Chicago’s Ultimate Cleaning Q&A: Real Answers for Busy Homeowners

Between work, family, and enjoying everything Chicago has to offer, keeping your space clean can feel like a constant battle. Whether you’re tackling weekend chores or considering professional home cleaning, we’ve gathered the most helpful cleaning insights from expert Melissa Maker’s recent Q&A session.

Do You Really Need Antibacterial Spray?

Many Chicago residents wonder if they need antibacterial cleaners for everyday surfaces. The answer might surprise you!

According to cleaning expert Melissa Maker, antibacterial sprays are only necessary in specific situations:

• After preparing raw meat like chicken
• When cleaning produce with visible dirt
• In bathrooms where germs are more concerning

For everyday countertop cleaning (like making sandwiches), regular dish soap and water works perfectly. Overusing antibacterial products can actually be counterproductive – and more expensive!

Closet Organization Made Simple

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by closet clutter, you’re not alone. Here’s a practical approach to reclaiming your space:

Seasonal Separation

Living in Chicago means dealing with four distinct seasons. Store off-season clothing elsewhere to free up valuable closet space.

Smart Shelf Organization

• Top shelves: Store infrequently used items like extra bedding
• Middle shelves: Keep paper products and bulk items
• Lower shelves: Use bins for hair products, medications, and daily essentials

If organizing feels overwhelming, remember that fast cleaning services can help you get started with a fresh slate.

Natural Cleaning Solutions That Work

For those who prefer eco-friendly options, enzyme-based cleaners like Pink Solution offer effective alternatives to harsh chemicals.

Hardwood Floor Care

Enzyme cleaners work wonders on hardwood floors by breaking down grease and dirt without damaging surfaces. Just avoid steam mops, which can harm wood finishes over time.

DIY Glass Cleaner

For streak-free windows and mirrors, try this simple recipe:

• Equal parts white vinegar and water
• 1 teaspoon of cornstarch
• Shake well and spray

Bathroom Cleaning Made Easy

Chicago’s hard water can make bathroom cleaning particularly challenging. Here’s how to tackle common issues:

Shower and Tile Cleaning

For soap scum and hard water stains, consider:

• Magic Eraser Bath sponges
• Pink Solution Scrub or similar products
• DIY paste: 3 parts baking soda to 1 part dish soap

Always buff surfaces dry after cleaning to prevent water spots and mineral buildup.

Preventing Hard Water Stains

The simplest solution? Keep a microfiber cloth handy to wipe down surfaces after each use. Preventing water evaporation is key to avoiding those chalky white deposits.

Kitchen Deep Cleaning Tips

Your kitchen sees the most action, so it deserves special attention.

Oven Cleaning Methods

For self-cleaning ovens:

• Remove oven racks and everything from warming drawers
• Wipe out loose debris before starting the cycle
• Ensure proper ventilation during cleaning

For regular ovens, abrasive cleaners or steam cleaners work well for baked-on grime.

Stainless Steel Sparkle

Keep your appliances looking new with:

• Dish soap and water for fingerprints
• Rubbing alcohol for stubborn streaks
• Ceramic coatings like LifeProof for long-term protection

Quick Solutions for Common Problems

Carpet Stains

For quick stain removal:

• Use enzyme-based cleaners for organic stains
• Dawn Power Wash works well for grease and food
• Always blot rather than scrub to avoid spreading stains

Dusting Done Right

Professional technique for dust-free surfaces:

• Start with dry dusting using a microfiber cloth
• Dust over floors, not already-cleaned surfaces
• Follow with damp cloth for final cleaning

When to Call the Professionals

While DIY cleaning works for maintenance, sometimes you need deep cleaning help from experts. If you’re facing:

• Major post-renovation cleanup
• Seasonal deep cleaning needs
• Stubborn stains that won’t budge
• Just not enough time to keep up

It might be time to schedule a cleaning with professionals who know Chicago’s specific cleaning challenges.

As Chicago’s trusted cleaning service near me, we understand that life gets busy. Whether you need regular maintenance or occasional apartment cleaning, having reliable cleaning services in Chicago can make all the difference in maintaining your home without sacrificing your precious free time.

