Cleaning has never been this easy, quick and, yes, even fun. (Photo: Amazon)(Amazon)
Cleaning is a necessary evil, but it doesn't have to be taxing. There are plenty of products on the market designed with the very intention of making the job easier and quicker — and we've rounded up some real winners. From a nearly hands-off microwave cleaner to a set of mop slippers that'll wipe up your floors while you walk (!), these little lifesavers will spare you from having to do most of the dirty work yourself. Plus, each and every item on this list costs less than $25, so you can be on your way to a cleaner home and a happier wallet.
Dishwasher starting to stink? The solution could be as easy as popping one of these bad boys into the detergent tray and running a normal wash cycle. Not only will it fill the appliance with a fresh, lemony scent, it'll also help remove limescale and mineral buildup.
And for your washing machine, these tablets will take care of those musty odors and residue that have accumulated over time so your clothes aren't being 'cleaned' in a dirty appliance. Just place one inside, run a normal or heavy cycle with hot water and simply wipe away any leftover buildup.
Will you go clear or colorful? At these prices, why not get both!
Get these kitchen lifesavers in black, clear or white (above).
There's no need to try cleaning out the crumbs between every key on your laptop with spray and a cloth — this slimy yet satisfying gel will do the trick! Stick it anywhere that could use a good dusting — your car's cup holders, console, air conditioning vents — and it'll effortlessly pull up all of that debris. You can even rinse it off and reuse it.
Mopping is the worst, but rather than hauling out a big water bucket and schlepping it around your house, you can slide into these very fashionable slippers. Jokes aside, they'll wipe up spills and other messes while you walk around taking care of other household tasks — just toss 'em in the washing machine when you're done.
There's a reason this No. 1 bestselling carpet cleaner has 'instant' in its name. You simply spray some onto the spot you're trying to remove — whether it's a pet stain, ink, blood, coffee — and it'll get to work in a jiffy. It even works on many old stains, no rinsing or vacuuming required.
No matter how furiously you scrub away at that mold on your grout, chances are the results are never worth the elbow grease. You'll probably have better luck by squeezing some of this over the stains and letting it sit for at least 7-8 hours. When you come back, a lot of that gunk will have been lifted, making it a breeze to rinse away.
You can probably tell from the name alone just how hands-off this shower cleaner is! All you do is attach the sprayer head, spritz over your shower once a week, leave for 8-12 hours and rinse with warm water. It'll target soap scum, hard water stains and calcium buildup, and even has a pleasant vanilla scent.
And if you have a jetted tub, we're willing to bet you aren't cleaning the filth out of those jets nearly enough (yes, they need regular maintenance). Luckily, it couldn't be easier to do — fill your tub with hot water, pour a quarter of this bottle in, run the jets for 15 minutes, drain and wipe clean. You'll literally be saying, 'Oh, Yuk!' once you see how much nastiness you've been bathing in all this time.
Let's face it — red wine, as delicious as it is, is a real pain to clean. Well, it was until this nifty spray came along. Formulated without bleach or phosphates, Wine Away helps lift those crimson stains (as well as coffee, sauce, ink, blood and more) in just 1-5 minutes. Your only job is to blot the stain until it disappears and wipe away any residue with a damp rag.
Is there anyone who actually likes cleaning their toilet? Anyone? Bueller? That's what we thought. With this nifty tool, you'll probably be able to get away with doing the task a lot less. It's a little dispenser that stamps gel cleaner onto the interior side of the bowl so it can freshen up your toilet with every flush. Each stamp lasts for about 12 days and helps keep limescale, hard water stains and icky odors at bay. Who knew cleaning a toilet could actually be ... fun?
Water bottles and tumblers are some of the most annoying things to clean; you have to stick your hand down into a narrow opening, and even after a copious amount of scrubbing, those coffee stains usually don't budge. Don't make it harder than it has to be. With Bottle Bright, you fill your vessel with warm water, pop in a tablet, let it fizz up for 15-30 minutes, empty and rinse! That dirty travel mug you thought was a goner will look shinier than you ever thought possible.
Keurigs are super convenient when it comes to getting your caffeine fix, fast — but did you know you're supposed to clean them out on the reg? It's not as scary as it sounds. These pods go into the machine just like K-Cups, and then all you do is brew one cycle, remove the pod and brew with just water to flush everything out. When you see how gross the resulting water is due to the prehistoric coffee grounds just sitting in there, you'll be glad you bought these.
Thought going to town with a Magic Eraser was the only way to get rid of those scuff marks on your walls? Think again! This nearly zero-effort spray can lift everything from fingerprints and crayon messes to ink and food stains in no time — just spray and wipe. It's safe to use on painted surfaces, baseboards, doors and trim.
Anyone who's ever had to clean a crusty oven knows how impossible it can be. Our advice? Keep spills from happening in the first place with these nonstick oven liners. They're heat-safe, BPA- and PFOA-free, and you can cut them to fit your appliance. Now, food will spill onto the mats rather than your oven, which are far easier to rinse clean.
