3 Easy, but Overlooked Things You Should Clean This Weekend

We all have blind spots when it comes to cleaning, things we don’t get to because we just don’t think of it (or because we don’t want to think about it). Are you nodding along? Consider this a little bit of motivation. Seriously, now’s as good a time as any! Yes, you’ll losing an hour this weekend when most of us set our clocks forward, but these commonly overlooked items won’t take up too much time.

Here are three things that deserve just a little bit of your time this weekend.

Even though your dishes are technically clean when you drip-dry them, chances are, your dish rack has accumulated its fair share of grime. As long as your dish rack is metal or plastic, you can just toss it in the dishwasher with a regular cycle. If you don’t have a dishwasher, wash it by hand with some dish soap — it’ll only take a few minutes.

Related: How to Clean That Grimy Wooden Dish Rack That Can’t Go in the Dishwasher

Your house keys are filthy! And yet you frequently drop them on the kitchen counter or the dining room table! De-germ them now using a little squirt of dish soap. Here’s the full guide to how to clean your keys, with an abbreviated version below.

1. Prepare your keys and the solution: After removing anything that shouldn’t get wet from your keys, grab a bowl and fill it with warm water and a couple drops of dish soap. 
2.  Clean your keys: Swish your keys around in the solution.
3. Get in the grooves: Use a toothbrush or any detail cleaning brush to dig out any dirt or debris stuck in the grooves.
4.  Wipe the keys down: After drying the keys thoroughly with a towel, wipe them down with a cotton ball dipped in a small amount of isopropyl alcohol. 

If you have a garbage disposal, you know how quickly it can start to smell. That’s because food scraps, grime, and bacteria can linger in the drain long after you send it down. To remove an unpleasant odor from your garbage disposal — and to keep it in working condition — try to show it some love at least once a month. 

Here’s a step-by-step for how to clean a garbage disposal.

1. Add ice and salt to the disposal: Put about a cup of ice followed by 1/2 cup of salt down the disposal. You can use your hands to push it all down; just make sure the disposal is NOT RUNNING. Once your hands are out, run the disposal.
2. Add baking soda: Put 1/2 cup of baking soda in the disposal and let it sit for about an hour.
3. Follow up with some vinegar: Pour 1/2 cup of vinegar in the disposal. It should cause a mild reaction that will bubble up.
4. Run cold water and your disposal: With the cold water running, turn your disposal on and let it run for about a minute.

When was the last time you cleaned any of these three things?