Hi everyone. Uh, welcome to this November edition of cleaning Q&A, also known as messy confessions here on Clean My Space. This is your friend and support in cleaning, Melissa Maker, here. And uh, welcome everybody and I’m sorry for starting a couple minutes late. There was a last minute thing I needed to crack out. Um, and it was just like, you know, when you’re like, I’m almost done. And then sorry time just got away from me. I do apologize about that. Um so as always I love to see where you are watching from. So let me know in the comments. I think most of you know by now that I am in Toronto in Canada. So that’s where I am. But I would always love to know um where you are from. And yes over the weekend uh I was a Blue Jays fan. um have been for maybe the past three weeks or so. And uh it was it was quite uh the baseball series that us here in Toronto and uh us across the country actually as Canadians were were really hoping for. So I know we have uh some friends joining us from other parts of the world outside of North America. So I know um Major League Baseball is not as exciting for you. I really don’t care about Major League Baseball to be honest, but um for those of you who aren’t aware, the Toronto Blue Jays haven’t been in the World Series. I want to say was it 1994? Um I think they won in 1993 and then they went back in ’94 and then they didn’t win. Anyway, I don’t care about sports at all, but for us here in Toronto and Canada, it would have been a really big deal if they won. and everybody was really excited and the and the Jays didn’t win. But honestly, they did a really awesome job. And it’s just a reminder, you know, if we sort of take what happened to the Blue Jays and we bring it back, like they just kept hustling and even though they were the underdogs, they worked real hard. Uh, and they went up against the best team in the Major League Baseball league. And um, they didn’t win, but they put up a really good fight. And that’s a great reminder for all of us. No matter who we’re up against, we have to just bring our agame. Um, so here I am and my job is to answer your cleaning questions today. Uh, there is a way that you can join me live if you feel brave enough. There’s a link that will come up in the comments. You can click that link. Um, and it’ll invite you to screen share with me. So, you and I will be side by side and we can just chat through a cleaning problem that you’re having. And I love to do that the most. You can obviously put anything you want in comments. Um but yeah, I would just be delighted to chat with you um as well and work through a cleaning product pro project or question that you have live. Uh so we’ve got some people from Oklahoma, from New York. Um where else uh are we joining from? Buffalo, the UK, California. Oh, so nice to see everybody here. We’ve got Aurelia, Woodstock by way and New Brunswick, Maryland, Indiana, New York. So, yeah, lots of lots of different places. Anyway, let me uh get started on some of our cleaning questions. So, Hannah wants to know just more about cleaning. Do you need to use antibacterial spray to clean the countertops with washing up liquid and water, especially after cooking? So in the UK, dish soap is called washing up liquid, just so everyone else is on the same page um by way of terminology. So here is my opinion, Hannah. Okay. If you are cooking or preparing something on a countertop surface that has the potential to transfer um harmful bacteria. So let me give you an example. If you’re preparing meat like chicken or if you have some produce that you know was freshpicked from the farm and has a lot of dirt on it, you want to wash that off first before putting it on your counter because you can transfer um you know germs from the actual dirt like dirt from the ground or the tree uh onto your countertop surface which could potentially lead to you getting sick. Okay. But if you’re just like making a peanut butter and jam sandwich on the counter, you don’t have to worry about cleaning it with uh an antibacterial cleaner. I think, you know, I watch a lot of stuff online and I see people who just overclean surfaces and you know what they’re doing? They’re wasting their time. They’re wasting product. So, it’s money and they’re also overcleaning an environment. So an overly clean or an overly sterile environment is actually detrimental to our immune system because we have to have some exposure to germs every day so that our immune system is regularly challenged and is able to fight that off. That’s what keeps us healthy. So if we’re constantly disinfecting all of our surfaces, we’re doing ourselves a disservice and we’re paying money to do it and we’re paying with time. So, uh, in closing, Hannah, I hope, um, I hope that that helps and I hope that explains things a little better. And I think it’s really important, um, to to to just use it judiciously. So, if you’re worried about germs or crosscontamination, meat, produce, something along those lines, absolutely. But if it’s just like an everyday cleaning thing or if you know you’re in the bathroom, it makes sense to use it in certain areas, but certainly not something that you would need for every day. Okay. Hope that helps. All right. What uh what is next on the docket? Let me see. Oh, hello. >> Hi. >> I will not do this at all. However, I’m a clutter freak. >> You’re a clutter freak? >> Yes. >> I just got some stuff done and my closet is kind of empty. So, I’m trying to determine what exactly should I put in there because I’m I’m going on a throwaway feast right now. So, I’m throwing away a lot of stuff and I don’t need to keep stuff that I don’t put it back like it was cluttered. >> I’m so excited. This is like the best possible place you could be right now because you’re redoing your closet. Everything’s out of there and this is when you get to pick what to put back. So, if we’re thinking about what to put back, um, first of all, do do you live in a four seasons place or or just like a rainy season and warm season place? >> Four. >> Okay. So, me too. So, what I do is I separate all of my spring summer stuff and I don’t even put that in my closet for fall winter. So, if you have everything out of the closet right now, consider just putting back your warmer weather stuff or colder weather stuff, your warmer stuff, if you will. And then >> and then store it. Yes. >> Um not the bedroom, not the closet in the bedroom. The hallway like >> toiletry top, stuff like that. >> I don’t I really feel to me this always used to be a just throw it in there to get it out the way spot. I don’t want to do that again. Okay. I don’t think I need five hand soaps. >> Okay. >> Seven shampoo conditioners. >> Yeah, >> that’s how I used to have it. But right now it’s it’s it’s look like I’m about to start again. And you know, this is my hair stuff. >> Yeah. >> I don’t even think I need this much hair stuff. So, it’s like this stuff left over because we was working on something. I just This will go back in the tool box. This won’t be >> But like you see how the top is just totally empty. >> I’m short. I can’t even reach all the way up there. So, I honestly wanted to kind of bring it down here. I kind of want to put something up here that I may >> go to every now and again, but I need it to be around just in case. You understand? >> I do. So, what’s something that you use very infrequently? Like, do you have extra sheets or extra pillows or a blanket that you don’t use very occasionally? Because that would be the best thing to put up there. >> Okay. So, I can think like next week