9 Pro Cleaning Tips to Make Your Home Sparkle, According to TikTok's "Queen of Cleaning"
The internet's "Queen of Cleaning" Vanesa Amaro spills her best cleaning advice and product recommendations.
Spring might be the season most associated with cleaning, but if you ask TikTok’s Queen of Cleaning, Vanesa Amaro, who is a Clorox spokesperson, taking the time to tidy up your space all year long can really pay off. Of course, in order to do so, it helps to have an encyclopedia of cleaning tips at the ready. Before you click elsewhere in search of such a hefty book, know that Vanesa’s TikTok and Instagram accounts are as good as it gets — but with hundreds of videos to choose from, it can be easy to fall down a rabbit hole. Luckily for us, Vanesa revealed her top nine cleaning tips to HGTV. Check them out below.
Remember that less is more.
“When it comes to spring cleaning, many people believe that the more cleaning products you have, the better, but that’s not necessarily true,” Vanesa said. “I recommend products that can be used on multiple surfaces and for different cleaning techniques throughout your home, such as Clorox® Disinfecting All-Purpose Cleaner.”
Color-coding closets and pantries is a popular trend, but what about under your kitchen and bathroom sinks? “I like to color code my cleaning supplies (like my microfiber towels and sponges) to each area of my house: blue for the kitchen, green for the bathroom, and so on,” Vanesa shared. “This can help you stay organized and help prevent you from moving dirt or germs from one part of your house to another.”
Even the best dusting cloths and wands don’t pick up every single dust particle — especially when dusting high-up spaces like rafters, ceiling fans, gallery walls and more. Because of this, Vanesa recommends taking a top-down approach when dusting.
“Before you start deep cleaning any area of your home, you should dust first,” she explained. “A good rule of thumb is to work your way from top to bottom, starting with dusting ceiling fans, blinds, windowsills and tops of doors and picture frames, and then you can get started cleaning.” This way, any stray dust particles will still get swept up in the final step of cleaning.
The idea of shiny, freshly cleaned wood floors might be so dreamy that you instinctively reach for a polish or gloss in hopes of achieving such a finish. According to Vanesa, though, you’ll be better off with a wood cleaner, as it will still make your floors (and wood furniture, for that matter) look shiny without leaving behind an oily film, which she says can actually attract more dust. “Many may reach for a polish or gloss, but those products can actually create a film that will build up on your floors and deteriorate them over time,” she added.
Before using any wood floor product, though, Vanesa takes the importance of — you guessed it — dusting! “I have four dogs, which means hair gets everywhere,” she shared. “For wood floors, I like to dust or vacuum first to remove all the dust and built-up hair from shedding, and then I go in with a wood cleaner.”
Remove your toilet seat for the deepest clean.
When it comes to cleaning toilets, most people wipe down the seat, lift it up, wipe under it and deep clean the interior. While this works, Vanesa says you’ll get a better clean if you remove your toilet seat altogether.
“By removing your toilet seat, you can wipe down the whole seat,” she explained. “Make sure you clean the base all the way down to where it reaches the floor to reach every edge and corner, too. I like to use Clorox Clean-Up Cleaner + Bleach with paper towels to wipe down the exterior of my toilet and Clorox Toilet Bowl Cleaner for the bowl.”
If you have a glass stove top, you’ve likely experienced the woes of spilling even just water on it. “Glass stove tops can develop a crust from cooking spills and splatters around the outer edges of the different burners, which can be difficult to remove,” Vanesa said. “I recommend getting a dual-sided scraper to lift this crust up before spraying and wiping down the surface with a bleach-free, multipurpose cleaner.”
Let your oven soak before wiping it down.
While some ovens have self-cleaning modes, Vanesa recommends getting hands-on.
“Grab some gloves and spray down the inside of your oven with an oven cleaner — I like Easy-Off’s Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner — and leave it for about 10 minutes,” she said. “Use a sponge and your dual-sided scraper to lightly scrape off burnt-on messes, and you can use SOS pads to scrub down the oven racks.” To complete the process, wipe down your entire oven with Dawn Powerwash “to ensure there is no cleaning product residue left throughout the oven.”
Be mindful of the products you keep on hand.
It’s no secret that many cleaning products are harmful if ingested. Because of this, Vanesa says it’s important to keep your pets and little ones in mind when stocking your cleaning cabinet. “As a dog mom, I always have cleaning product options that are safe to use around pets, including Clorox® Free & Clear Multi-Surface Spray, which I can use to wipe down their toys and around their beds and food bowls with no rinse required,” she said. “The Clorox Free & Clear line is safe to use around kids and food, too, so I’m able to use these products around my dogs, in the kitchen, and more — without having to switch products as I go.”
Make a cleaning schedule to stay on top of each task, but make it fun!
In today’s day and age, busy schedules are par for the course, and with a full calendar, it can be difficult to tidy up throughout the week. “A lot of times, the hardest part of cleaning can be getting started,” Vanesa acknowledged. “Something that keeps me on track and motivated is a cleaning schedule, so I can cross or check off each task after I’ve done it. It helps me stay focused and makes sure I don’t miss anything.”
Another way to ensure you won’t skip over cleaning? Make it fun! “I love listening to music that keeps me up and moving, like cumbia, salsa, pop — if that song makes you want to dance, then that’s the right song to use for cleaning,” Vanesa said. To keep from having to swipe through playlists mid-cleaning sesh, outfit your home with a smart speaker, like the Amazon Echo 4th Gen Smart Home Hub, that you can voice control.
Looking for even more genius cleaning tips? Vanesa recently released an eBook ($15) stocked with her best cleaning advice.
