window blinds!