uh sheet in a week after sheeting sheets. >> Yeah. So, if you have anything extra, so for me in my in my closet like yours, that’s what I have up there. I have all the bedding that I almost never use because if I need it, I’m going to get a step stool and I’ll grab it down, but otherwise it doesn’t need to be within reach. I I have no reason to access that on a regular basis. So, that’s high up storage. So, that’s what’s going to go up there on your >> put it in a container or you just have it folded nice and neat. >> Personally, I have it folded. I don’t feel a container is necessary for that. But, if you wanted to put it in a container or a bag, you could certainly do that. I just didn’t want to like spend the money on a container. I didn’t think it was useful. The next shelf you can use for paper products. So, the toilet paper that you have there, >> paper towel and toilet tissue right here. >> So, I keep all of my face like my my Kleenex. I keep my toilet paper and paper towel all on a big shelf like that. So, I have it all organized. Sometimes it’s easier to keep it in a package. Sometimes it’s easier to take it out. Ultimately, whatever is going to make it sort of fit in and slot in in an organized way. And then anything else above and beyond that, as you said, you don’t need five hand soaps and seven conditioners. Like, don’t buy more. And if it’s on sale and you want to, you know, keep an extra stock, put that in your basement or storage or whatever. But then it’s just like you’re kind of storing things in two places. So, I try not to buy tons and tons of that stuff. Like I’ll just buy, okay, I need more toilet paper. I’ll buy 12 more rolls or six rolls of paper towel or, you know, six boxes of Kleenex because I’m not going to get like a hundred boxes. Even though I could go to Costco and do that, I just don’t want to store that much stuff. So, that shelf should be good for you um >> to keep >> What about the lower one? >> The lower shelf. Now, I want to talk about kind of baskets and bins. This is where that’s going to make sense because you’ve got hair stuff. I think you had like a maybe like a cream or something like a medical product, hair brushes. So, what I did, Kim, was I went to IKEA. >> I don’t know if you have an IKEA near you, but >> they have, and this is what I recommend, measure your cupboard, your like your shelf, >> so that you know the length, the width, and the depth. >> Go to IKEA. They have these stacking bins that you can pick up, plastic stacking bins. Um, and if you watch one of the recent videos that we did of me giving a tour of my whole house, you’ll see the ones that I use. They come in all different sizes. >> They’re plastic, white plastic bins. They come in different colors. They were so inexpensive, less than $5 a bin. >> Write on on them with permanent marker and just, you know, or if you have a label maker, you can put labels. And that’s how I organize everything. It’s just as much as I don’t want to be that person with the bins and the little boxes, like it’s hard to organize a big shelf like that because you can only use so much surface area, right? >> Mhm. >> And obviously, you don’t want 60 boxes in there with a whole bunch of different You don’t want to like overorganize and store a whole bunch of stuff. So, you want to find a happy medium, but those boxes and bins are going to maximize the functionality of that space. And then what’s going to end up happening is the lower shelf or two that you have there are going to be empty. >> Okay. So, >> isn’t that a good feeling? >> Yeah. You got five drawers. >> Yeah. Perfect. So, now you have five drawers and you can figure out what else to use those for. So, if you have things, you know, around the house that you you weren’t quite sure where to put them, like I’m just trying to think of examples off the top of my head, but um you know, >> I might make one I may make one like a medicine jewelry, I guess. >> Because I do. But then I got some essential oils and a lot of different oils. So, >> toothbrush. >> I No, I don’t. My bathroom is not done. So therefore, stuff that normally would be in the bathroom, I may have to put in the hallway right now cuz it’s it’s under construction. >> Well, that’s okay because now you freed up some space. And honestly, let me just congratulate you for taking the first step because I know how much work that takes to get to where you even got right now. >> So, be really proud. >> You do not want to know what this look like before it is. This is bad to me and I’m having anxiety that I don’t I’m having anxiety that I don’t want it to go back to what it was. >> Yes. Okay, that’s reasonable. >> That’s the thing. >> We can work on that. We can work on that. You know what to do now. You got this. >> Now, I’mma hit you uh how often you go live? >> Uh once a month. First Monday of the month. >> So, next month I’m gonna hit you up. >> And you’re gonna show us? I can show you, but I’mma hit you up on organizing this. >> Perfect. Let’s do it. >> Do you see this room? But it it may already be ready when I get a chance. So, I’m trying. This going to be my craft on. My son moved out. So, now I’m exploring my house and starting to do things here, there, there, you know, everywhere. >> Perfect. It’s a work in progress, Kim. Keep up the great work. Thank you and have a nice day. >> You too. You too. Awesome. Okay, so I have a question here um about pink solution and it’s from Moody Boobs. Jenna, I love that name. I’m curious if you still use Pink Solution for anything and if so, what do you use it for? At the moment, I only really use the light mix as an all-purpose cleaner. Okay, so Pink Solution is a product that is similar to um uh BioClean Backout. So for those of you who aren’t in North America, it’s an enzymebased cleaner. Um something similar but not exactly the same would be universal stone which is available in the uh in the EU. Okay. So, um, dilutable, there’s not a dilutable version of, um, universal stone. There’s a paste version, and that would be akin to pink solution scrub. Um, but the dilutable cleaner they do not have. Okay, let me get back to Janna’s question. So, pink solution comes in two formats. The first paste is it kind of looks like butter. Um, and it’s just this dilutable cleaner. You heat it up, you add it to water, and you can use it as a as sort of a cleaning product, but instead of being a soap, like a surfactant um or an acid, it works uh to break down dirt on a surface using enzyatic action. So, it’s very effective. It just takes a little bit longer to use. Um you can use it in different concentrations. You can use it to deal with stains on clothing if you have like a really dirty job that you’re dealing with. Yes, Jen, it is an enzyme cleaner. So, if you have a really dirty job that you’re dealing with, you can um double up the amount that you’re using. So, if you would normally heat one tablespoon, you can heat two tablespoons and add that to a spray bottle. You can also use it to clean your floors. In fact, if you have hardwood floors, um you can use that in a spray bottle or mixed up in a bucket and it your floors will gleam. And my friends, if you have Bioclean product like Backout or anything like that, same result. It’s going to it’s going to get your floors really really beautifully clean. Um, in terms of using it for cleaning around the house, I don’t really uh I don’t use it anymore. Quite frankly, I found it expensive and cumbersome to use because you had to, you know, do the whole melting down and this and that. But that’s just me