Mum shares 20 ‘lazy girl’ cleaning hacks that ‘actually work’ including a 50p ‘magic’ item that’ll make your pad sparkle
IT can be hard to stay on top of cleaning your home, particularly if you have kids.
One mum revealed she saves herself time and effort thanks to her 20 “lazy girl” hacks, which take just seconds to do.
We all love a shortcut, and home whizz Emily Norris swears by her time-saving secrets.
Speaking on her channel she said: “Today I’m going to be sharing 20 hacks for lazy people – I say lazy but these are just smart.
“I don’t actually love the cleaning process itself, I love having a clean house but when I clean I just want to get it done.”
Here’s how you can keep your home spotless without breaking into a sweat…
1. Blend to clean
If you want to keep your blender spotless, you should use the function it does best…blend.
Emily said: “Especially if you’ve blended up something that is sticky, like peanut butter or almond butter or honey, then this hack is perfect.
“All you do once you’ve emptied out the contents, is add some warm water and a little bit of washing up liquid, put the top back on it and then stick it all back on the blender.
“And that will help to get all the sticky stuff off of the inside. It’s really quick and easy to do.
“And then all you have to do is give it a rinse and it’s clean.”
2. Catch oven drips
Cleaning your oven can be a laborious task and not what you want to be doing when life is so busy.
However, Emily swears by oven liners to prevent food dripping down.
She said: “Line baking trays to catch drips, or you can also buy a super non-stick oven liner like I did.
“These just lay in your oven and every now and then you can just take this out, give it a wipe down, and it is so much easier than having to clean your entire oven.”
3. Lint roll for dusting
You may love a lint roller for clothes, but did you know it can also be used for cleaning your home?
Emily explained: “These are amazing to use for dusting.
“I particularly like using ours on the bed head and on lamp shades as well.
“And we actually invested in a reusable one, it’s super sticky, but you can actually wash it and reuse it multiple times.”
4. Avoid ironing
Ironing can be time-consuming and Emily said she avoids it “at all costs” as she “doesn’t love” the chore.
Instead, she swears by using a “crease releaser” spray that she uses on her bedding.
5. Set spin to 800
Another hack for preventing creasing is to change your machine’s spinning cycle to 800.
Emily insisted: “Particularly like this product on things like our bed sheets because there’s nothing worse than really creased bedding.”
6. Steam clothes in the tumble dryer
Emily said your tumble dryer can be used to “steam clothes”, which also helps prevent ironing.
The mum explained: “Throw the creased item into the tumble dryer, but with a slightly damp cloth and then turn it on for about 10 minutes.
I don’t actually love the cleaning process itself, I love having a clean house but when I clean I just want to get it done.
Emily Norris
“This is great if the kids ever have a wrinkled school shirt and we need it in a hurry, I’ll just chuck it into the tumble dryer with a slightly damp cloth and it comes out with so many fewer wrinkles.
“It’s really effective.
“And another way is actually to just fold things as soon as they’re done in the tumble dryer.
“If you hear that ding of the tumble dryer and you have a minute, if you quickly fold the clothes, then that really does help you get fewer creases.”
7. Magic erasers
One item that Emily can’t live without are her Magic Erasers, and can you pick up 20 for £10 on Amazon.
She explained: “I buy them in Poundland, but you can get them in so many different places.
“They are amazing at removing stains that are on your wall.
“If the kids ever get marker onto the wall, these take it right off, or also on your countertops.
“They’re amazing on the soles of your trainers.
“These really brightened up mine quickly.
“And I just find so many uses for them.
“I actually ended up cutting them up so that they last longer. And yeah, I just really, really rate them.”
8. Dishwasher for everything
Emily said utilising the dishwasher for “everything” is “amazing for lazy people.”
She shared: “You can pretty much put anything that is waterproof into these and they will come out sparkling clean.
“So in our dishwasher, we like to put toys, especially bath toys.
“We also like to put extractor fan filters.
“We put hair brushes, light fixtures, the toothbrush holder.”
Emily even puts her husband’s caps inside on the top tray, and added: “This means that they don’t lose their shape, but they also get really nice and clean.”
9. Shower head hack
Is your shower head looking grotty? Emily also had a clever trick for tackling the issue.
She revealed: “The next hack is to clean your shower head or any limescale-coated taps with vinegar.
“You can do it while you’re sleeping if you want to.
Cleaning hacks and tips
Here are some tips to help you clean your home like a pro:
- How to clean your washing machine in a few easy steps
- Keep on top of cleaning your oven regularly
- Clean your shower to ensure it’s always sparkling
- How to clean your microwave using cheap household items
- Here’s how to get rid of that nasty limescale in your kettle
- You’re cleaning your carpet all wrong – here’s how to get it spotless again in no time
- Unblock a toilet without a plunger
- Clean your fabric or leather sofa in a few easy steps
- If you haven’t cleaned your mattress in ages, here’s how
- Steps to cleaning your dishwasher to leave it looking brand new
- This is how to clean mirrors and windows without streaking
- Keep your toilet clean in four easy steps
- Give your TV screen a once-over
- Did you know your Venetian, Roman, vertical, or roller blinds also need cleaning?