"The Rubbermaid Power Scrubber is amazing!" exclaimed an impressed user. "Not only does it get the water stains out of the tile grout, but it’s small enough to get into the crevices of the shower door and side panels. Black gunk I had never even seen was streaming down, with very little effort from me. Best of all, no pain in my hands from my carpal tunnel syndrome." (Psst: I'm also a fan — check out my full Rubbermaid Reveal Power Scrubber review!)
One brave customer put Mama to the real test: cleaning a microwave that had been neglected for years. The verdict? "Angry Mama is amazing!" they exclaimed. "I just tried this for the first time on my dad's microwave. As you can imagine a bachelor microwave to look like, it was messy. I did exactly as directed and it was an easy clean afterward! This is a life-changer for us! It has been years since his microwave had been cleaned and I was able to wipe the stuck-on food right off."
“I used this to clean out the little holes on my iPhone 13,” shared a ColorCoral convert. “Before I used it, people kept telling me they could barely hear me, and the voice-to-text and audio assistant could never understand what I was saying. I used this product for about three to five minutes, and I didn't expect much from it. To my surprise, it cleared up pretty much all the problems I was having. ... I can't recommend this product enough. It worked way better than I could ever ask for.”
"I recently moved to a home where I’m sure the dishwasher had never been cleaned," wrote a satisfied user. "We have hard water and the buildup was bananas. I spent a long time using vinegar and baking soda trying to clean the buildup. Then I found these. No elbow grease required, and what a difference!"
"This stuff really works!" gushed a wowed reviewer. "I used it as directed and my washing machine is actually clean. All that nasty gunk under the door gasket? Gone with absolutely no effort! Love it!"
"Super neat idea!" said a happy cleaner. "Cute and easy way to dust your floors with absolutely no effort! Just walk around the house lazing, and you're done!"
"Love this!" exclaimed an excited reviewer. "Got red pizza sauce all over my white couch today (note to self: don’t eat pizza on a white couch around a hyper puppy) and used this and the stain was immediately gone. No scrubbing. No fuss. Love this product."
"Where has this been all my life?" pondered one fan. "I tried so many different cleaners and brushes to clean the mold that would grow in the corners of my tub. I was ready to dig the caulk out and start over. I applied a layer of this, left it overnight and rinsed clean the next morning. All of the mold was gone and it required zero scrubbing! I will definitely reorder this to keep my caulk and grout clean."
"This stuff is a lifesaver," wrote a relieved parent. "Life is tremendously busy with kids, and cleaning the shower is at the bottom of the list. I bought this due to pure frustration and disgust of my shower, and it has turned it around in a weekend. You literally spray it and forget it, and just with that little effort, I have a clean shower! Also great for glass doors. It cleaned everything!"
"I had used other products that claimed to clean jacuzzi tub jets, but none compare to this product, which produced amazing results!" raved a happy shopper. "It was very easy to use and clean-up was a breeze! It does leave a ring around the tub, but by following [the] directions on the bottle, with a quick wipe with a clean paper towel, my tub now glistens and smells great! I highly recommend this product to anyone who has a bathtub with jets — you will be very, very pleased."
"This product is amazing!" wrote a Wine Away enthusiast. "My boyfriend spilled a glass of wine (he gets animated when he talks) on my carpet and I didn’t know how I was going to get it out. My cats have knocked over bottles of wine onto my carpet before and I used baking soda to get that out, but it was such a long process of scrubbing and scrubbing again. I simply sprayed this Wine Away stain remover onto my carpet, blotted it five minutes later and it was gone!"
"These are an easy way to help my bathroom smell fresh and clean," shared a longtime buyer. "They also do a pretty good job of reducing how often I need to scrub the toilet bowl. I've been using them for years!"
"I use my thermos for tea every day," wrote a satisfied sipper. "Needless to say, the inside gets quite colored with tea residue over years of use. ... I was blown away by how effective the tablets were. ... I left it to sit overnight (though it may not have been necessary). In the morning, the thermos was sparkling clean with no scrubbing. ... No tea residue, no weird smells from the chemicals, just clean. This was the easiest cleaning job I have ever done and almost wish I had more scummy mugs to use this with, it's so satisfying."
"These K-Cup cleaners are so easy to use, it only took around five minutes to clean a filthy Keurig coffee maker," said a fan. "My coffee now tastes like it did when my Keurig was brand new. I'm buying these from now on."
And while these final three items aren't cleaning products per se, they deserve honorable mention for proactively keeping messes from occurring!
"This is so great!" wrote a pleased user. "Keeps my oven clean with no effort on my part. The days of scrubbing gunk off the bottom of the oven are gone. Even with a self-cleaning oven, there is no need to use this feature with the oven liner."
"TikTok made me buy it," admitted one happy shopper. "Pulled out the oven to find a horror story ... got that all cleaned up ... then put these lil' things in. They blend so well, it just looks like something that should have been installed from the beginning. No more crumbs/liquids/grease getting down the sides of the oven. Once you start seeing how much is there for you to wipe up, you realize just how much was falling in between!"
"My family's infamous for spilling food/drink in the fridge and not cleaning it up," wrote one impressed customer. "By the time I get to the spills, I need a Brillo pad to clean it up. These liners are easy to install and do the job of catching spills. Easy cleanup."
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The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.