and that’s because I have so many cleaning products accessible to me all the time. What I really did like about it and do like about it is that it’s like a very natural safe cleaner. Uh it’s got very basic ingredients and then the pink solution scrub is very similar to the pink stuff. And I know that that’s readily available kind of in Europe and um other parts of the world as well. But instead of quartz being the scrub um what’s there? It’s like a It’s like a volcanic um It’s like a groundup volcanic stone that they use instead. Pretty sure that’s what it is. Um yeah, and essentially it just gently araides a surface so it won’t scratch it, but it’ll araid. And it’s really good for dealing with soap scum or to do a job that you would want a magic eraser to do. Um safe to use on stove tops and in sinks. like it does a great job scouring and like I said, universal stone would perform the same way if you’re in Europe as well. Um, so to me, Jenna, Pink Solution Scrub has more applications than Pink Solution, but if you have Pink Solution and you have hardwood floors, I think it would be great to use. Hope that answers the question. And if you are in Canada and come across Pink Solution, consider giving it a try. It’s a decent product. Okay, Angela, best way to clean windows so that they are streak free. So, we have a few different options here. Option number one is to use a flatweave microfiber cloth. We sell those at Makers Clean. Um, they’re called a glass and electronics cloth. They have no pile to them, so they are absolutely flat, almost like a like a velvet or a suedelike texture. Um, you can use that with a little bit of vinegar and water. Something else you can use on windows, similar to the conversation we were just having about abrasion, is you can use a teaspoon of cornstarch if you’re going to make your own glass cleaner, which I highly recommend. Um, do equal parts white vinegar and water and then add a teaspoon of cornstarch. And the corn starch is just going to help to rub off any of that difficult crap that’s stuck to the window. I know it sounds crazy. You put it in, you shake it up, you spray it on, you wipe, it works like magic. So, give that a try. The next option would be to use um if you have tons and tons of windows. I just did a review recently on a product called the Windbot Mini. It’s made by Eovax. So, it’s essentially like a robot cleaning vacuum for your window. Um, not everybody’s cup of tea, not in everybody’s price range. It’s 300 bucks Canadian, but if you live in a house full of windows and very modern and tons of glass, that’s going to save you a lot of time. So, that’s what I would recommend there. And if you want sort of a happy medium, you can look at getting a double-sided squeegee. So, on one side, you’re going to have a microfiber pad. On the other side, you’re going to have a rubber tip squeegee. And what you would do there is you would dip the squeegee into a bucket with uh hot water. So just fill the bucket with hot water about halfway. Then you can add a generous squirt of dish soap, maybe about a teaspoon. And then you can do two cups of white vinegar. You’re going to mix that solution together. Put a towel underneath the window so you’re not getting tons of drips. And then you’re just going to use the um microfiber application of your squeegee to go side to side. And then you’re going to flip it over to the rubber tip and you’re just going to remove everything off the glass. Works very quickly, very efficiently. You can have a microfiber cloth right beside you. Uh the Makers Clean Duo cloth would be a great option for that just to wipe the blade and catch any excess and then move on to the next window. You can probably get a window clean and quite literally crystal clear with that method in less than a minute. So, I think that’s a pretty efficient way to do it as well. Um, and it totally like uh rubber tip squeegees totally get rid of streaks, too. Um, so yeah, uh, you’ve got your option for like one window, tons of windows, and a few windows. Okay, Britney wants to know, “What’s the best way to clean a scratched stainless steel stove top?” Okay, you have to get a stainless steel repair kit. Um, you can pick those up online. Uh it’s got sort of a liquid, a bit of sandpaper, and you sort of just follow the instructions and do it. Um it’s something we’ve had to do a few times over the years with the cleaning company. Um it’s like not a big deal, but it’s also something you want to make sure that you are following the instructions to the letter because you are playing around with chemicals and you want to make sure that you’re getting that surface uh kind of perfect and back to where it needs to be. I will say for me in my own house, my expectation is that my house is going to be lived in. I’m gonna have scratches on my hardwood floor. I have a crack in my tile. My stainless steel appliances at one point or another will get scratched. We live in these houses, right? So, if this is for you, I would just say unless it’s like an obvious gouge, maybe don’t worry about it. If it’s not going to cause any harm or rust, if you’re worried about that, you can repair it. I guess the reason I’m saying this is just because I want to like give you permission to not stress out about these things. But if if you’re, you know, working for a cleaning company and you have to make it right for your customer, that’s that’s the fix right there. Okay. Hannah wants to know, “When it comes to cleaning your bedroom, where is the best place to start? I usually declutter first and then clean. When it comes to mirrors, how do you clean without a cleaner?” Okay. So, I think I just shared that whatever I just said about uh cleaning glass when I was talking with Angela would the same methods would apply for cleaning your mirrors. Glass and mirrors, same cleaning methods. Um probably your flatweave microfiber cloth, a little bit of water and vinegar would be a great place to start. When it comes to cleaning the bedroom, the way that I do it is um I deal with all the laundry first because even though I’m 43 and I’ve been doing this cleaning gig for the last 19 years, I still fall victim to throwing my clothes on the floor. So, I have to deal with the clothes first. I have to deal with the clothes on the bed, the clothes on the chair, the clothes on the floor, any laundry that has to be folded. Yes, if I showed you my room right now, that’s exactly what’s going on. So embarrassed. I am dealing with that though um at some point today. I have to. I absolutely have to. So that’s where I would start. The next place I would go is if the sheets need to be done, I would strip the sheets, throw them in the wash, uh or I would just make up my bed. After that, I would deal with sort of any of the surfaces, dusting, reorganizing, putting things away. And just as an aside, when I moved into this new house and put my bedroom together, I kept surface space in there to a minimum purposely because I know myself and anywhere there is a surface, I will find stuff to put on the surface. That’s just an animal in her natural habitat. That’s how I operate. So, I am trying to outsmart myself in my bedroom where I’m not giving myself the ability to put a lot of things on the surface. Um, so just some thoughts like if you have a lot of surfaces in your bedroom and it’s starting to drive you crazy, think about decluttering or think about removing one of those surfaces altogether. And then once that’s done, I would then move down to cleaning the floors under the bed, that kind of thing. Okay, so