- Deep-clean your fridge in five simple steps
“Just get some vinegar, which in itself is an amazing cleaning product, and put it into a Ziploc bag and then put the Ziploc bag over your shower head, and you can secure it with an elastic band and then leave it to soak for a while.
“And then all you have to do is rinse it off and all of the limescale and dirt and grime comes right off.
“This works so well. And it’s a nice natural way to clean it.”
10. Vinegar for glasses
Another use for vinegar is to use it on glassware to leave it gleaming.
Emily shared: “You know sometimes when you get spots or water deposits on your drinking glasses?
“It’s easy to remove if you soak it in warm water with some vinegar for a couple of minutes.
“Then wipe it with a soft cloth.
“Those calcium deposits should come right off and they’ll be sparkling clean.”
11. Steam your microwave
If your microwave has disgusting food stuck to the inside, this hack is for you.
Emily advised you should “steam” your microwave” and that it’s “so easy” to do.
She said: “All you have to do is get a microwaveable bowl, put some warm water into it and then add some vinegar.
“Then put that bowl into the microwave and put it on high for a few minutes and just let it do the work.
“It creates steam which really helps to loosen all of the food that is inside your microwave. “And then after it’s done, you can just wipe it out.”
You can then use the hot vinegar water to clean your sink afterwards.
12. Don’t drain cooking fats
If you are cooking bacon and don’t want to pour the fat down the sink, you should make a “little tin foil pouch.”
Emily advised: “Put it into a bowl and once you’re done cooking, you can pour the fat into the pouch, leave it to harden, and then just chuck it away in the bin.
“And you don’t have to worry about clogged up drains or anything like that.”
13. Dryer sheets hack
In order to leave her home smelling “nice and clean”, the mum uses dryer sheets in her cushions and artificial flowers.
She said: “I’ll switch them out often. But they smell really lovely and concentrated.”
14. Fabric refresh
Another trick for freshening up her home is to use a fabric spray.
She said: “If we’re ever having friends round, I will just run around the couches, spray this onto them and it just gives a very nice smell.”
15. Leave it to dwell
One mistake you could be making with your cleaning is to do it too quickly.
Emily explained: “Something else that’s worth saying is that some products that you use might need a dwell time.
“So if you check the instructions on a cleaning product, like a multi-surface spray, then it might say to spray the surface, leave it for a good five minutes before you then wipe it off.
“So actually by following the instructions and leaving it to just do its thing on its own, it actually gives it a better clean and makes everything easier to wipe off.”
16. Coffee grinder tip
Emily also had a rather “specific” tip for keeping coffee grinders spick and span.
The mum shared: “If you have a coffee grinder that you use for coffee beans, and you sometimes also use it to grind up spices, then I have an amazing way to clean it between using it for spices and using it for coffee.
“And that is to grind up just white rice.
“This will take the smell of all the spices away or equally the coffee, and then you can use it for both things.”
If you have to clean up a room or do a Power Hour, then I really like to stick in my AirPods and listen to something like an audiobook that I’m reading or a podcast that I love, or even catch up with my mum and sister on the phone.
Emily Norris
17. Delegate, delegate, delegate
Another “lazy hack” is to simply not do all the work yourself.
Emily insists that you should “delegate the cleaning to someone else in your family” and says she gets her kids and husband involved.
Speaking of her children, she said: “They all have chores to do, and it just makes such a massive difference.
“If we each do 15 minutes a day, that is an hour and 15 minutes of people cleaning. “Obviously, the kids have things like cleaning up their dishes, getting ready in the morning, making their own beds and things like that.
“And not only is it helping out at home, but it’s also giving them great life skills.”
18. Carve out ‘me time’
While Emily hates cleaning, she has found a way to make it fun – by rebranding it as “me time.”
She said: “If you have to clean up a room or do a Power Hour, then I really like to stick in my AirPods and listen to something like an audiobook that I’m reading or a podcast that I love, or even catch up with my mum and sister on the phone.
“If I’m listening to something or taking something in, and my mind is busy, it really doesn’t feel like such a chore.”
19. Speed clean
The mum also likes to limit the amount of time she cleans by doing a “Power Hour.”
She said: “I’ve been talking about speed cleaning for so many years now, but it’s almost like speed cleaning or setting a timer gives you that feeling, you know just before someone’s coming over to visit and you just find this energy and blitz your entire house?
“So say you have 12 rooms in your house and you do five minutes in each room, then that will be an entire hour.
“It gives you a bit of a challenge because there is a time limit.”
20. Never leave a room empty handed
Her last tip is to never go upstairs or downstairs without something in her hands.
Emily added: “There are always things at the bottom of the stairs, in our stair basket that needs to go back upstairs.
“And equally there’s often cups and things upstairs that need to come downstairs. So just try, if you’re going that way anyway, take something with you.
“It just makes sense.”