Here’s how to clean the 16 dirtiest items in your home

Areas that are tough to clean – whether it’s because they’re tough to reach or take too much attention to detail – are often the most in need of a scrub.

You probably use your oven several times a week, so it’s essential to keep it tidy – especially since it’s easy for food to spill over the edge and bake onto the floor and generate a lot of smoke, explains Sean Parry, founder of Neat Services. “If the spillage isn’t cleaned after cooking, repeated use of the oven will further bake on the burnt food, making the problem worse and worse,” he says.

Here’s how to clean your oven: Remove the racks and then mix two to three tablespoons of water with baking soda until you get a paste; coat the inside of your oven and let it sit for a bit (even overnight) and then wipe it down. Finish the job by spraying on some vinegar (it will foam a bit where it comes into contact with baking soda) and scrubbing the stubborn spots. And don’t forget to clean the racks, too!

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For the hood and screens, Debra Johnson, Merry Maids’ home-cleaning expert, suggests placing the screens in a pan or sink of hot, soapy water. “Lift the filter up and down under the water to work the suds through and let it sit while you tackle the inside and outside of the hood,” she says. “Hot, soapy water and a non-scratch scrubby sponge will do the trick or you can use a multi-purpose cleaning spray if you prefer.”

Your kitchen stove gets more action than your oven – all the more reason to keep it clean. As with your oven, the high temperatures can bake on food or liquids and the problem gets worse the longer you leave it, explains Parry. If you have a glass stove top, says Jennifer Rodriguez, Chief Hygiene Officer at Pro Housekeepers, try using a mix of one part white vinegar to two parts water in a spray bottle.

“Spray the vinegar solution on your glass stovetop and let it sit for 10 minutes then wipe away,” she says. Here’s how to clean non-glass stovetops: She suggests using hydrogen peroxide and baking soda. “Sprinkle the entire stove top with baking soda and add enough hydrogen peroxide until you notice the gunk fizzling,” she says. “Finally, rinse and dry.”

Another pain-in-the-neck area to clean that gets a lot of action is your kitchen sink. Your first course of action should be to avoid leaving gunk sitting in the sink overnight. Toss the big chunks in the bin or grind them up in the rubbish disposal right after dinner. Using a sponge, start getting rid of the food stains, water spots, rust and soap deposits.

If you’re having a hard time, Rodriguez recommends using baking soda or Borax powder. “Sanitise the sink by plugging the drain, filling the sink up with warm water then adding a little bleach,” she says. “Use a sponge to wipe up in and around the sink including handles and let it sit for five to 10 minutes before allowing it to drain.”

In Australia, states including Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia have higher mineral content in their water. Parry warns that limescale can build up quickly from hard water, leaving white deposits around taps, shower heads and bath taps. “If these aren’t cleaned off regularly, the limescale becomes increasingly difficult to remove and the unsightly white marks get more and more pronounced,” he says. “If your shower head is fixed to a ceiling or wall, you won’t be able to do much about this aside from wiping down the shower head with a limescale cleaning product.

However, if the shower head is removable or attached to a hose for example, then we highly recommended putting the shower in a bucket of hot water with white wine vinegar added every so often.” The vinegar, he explains, helps break down the limescale deposits and improves the water flow to your shower.

No need to explain why and how this area of your home needs extra attention. Parry explains that in addition to the obvious ways your toilet gets filthy, it can get limescale buildup (just like your shower head). “Dark marks at the bottom of the toilet bowl are usually due to limescale trapping dirt particles – and if a toilet isn’t used regularly or if you’ve been away for a while, you’ll see that these dark marks become more pronounced over time,” he says.

“Usually, if you use a specialised toilet product every few days, this will be more than sufficient to keep on top of any problems.” He recommends applying the product, letting it sit for half an hour (or overnight if the problem is worse) and then using a toilet brush to break up the limescale.

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Most of the time, simply taking out your rubbish will get rid of any unpleasant odours; but occasionally you’ll have to wipe out the bin itself. In fact, Parry recommends doing this every week or so. “Food can spill out of the bin bag and into the bin itself,” he says. “Although this is a job most people hate doing, cleaning out any food and wiping the bin out regularly will leave your home smelling fresh and clean!”

Dust build-up can be a source of allergies, yet people often forget to dust the baseboards, according to Johnson. To remove dust, she says, try wiping down baseboards with a dry microfibre cloth. “Microfibre cloths are the best material for picking up dust since the fibres in the cloth are split with open hooks on the end to pick up and hold the dust or soil,” she says. “Always use a dry microfibre first to remove dust and, if needed use a wet microfibre to remove spills and stains.” This will ensure no residue is left on the baseboard.

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Clean air ducts are key to maintaining the indoor air quality of your home and the efficiency of your system, says George Hernandez, VP of Operations at PuroClean. He says they should be cleaned at least once a year by a certified professional. “As a homeowner, you can help in between cleanings by changing your air filter on a monthly basis and making sure the drain line is not clogged,” he says. “When you change your filter, you can pour diluted bleach down the drain line to eliminate microbial growth.” In addition to professionally cleaning your air ducts, he recommends that your AC unit be serviced once a year to ensure that the coils are cleaned; that will allow air to flow through more easily.