that’s kind of the technique I use. Um, on the Clean MySpace YouTube channel, we do talk about the three-wave system, and I do have a video, actually, I have quite a few, where I talk about or demonstrate using the three-wave system to clean the bedroom. Um, that could be a really great thing for you to watch if you’re looking um for a good starting point and you actually want to see me do it step by step. That’ll show you how it’s done. Thirsty, thirsty, thirsty this morning. All right. Looking. Oh my gosh. Okie dokie. Okay. T LRMD for you. What’s your best cleaning for doing showers and doors? And what can make your stainless steel appliances sparkle? Oh, this is an easy question. Okay, best cleaning for showers and doors. I’m going to give you a few different options. So, the first option we’re going to cover, enzyme cleaners. So, I already talked about pink solution. Uh, it would be pink solution scrub that you’re looking for. Pink stuff is also great for cleaning showers and tiles. You want anything with a bit of abrasion in it. So, a cream cleanser, something like Vim or if you’re in the UK, CIF. I think I think in the States it’s CIF as well. I don’t think you guys have Vim in the States. Um, soft scrub is similar to that. So, that’s sort of a product with some abrasion. Uh, Barkeeper’s Friend has a bathroom cream cleanser product. That’s great. CLR has a product called Brilliant Bath. I think that’s a great product as well. So, those are all some really good products that you can try. If you want to make your own, if you want to do a DIY scrub, you could do um about one part dish soap to three parts baking soda. Um so in whatever um sort of what’s the word I’m looking for here? You can sort of dial it up or dial it down as much or as little as you like depending on how much cleaning you have to do. You might want to do 3 tablespoons baking soda, one tablespoon dish soap. Mix that up. You want it to be like a pudding almost in terms of its consistency. Um, and just go through that because it’s not going to keep. So, you just have to get rid of it when you’re done. But that is going to be very, very powerful in terms of cleaning uh soap scum and hard water stains and all of that stuff. And you can use that with a sponge. Make sure you rinse well. As with any of the products that I suggested earlier, you will have to use it with a sponge. You will have to rinse it well. You will want to buff it dry. And to buff it dry, I would recommend using something like the Makers Clean Duo cloth. I did talk about that earlier. Um, that’s just really good because it’s a big thirsty cloth. And when you do like a final wipe, it’s going to get rid of any water marks or stains or any additional, you know, residue that’s left behind. You never want to leave the shower or the tub wet in any respect. Whether it’s just after you’ve cleaned it or just after you’ve finished using it, you always want to squeegee it at the end or use a big towel just to buff it dry. Not only is it going to get it shiny, but it’s going to get rid of that moisture that can then lead to mold or mildew. Now, in terms of a product you could use, Magic Eraser has a new sponge that they’re calling Magic Eraser Bath, which has uh more ingredients uh impregnated in the sponge to eliminate soap scum. I have tested this. I did not want to believe it would work as well as it did. It was amazing. So, you can’t you can’t fight it. It worked really well. Now, in terms of getting your your stainless steel appliances to sparkle, lots of different ways to do that, too. Uh, number one, you want to get rid of fingerprints. So, great way to do that is to just use dish soap and water or a little bit of vinegar and water. That’s going to cut the grease, cut the oil, cut the mess. The next step, if that hasn’t completely eliminated all of your streaks and marks, um you can use a little bit of rubbing alcohol on a cleaning cloth and just buff, like you can spray it on and buff the surfaces. Something else you can consider for your stainless steel appliances and even for your glass shower doors is uh lifep proof, which is a ceramic coating. And I’ve talked about this before. If someone on my team has a link for it, if you can put it in the des in the chat, that would be great and we’ll get that link up for you for lifep proof. Um, that’s a really cool product because what it does is it provides a ceramic coating that then prevents fingerprints, streaks, marks, soap scum, anything like that from building up on a surface. Um, you don’t have to clean it as vigorously as you would have to clean something that’s not protected. And it can clean effect it can protect effectively any flat surface in your home. So your stone countertops, your tiles, stainless steel appliances, etc. Uh, okay. Hope that helps. Uh, ooh, how to clean an oven. Okay, so lots of different ways to do this. Uh, it depends if the oven is selfcleaning or not. So, if it’s self-cleaning, um the first thing to do is to take out the oven racks and to remove everything from the warming drawer, which is that little drawer underneath the oven, as well as everything sitting on top of the surface because it’s going to get up to about 1,000°. It’ll melt anything that it comes in contact with. That’s job one. Job two is to take a damp paper towel and just wipe out as much debris as you can because this is going to heat up to a very very high temperature about a th00and° um anything that’s sitting in there is going to singe and burn and it’s going to stink. So if you can get out carbonized crap stuck at the bottom, better to do that. Okay, so that’s step one. Step two is you’re going to activate your selfcle cycle. Um, it’s usually turn of a couple knobs, click of a couple buttons. It’s going to run for anywhere from three to four, maybe five hours. You want to make sure that you’re in a well ventilated situation. So, open a window, open a door, make sure your overhead exhaust is turned on, and let it rip. Once it’s done, give it about 30 minutes to an hour to cool down. Then, you’re going to take a a paper towel that’s a little bit damp. You’re going to wipe it down. If you don’t have a selfcleing oven, lots of different ways that you can tackle this mess. A lot of the abrasive cleaners I talked about recently for cleaning the tub and the shower is also going to be able um to help you with the oven. So, for example, those abrasive cleaners like uh pink solution scrub, the pink stuff um those are are really good. Barkeeper’s Friend, it really depends on the surface that you’re using it. Some surfaces, some inside of the oven areas, they’re not okay with you using it. So, you just have to check what kind of oven you have and check the instructions on the product. You can use super fine steel wool um and a little bit of product as well. That’s going to help get rid of any of those like singed on baked on marks. A steam cleaner is an amazing option also for cleaning the inside of an oven. It’s going to save you a lot of scrubbing. So, lots of different ways you could do it. Um get those oven racks out of the way. You can soak those. I have a video on how to do that on the Clean MySpace YouTube channel. Um, very easy way to get it done and super handsoff, which is what I always love to do. And the easiest thing you can do to keep your oven clean is after any major spills, uh, don’t let it sit. If you notice that something’s bubbling over in the stove, when it’s done, you can throw a little bit of salt on it. Let that cool. Um, and then remove the mess with the salt on top. the mess is