19 Easy Cleaning Solutions For A Messy Home

I’ve found that these Efferdent cleaning tablets — originally designed to deep-clean dentures — help get rid of icky bacteria-causing odor, stains, buildup and particles on thermoses, vases, coffee pots and more. Amazon reviewers swear by these, too, using them for cleaning everything from toilet bowls to electric toothbrushes, Invisalign trays, grout, antique car parts and porcelain tea cups.

Plus, they’re so cheap, they basically pay for themselves.

All you have to do is fill your receptacle with warm water, plop a tablet in, soak and rinse. They’re designed to work in three minutes, but I like to let the tablet do its work for an hour. Afterward, any sludge or grime slides right off.

Promising reviews: “On occasion I use these for things like cleaning my electric toothbrush, but most of the time we use these as a super cheap, easy, safe, and effective way to keep our toilets from staining from our hard well water. We drop one in each evening before bed so that it has several hours to work. It’s not a substitute for cleaning your toilet on a regular basis, but it does help prevent those ugly brownish stains that tend to happen when you’ve got hard water. We still clean the toilets once a week (using the tablets, rather than harsh chemicals – just drop one in, wait about 15 min, and then clean with the toilet brush). Super simple and very effective!” — E. Stephens

“I use these to clean my Contigo travel mug that I drink tea in. They’re way cheaper than bottle cleaners and do wonders against the staining that occurs on the stainless steel. Cheap andeasy hack.” — A