Custodial Professionals Share The Best Cleaning Tricks They Know

We all can use as much advice as possible when it comes to cleaning. So let's listen up.

Red Matters

"Peroxide gets fresh blood out of clothes/linens if applied ASAP."

aaronkellysbones

"If it's your blood, your own spit also begins the breakdown process!!!"

littlegingerfae

Mix 10:1...

"Tri-sodoum-phosphate is my go to for anything oil/fat based. Get it in the painting prep supplies at the hardware store. It just melts though grease. You only need a tiny bit for a stain. Mix a few tbsp into your bucket for cleaning around the kitchen."

"Mix 10:1 with water to clean really really greasy messes, like between the stove and the cupboards in a new rental or to strip waxed floors. Keep the stripping ability in mind if you're cleaning anything wood, you can take off the finish if it's a strong mix or sits too long."

"Only reason it's not in all cleaning products like it used to be was overuse was causing problems with algae growth in waterways (phosphates). It's not a problem to use a bit there and there, it's more a problem if every single load of laundry done by everyone has phosphates."

Wtrset

Get the Gunk

"Former cleaning tech here. Get a scrub daddy and some bar keeper’s friend. Literally the best stuff I’ve ever used to get any sort of gunk or residue off of any surface."

alteredsauce

"Not a cleaning professional (and God bless all of you, you should be paid a hell of a lot more than you already are, no f**king joke), but barkeeper's friend, a scrub daddy, some steel wool, rubbing alcohol, vinegar, baking soda makes a hell of a cleaning kit. There are few household messes you can't fix with them."

DeepStateofAffairs

Efficiency

"Make sure the mops and brooms are long enough so you don’t have to bend. That increases your efficiency and you don’t get tired easily."

femoric9

"Man. I'm entirely freaking convinced that no mop or broom is made for people over 5'8". TF am i supposed to do when I'm holding the top of the broom at my waist? I'm disabled. Slightly bending over to do housework is the greatest source of rage (and pain) in my life and I hate it."

Original_name18

To Dust

"Use an old pillowcase to dust ceiling fan blades, it contains the dust so you don't get the dreaded allergy ash cloud."

HauntedButtCheeks

I hate dust. And I hate ceiling fans. So good to know.

Genius

"Vacuum your way out of a room to not leave footprints. Incredibly satisfying work."

Mellokins

Slow Down

"Learned this one from a janitor. Don't scrub right away when you're mopping a floor. First get the whole floor soaked (kind of like soaking a dish with dried on food), then go back to the beginning. Anything that was stuck to the floor will be easier to clean with less work."

audiomechanic

Hot Pour

"(Restaurant janitor) Pouring Hot coffee and letting it sit for a while paired with a good follow up scrub for some reason is good at removing grease stains, I was shown this and never looked further into the why it works but it does!"

thetwin22

"Might be because coffee is slightly acidic! Really good tip as long as you clean the coffee off properly."

Fun-Calligrapher980

Relax

"If you show up to a job and find out that the building was unused that day then make sure the garbages are empty then go find a quiet place to read for 8 hours."

jackfaire

Pay Attention

"Former custodian here. Trash bags don't need to have all that air surrounding them, wasting space in the can and making trash bounce back out, and it's surprisingly easy to get out."

"- Unfurl the bag and get some air in it, so it's not stuck to itself."

"- Shake the air out. Yes, this may sound like extra work, but the next part is cool."

"- Fling the bag, bottom-first, into the trash can, holding onto the top so it doesn't just crumple up at the bottom."

"- Blow into the bag from a foot away. The Bernoulli Effect fills the bag AND pushes out all the air around the bag."

"Now the bag fills the trash can and has its full capacity ready to use. You can even add a knot to hold the bag in place if you want, but I've found it's not needed if done right."

DuplexFields

Common

"Common rubbing alcohol is great at breaking down oily, greasy, or resinous materials that soap struggles to remove."

ApocalypseSpokesman

"Speaking of which: to clean a bong, pour in a sloshy amount of isopropyl alcohol and a heaping teaspoon of salt, and shake that fragile maraca until the residue clears up! The bowl/stem can be cleaned the same way in a ziplock bag."

Q_Fandango

Triangles

"Using a mop (the triangular dusting one they sell at Dollarama are cheap and do the job) to clean shower walls and bath. It used to take me like 45 mins to clean the whole thing. Now I can do it in 20 and don't have to bring a chair/climb on the bath sides to clean the upper walls."

LivingForMCyrus

Bristles

"Toilet brushes rarely reach all of the visible stains in the toilet bowl but the smaller size and shorter bristles on a toothbrush works wonders. Clients usually have one in the medicine cabinet or in one of the drawers but you should rinse it afterwards."

ThisIsNotWorkingOut

Ways to work

"Clean from the ceiling down to floor, aka start high and work your way down. Dust before vacuum."

zomboi

Get out of here Muriel...

"Not a janitor or maid but baking soda is amazing for getting caked on burned shit off the bottom of your pan because you suck at cooking and you're living a lie. Just fill up the first couple inches with water, add in a bunch of baking soda, stir it up, boil the water for 5 minutes, then scrape the bottom of the pan with a wood or plastic spoon."

"Do this a couple times and you should be good to finish in the sink. And if anyone in here starts talking about vinegar so help me god. Vinegar smells like sweaty ball rot and baking soda is basically odorless. Get out of here Muriel. I'm getting me mallet."

HeroinBob138

Fantastic

"WD40 is a fantastic alternative to clean stainless steel. typical stainless cleaners leave a coating that can easily smudge, WD40 (essentially an oil that evaporates) spreads evenly then removes itself, smudges are less noticeable and dust wont cling to the surface. You just need to tolerate the smell when applying."

Orzine

Anything & Everything

"Hand sanitizer works absolute miracles on ink spillages and writing on tables (not so good on floors though, leaves a nasty stain)."

Barkeep_W_A_PewPew

No product needed...

"Not a janitor just someone who cleans sometimes... but I am all about a steam cleaner these days. Even a regular garment steamer can shine windows, eliminate fabric smells, and clean walls. No product needed, still does a really good job. Starting or following with a cleaner is great too, but not always needed."

punkishblob

Maybe now I can keep my house clean. Maybe...