going to adhere to the salt and not the uh base of the oven. So, it makes the job a lot easier to do. And then just wipe your oven out on a somewhat regular basis just to keep the mess at bay and then you’re not dealing with like a really disgusting situation. So, hope that helps. What else do we have here? How do you recommend the best way is to clean a hardwood floor? Okay. So, um I do not recommend a steam mop for hardwood floor. As much as steam mop companies are going to try and encourage you to buy a steam mop, um that’s cuz it’s in their best interest to sell more steam mops. If you talk to hardwood floor manufacturers, they clutch their pearls when they hear people wanting to use steam mops on hardwood. It is like a huge no no. So, please don’t. Um the the method that I prefer honestly is just using a flathead mop. Um obviously the one that I love is the Makers Clean mop. Um I’ve got a link to that for you uh in the chat as well. And um by the way, if you’re not already on the Makers Clean email list, Black Friday, Cyber Monday is coming up. It is the time of year when we have our absolute very best sales. Um very best sales, let me say that. We were just in planning mode right before I got on this call. Lots going on on Black Friday. So, um I’ll get a link for you in the chat as well where you can sign up to uh the Makers Clean Insider, which is our newsletter, um if you haven’t done so already. So, that’s really important. Uh okay. So, the our our taco shape mop is great because you have mop pads that you can use on both sides. um it applies pressure evenly, whereas other flathead mops that are sort of rectangular kind of they can’t evenly distribute pressure. So even if you’re pushing down really hard, it doesn’t disperse out to both ends. You’re wasting a lot of energy, not getting as good a result. So the um the flathead mop is the best way. The other reason it’s great is because it’s not leaving a lot of moisture behind, and hardwood floor doesn’t like moisture. It leaves streaks, and it’s also not healthy for the floors, if you will. um a a spin mop, twist mop, like they’re okay, but again, like they’re not my favorite because they do leave streaks. And then um they’re now these like vacuum uh mop combo tools. So High Zero has one, Dyson has one, Shark has one. They’re, you know, robot vacuums that are m mopping and vacuuming as well. I have two of those items upstairs. I’m testing them out and like they work. They’re okay, but I still think you get the most detailed clean with a flathead microfiber mop. So, I hope that answers. And then in terms of product, like I was saying, the pink solution um the pink solution mix, the enzyme cleaner or backout, if you have the ability to sort of whip that up and use it as a a diluted cleaner, that’s amazing for hardwood floor because it’s going to lift up all of that grease and oil and dead skin, you know, from the bottom of our feet. It’s just it’s the best as far as I’m concerned. Vinegar and water is also great. A little bit of dish soap is great. Um yeah, it’s it’s as long as you’re not using too much product, it’s going to leave it sticky under foot, you’re in good shape. Okay. Uh non-scleing oven. Okay. So, I did walk through those techniques. So, I hope you got uh all that info. Um, definitely let me know if uh you have any more specific questions about that. Okay, Dolores, I have major dusting to do and don’t know how to approach it. Uh, do I need two cloths for each item, one for applying product and one for buffing? And how do I clean ceiling fan wooden blades? Okay, let’s start off let’s start off with the dusting question. So, I think the best place to start anytime you’re dusting is to think about doing dry dusting first. So, remember, dusting is separate from cleaning. Okay? Like, when we’re cleaning and we’re using like a wet product like an all-purpose cleaner or a glass cleaner, we want to make sure that whatever it is that we’re cleaning is completely free of dust and dirt and debris. Because if we get that wet and then we wipe it around, we’re like applying glue to that surface and you’re now going to have stuff sticking to that surface. So if you’re cleaning a vase, for example, you want to dust it first, then you want to clean it second. Um, that’s kind of what I call two-step cleaning. So Dolores, I like to have a dry cloth for my dry dusting. And that would be like a dry terry style microfiber cloth or what we call a generalpurpose cleaning cloth at Makers Clean. Um, you’re just going to kind of fold it in quarters, dust the product or dust the item. I like to dust it over the floor. I don’t want to dust it over a shelf or over another item that I’ve already cleaned. So, just sort of physically turn your body, dust it over a floor, then kind of put it to the side. Um, pull everything else down from that surface. Repeat. So, you’re going to sort of dust, do your dry dusting, um, with the same cloth over the floor, not over the shelf. put everything down. Then you can dust the shelf itself, okay, with your dry cloth. Now, if you notice that after the dusting is done, there is still some dirt to reckon with, it’s at that point that you can use your second microfiber cloth, terry style as well, general purpose, no problem. And just get a little bit of spray. Like the stuff that I usually use at home is what I, you know, always whip up. It’s like half teaspoon of dish soap, two cups of water, put in a spray bottle. Okay, I would spray the item or the cloth and I would use the second cloth for my let’s call it wet work and then I would wipe um whatever the item is. You can wipe the shelf, whatever it is that you need to do. Once everything is dry, you can then replace it back on the shelf. So, that’s kind of the dusting technique that you want to use. That way, you’re avoiding um getting any of the surfaces dirty and you know, you can kind of keep track of your wet cloth and your dry cloth. What some people will do is they’ll put a dry cloth on their shoulder and they’ll have the wet cloth in their hand or they’ll have like a wet cloth in one pocket, a dry cloth in the other pocket. Lots of different ways that you can do it just so that you know kind of what you have uh and you’re not mixing it up. And microfiber cloths are so durable, if you will, like they can hold over eight times their weight in water. At least ours can, like the good quality ones can. Um, so it’s not like you’re burning through tons and tons and tons of cloths. Okay. Um, and the buffing that you’re talking about, the buffing will happen um, when you’re sort of doing the wet work, right? Like you’ll sort of wipe it and if you’re using a microfiber cloth, it’s not going to be like soaking wet. So, you don’t need to buff it dry. But if you do notice any streaks, you can use a dry microfiber cloth to do the buffing. And then in terms of cleaning ceiling wood fan blades, um, few different ways that you can do that. if you have like a bendable duster. So, just think of like those extendable Swiffers. Um, you know, you can sort of like bend it like this and then just run it along um the blade. What other people will do is they’ll just get up on a step stool or a step ladder and they’ll like put a pillowcase over it and sort of like swoop all the dust out into the pillowcase and then sort of just repeat um the dry dusting and wet dusting that we talked about. So once they’ve gotten the bulk of the dust out, they’ll then take their dry microfiber cloth, do one more finer dust. By the way, you’re supporting the blade on the bottom because it’s