It’s not like you don’t clean your house, you always do the odd Hoover, surface wipe down and shower scrub whenever you get the chance, but there’s a few little problem areas in your house that for whatever reason just won’t get clean.
Here’s how to clean those annoying things that are ruining your house.
Your toilet
It’s all fine and dandy if you live in a house that’s had a new loo put in in the past 10 years but, as those of you who live in rented houses know, there’s a high chance that your landlord last replaced the toilet in 1982. As a result, the basin is a sort of scuzzy brown that’s never shifted no matter how long you leave concentrated bleach siiting in it. The good news is, that brown stuff isn’t leftover poo from 20 years ago, it’s actually calcium deposits that have built up over the years. According to HowStuffWorks.com you need to combat these deposits with acid. Luckily vinegar contains acid and should do a pretty nice job, so no expensive purchases needed. Pour in, leave overnight then scrub with sandpaper in the morning and BAM, your toilet should be pristine again all ready for you to dirty it up however you best please. If that doesn’t work, invest in some borax to mix into a paste with water for extra scrubbing power.
Mould in the shower
Again, not your fault. Your shower’s been around since Margaret Thatcher was in office and several showers a day from you and your housemates in a poorly ventilated room means mould was inevitable at some point. You can totally scrub it off the ceiling, but on all the grout? It’s stuck fast and not budging. According to this dude (nice shirt buddy) you should mix half bleach with half water together in a spray bottle, spray on to the grout then get to work scrubbing with an old toothbrush. Leave for a few hours before going back to rinse and your grout should be peachy clean.
Your chopping board
You know you’re meant to chop meat on one board and veg on another but when you’ve got flatmate's using the other one to cook their dinner at the same time as you, you sort of let that rule slip a little. As a result, your board is stained all colours of the rainbow from various veg and if you’re honest you’re not entirely sure how free of salmonella it is. Get it back to clean and white (or whatever colour it originally was) by rubbing a lemon half all over the board, coating with salt then repaeating the lemon rubbing. Wash it all off to find yourself with a food-poioning free chopping board. Which is good for everyone.
That pan you ruined
This is why you can’t have nice things. You got one really expensive pan for Christmas (hey you asked, you’re old now) only to try t0 cook sausages at 3am drunk out of your mind. While you succeeded in not burning the house down (yay!) you did ruin the pan. Fear not. Apartment Therapy have got a great plan to remedy this that involves boiling vinegar (him again) then adding baking soda before scrubbing with a scourer. Good as new.
Those pit stains that have ruined your white shirt
Luckily for you, it’s not actually your sweat that’s yellow and gross, it’s the chemicals in the anti-perspirant deoderants we use that turn white clothes' armpits yellow. To get rid, get yourself some vodka (yes, really) mix it with water, then spray it on to the armpit of your shirt, leave for a few hours and then wash as normal. You’ll be a few shots of vodka down but, to be honest, after the sausage incident, that's no bad thing.
Follow Jess on Twitter @jess_commons
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.