Seven Ways to Spring Clean When You're Feeling Lazy

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Lifehacker's Ultimate Spring Cleaning Guide aims to bring you all the best spring cleaning ideas, but I won't lie: Some of them are pretty labor intensive. But whether you don't have the time for a major undertaking or you're just feeling a little lazy this year, there are still ways you can spring clean your home to get it in shape for the months ahead.

Clean your microwave the easy way

A microwave is supposed to be cleaned every two weeks, but if that's too often for you (it's OK to be honest), you're probably looking at some serious grime in there. Cleaning it is actually remarkably easy, though, and you can make a big improvement on the mess with just a little effort.

Here's my big how-to on cleaning the microwave, but the basic gist involves quartering a lemon and putting two slices into a microwave-safe bowl or mug full of water, then nuking them on high for at least three minutes, until you start to see steam forming in the window. Once it's nice and steamy, don't open the door. Instead, let it sit for five minutes. When you do open the door, you'll have a wet microwave interior you can clean with a sponge. The citrusy steam will have loosened any stuck-on gunk, and you can hopefully wipe it right out. Take the turntable out and soak it in the sink, then clear any crumbs or goo from the bottom of the machine. Just like that, what was once a gross microwave is a sparkling-clean appliance—and all you did was heat up a lemon.

Take the easy way out with your oven too

While you're at it, you can do something similar to your oven: Heat it to 150 degrees, shut it off, then put a pot of water on the bottom rack and an oven-safe container of ammonia on the top rack. Close the door and let the two sit overnight. In the morning, open the door for at least 15 minutes to air the oven out, then add a few drops of dish soap to the ammonia, dip in a wash rag and scrubbing sponge, and use them to wipe away the softened grease and grime.

Put your bathtub and dishwasher to work

One of my favorite lazy cleaning hacks involves looking at the bathtub not just as a place to clean your body, but a place to clean all kinds of stuff from around your house. I'm not someone who throws a lot of dinner parties, but I've heard great things from people who've tossed an abundance of dirty dishes into the bathtub for a good soak. I have used mine for is cleaning things like oven racks and my broom, plus my synthetic rugs. Fridge shelves, purifier filters, plant pots—think of all those big, unwieldy items that are a pain to wipe down. Running a bath with some gentle dish soap and plopping them in for a soak saves a whole lot of time and effort.

The same goes for your dishwasher. It's easy to overlook its potential for cleaning non-dish things, but most small plastic or metal items like stove knobs, dustpans, and toothbrush holders can go in there for a washing up, which leaves you with more time to clean other things with your own two hands.

Set it and forget it in the bathroom

Before bed one night, you can knock out two major tasks in the bathroom and let your cleaning supplies do the real work while you sleep. First, I have been obsessed with these toilet-cleaning sheets for a few days now. They're dissolvable papers covered in cleaning product, so you just toss them into the toilet and let them disappear. Put one of these in there before bed and, if necessary, give it all a good scrub with your toilet brush before flushing.

Second, descale and de-gunk your shower head overnight by tying a sandwich bag full of vinegar around it. This is one of those age-old, tried-and-true hacks that really works. When you remove the bag in the morning, scrub the shower head with an old toothbrush to make sure all the blockages are out of the holes, then run it for a minute or two.

Clean your ceiling fan without making a mess

You need to clean your ceiling fan so it's not littering dust all around your room, but usually that means you have to litter dust all around the room by brushing it off, then vacuuming it all up. That's a lot of work, but this hack isn't: Grab an old pillowcase and slide it over each blade, one at a time. Pull the pillowcase back toward yourself, with the top dragging across the top of the blade. All of the dust will come off with it and land in the case. You can just dump it out, then toss the pillowcase in the wash.

Clean the washing machine without climbing inside of it

You do need to clean your washing machine once in a while, but you don't have to put your whole torso into that small drum to maneuver around in there with a sponge. I've tried a few different methods, usually just involving vinegar, and they've all required no real work on my part. I either dump a cup of vinegar straight into the drum or in the detergent slot, and run the machine through a hot cycle with no clothes inside. The vinegar really helps with de-stinking the device and, in turn, de-stinking the clothes you wash in it. And don't have to do anything but dump a little in there and let the machine run.

Clean under big appliances in seconds

One task I always associate with spring cleaning is the annual hauling-out of major appliances like the fridge and oven. (Do I ever actually do that? Not really, but I associate it with spring cleaning because I know I'm supposed to.) You can make this less taxing with a very simple hack: Cut a hole in a sponge, stick a long-handled tool like a spatula or broom handle into the hole, and shove it as far as you can under each appliance. Scrub back and forth as best you can. I have a more in-depth tutorial here, but it really is as easy as it sounds. It doesn't preclude you from ever having to pull those appliances all the way out, but doing it regularly means it will be a lot less gross when you do.

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