not a stable surface. So I would like support the blade with one hand, wipe with the other away, not over my hair. And then I would repeat that with a wet cloth just to get rid of any of the extra dirt. So I would support the blade, get the wet cloth, wipe it, and that’s how I would go about doing that. Okay. Um, okay. What do we have here? Can you please save this video? I’d love to rewatch it again. Yes. So, our live videos are always saved. Um, we have like on the YouTube channel, you’ll be able to see our Q&As’s. So, this one will be the new November Q&A and you can always rewatch it. And I love that. Um, okay. What else do we have? What is the best cleaner for carpet stains? All right. Uh again, lots of different ways to approach a carpet stain. So, I will give you a few that I really like. The first one is Flex. Um I’ve talked about Follex for a while. I really like it because it’s really effective and it’s quick. So, specifically, it’s good at dealing with color stains. So, I’ve used Flex to get rid of like marker and blood and food and an ant. So, it’s really good. Um, I just have it sitting under my kitchen sink. It’s very readily accessible. Uh, goes a long way. So, I like that. Uh, other things that are great for getting rid of carpet stains. So, Dawn Power Wash can be really good, too. Um, I also have that present. Dawn Powerwash is something I would use more for like a food or a grease stain, you know, something like that. if like a little bit of food gets on a carpet or something, um I would use that even even for something like chocolate. I think it would be it would be a good option. Um you want to make sure that whenever you’re using product on a carpet that you’re not overtreating with the um cleaning agent because the more cleaning agent that’s in there, the more rinsing you’re going to have to do. And if you’re not able to rinse all of it out, you’re then going to deal with um like a sticky section on the carpet, that sticky section is going to attract dust and dirt, and then it’s actually going to look darker. I call those cleaning ghosts because they’re like memories of of messes past, right? Like it’s a little circle and it’s like a little dirtier than everything else. It’s going to drive you crazy. So, just make sure that you’re using less product than you think you need. Um blotting and scraping, cold water, be gentle. You can also get one of those miniature carpet cleaning tools like um like a little Bissell green like little green I think they’re called. Those little guys that you can take around also can be very very helpful um for dealing with stains. All right. Um what’s the best cleaner for vents in the winter? So I would say just um vacuuming them on a regular basis. So, using your brush attachment on your vacuum and just running that across the vent. Um, I recently came across something. I actually think I have it on my desk and um, the team and I are planning to film a little video for this on Instagram. I’m going to show you what it is because I think it’s really clever. And it’s these little vent nets. So, if you have these rectangular shaped vents, essentially you take off the vent cover, you put this down, and then you put the vent cover on top. And then when your kids throw like Lego and Cheerios and toys and pipe cleaners and all that stuff down, you just take this out instead uh of having to worry about that crap getting into your ducts. Now, the problem is in my house, I have these little round vents um because I don’t know, the system is supposed to be high efficiency. I I don’t exactly know. Um, it is what it is, but I can’t film it at my house. So, we have to find like a plan B. Um, but that’s going to be coming up. We’ll post that on uh Instagram and and we’ll get it out on shorts as well. That’s pretty cool thing to do. And just a little friendly reminder, every 5 years, you should have your ducts cleaned. And also, just a good reminder in general, my friends, today, hear it from me first. Change your furnace filter. I just did mine last week. Okay. What do we have next here? Sorry, we’re to go back to the oven. No, don’t apologize. Let’s talk about the oven. Is it safe to lubricate the hinges on an oven or would it burn? I don’t know. Um, it’s a really good question. I feel like that’s probably a better question to ask the manufacturer. I mean, I’d love to say just use WD40, but I don’t know if we want to use WD40 in an area where we’re cooking food. So, I would say to consult the manufacturer on that one. I’m sorry. I wish I had a better answer for you. Okay, Kathy. Um, just jumping in here, so maybe this is already addressed. I have a walk-in shower, glass doors with marble tiles. Can I still use vinegar on the glass doors to help get rid of soap scum? Um, yeah, but you don’t need to. Like, honestly, Kathy, what I would do is I would use the magic eraser bath. I would skip the vinegar altogether. For me, it’s too risky. Um because you have marble tile, you’re going to deal with the risk of potential marring. So, I want you to think about it like um what vinegar can do to marble is similar to what bleach can do to clothing. Okay? You’re not going to get like if you’ve seen like a black shirt with a bleach stain on it, you’re not going to get like that overt orange stain, but it’s going to do the same thing. It’s going to be like you have shiny white marble and then you’re going to have this obvious like matte white stain on it. It’s very obvious and it’s going to drive you bananas. So, just do yourself a favor and avoid the vinegar altogether. Switch to something that is not going to cause trouble. And the magic eraser bath would be my favorite for that because it’s not going to drip. Okay? So, you don’t have to worry about liquid gone wild. So, I think that’s that’s a good option for you. Okay. All right. Just wondering drain cleaning. Why leave the baking soda 1 hour before pouring in the boiled vinegar? What is the baking soda doing if it just sits there? So, good question. And by the way, thank you for being a subscriber at Clemy MySpace. Um, sorry, a community member of Clean My Space. Thank you so much. Okay, so here’s the deal. And I actually just did this this morning. Um, if you look on the Clean My Space Instagram, you’ll see that I did this, but I didn’t use vinegar. I actually just used hot water. So, baking soda has the ability to tackle odors, right? So, it goes on a seek and destroy mission. If something is sta stinky, baking soda knows what that thing is and it just sort of eats away at the bad odor. Okay. The hot water sort of activates it um and does like sort of the final the final dirty. It does the final job. All right. And that’s that’s sort of why we add hot water at the end. just sort of activates it, washes it away, helps to break down any of that remaining stuff. Um, and that’s that’s what I did this morning. I just put like a half cup of baking soda down both the kitchen drains, let it sit. I set a timer, then I boiled up some water, dumped it down the drain on both sides of the kitchen sink, and the smell was just gone. Like, it’s just it’s one of those easy things that you can do. Works really, really well. Um, okay. Hope that answers. Oh, and Kathy says, “Love your cloths for dry dusting.” Awesome. Thanks, Kathy. Um, our cloths are also great for wet cleaning. Um, they’re also great for mopping. They have a ton of great uses. Tons. Uh, thank you. And yeah, go to Makers Clean and don’t forget to sign up for the email, uh, the Makers Clean Insider because we got lots of Black Friday stuff coming up. Okay, Meera, let’s get to your question. What works well for urine removal? Okay. Uh, best thing for urine removal is an enzyme cleaner. So, what you need and it depends like is it human urine from that cute little baby there or is it animal urine. So, they’re slightly different. Um, but in terms of dealing with them, you want to use an enzymebased cleaner. So, two that I really like, Rocco and Roxy and Angry Orange, both are available on Amazon. Uh, and yeah, you can’t go wrong. Um, you spray it on, you let it sit for a prescribed period of time. Uh, and then you’re going to rinse it off and then clean whatever the area is. Um, Puracy is also like the Puracy stain remover is also an enzyme based cleaner. So, you can use that to get rid of urine stains as well. Uh, okay. So, here’s one. Get rowdy. How do you clean your toilet brush or pummus stone? Okay. So your pummus stone you’re never going to clean. It’s endless pores. So you’re never going to get that thing clean. The best thing you can do with a pumme is replace it. So if you’re using your pumme to scrub a toilet clean, make sure that you rinse it while you dry it after and then consider replacing it every couple of months because it’s just you can’t clean you cannot clean it. And if anyone tells you you can, please just stop following them. Um and then your toilet bowl brush easier. Uh what you can do is you can just fill a bucket with OxyClean uh and hot water. So do like fill the bucket halfway with hot water, add in a scoop of OxyClean. When I say hot water, it should be boiling. Put the toilet bowl brush in there. Let it sit for a couple hours. Dump out the bucket. Rinse the brush. Keep it away from your face. You don’t get any any of this. All right? And then just dry it on a towel. and uh not a good towel, like towel you’re using to wipe the dog’s paws, you know, like not the one you’re giving to your guests. And um and that’s it. That’s how you do it. And then for the bowl, like the bowl brush container, you can do the same thing. You can just pop that into the bucket and let it sit um rinse it and dry it. And you can do the same thing for a toilet plunger if you dare. Okay. Um how are we doing? Okay, we’ve got five minutes left until the bottom of the hour, so I’m gonna try to power through as many of these questions as I can. Okay. Uh, we have a textured wall. I know I need to clean my walls, but whenever I use a microfiber cloth or a duster, piece of fabric or pond, always get stuck on sharp edges. You’re awesome. Okay, so this is what you could do. Um, a little annoying, but here we go. Uh, you can vacuum your walls. Okay. So, the vacuum head that you would use for a hard floor surface is going to have bristles on the bottom. The vacuum head that you’re going to use for a carpet is going to have no bristles. So, you want bristles. And what those bristles will do is kind of like a toothbrush. They’re just going to help to brush the dust off the surface and then suck it up at the same time. So, that’s what you’re going to do. Um, and hopefully you have like a stick vacuum where you can do that. You’re absolutely right that if you have a textured wall, it’s like cleaning a popcorn ceiling. You’re going to get you’re going to get little pieces of of fabric stuck in there. Um, another thing you could do, I’m just trying to think, if you had a wet dry vac, um, and it had like a blower mode as well as a suction mode, you can switch it into the blower mode and you can sort of just like blow. Almost think of it like using compressed air to clean a keyboard. You can just sort of like blow air on the walls. Let all the dust fall to the bottom. That would be another option as well. All right. Um I just want to do a little reminder. Um the Dirty Dish is our email newsletter. Um it’s great. We get a tons of great feedback on it. So I’m delighted um for everyone who follows it. Thank you for your feedback. And I hope that you uh continue to enjoy it as much as we enjoy making it for you. Um and that you know like those little lint uh the vent traps that I was talking about. So I’m always on the lookout for these things that are actually helpful, not like some of the weird garbagey stuff that you see online where you’re just like what the hell? Why are people even using that? Um I’m only interested in sharing the really cool stuff. So that is where I share a lot of those finds. Um as well as just other cleaning tips and things that are going on. So, you can sign up for the dirty dirty dirty dish dirty dish using the link below. Okay. Uh, all right. I think I have time for one more question. Feel like a radio calling show. Okay. What works best for preventing the hard water buildup around taps, especially around the rim of the taps in the kitchen and the bathroom countertops. I will tell you, and you know what, my mother, she nags me about this all the time. So, mom, if you’re watching, this one’s for you. Um, you have to have a microfiber cloth and you have to dry that surface regularly. So, if you are cleaning and water splashes everywhere and if you live on planet Earth and you’re human, that is happening to you, you are just going to have to have a microfiber cloth and you’re just going to have to wipe that area dry. The reason why you’re getting water buildup, hard water buildup, sort of that white chalky stuff that’s building up is because water is splashing and then it’s evaporating and then it’s leaving a little bit of residue behind. If you wipe up the water, that residue will never be there. Problem solved. Is it annoying? Yes, we can acknowledge that and at the end of the day, we’re just we have to do it if we don’t want to see that stuff. Or you can do your bigger cleaning using something like CLR, but like again, you know what’s that saying? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of help me please help me. An ounce of pound of ounce of prevention you you guys know what I’m talking about. Sorry. You know 43y old brain over here. Okay. Anyway, um if you remember what that uh little idiom is, thank you. Uh you can share it in the comments. A ounce of prevention is worth a pound of a pound of now I’m so caught up on this. Anyway, Chachi PT will figure it out for me later. It’s been a pleasure to be here with you. Thank you for um understanding that I was 3 minutes late and not a great time manager. Yeah, cure. Maybe it’s cure. Thank you. Um and not today. I was not the best time manager. Thank you so much uh for your understanding. If you’re in Canada, I’ll be on the morning show tomorrow morning talking all about sleep. A pound of cure. Thank you. An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure. Thank you so much. Um I’ll be on the morning show tomorrow morning uh on Global. If you’re in Canada, you can check that out. It is sleep week. Uh and I’m talking about some fun little uh bedroom solutions. Uh otherwise, I will see all of you back here on the live first Monday of December. Oh my god, December feels like a like a bad word. Oh my god, can’t believe it’s already there. Um, follow along on Instagram. You can find me, Melissa Maker, where I share all of my non-cleaning stuff, funny stuff, divorced mom stuff, etc., etc. Um, clean my space on Instagram. You can find the fun stuff there, too. Dirty Dish, Makers Insider, and of course, right here on YouTube. You know, that’s it’s it’s our it’s where we love to be. So, um, thanks to all of you. You are all wonderful. I appreciate all of you. Hope you have a really wonderful month and I will chat with you soon. Have a great rest of the day.