30 spring cleaning tricks you'll wish you'd known all along

Spring means a fresh start, and you probably want to spruce up your home around this time of year. If you're like me, though, you may not have much time for spring cleaning. 

Here are 30 tips to make your home sparkle in no time with a lot less effort.

Cleaning is a chore. Make it fun by whipping up this cleaning slime for electronics to get your gadgets gleaming while you giggle.

Don't use elbow grease to clean the crusty, burnt-on food on your stovetop. Use this quick tip to get your range clean within seconds.

Hate scrubbing your bathroom? Hit that shower and bathtub hard with a homemade power scrubber. This baby will blast through soap scum in no time, letting you get to more important things, like catching up on Netflix.

Don't keep wiping down your fridge shelves every time there's a spill. Cover your shelves with plastic or cloth place mats instead. 

When they get dirty just throw them in the dishwasher or the washer. Want more? Here are nine more tips for keeping your fridge clean.

Go to the office supply store and grab an organizer that's meant for keeping papers and pens wrangled. Attach it to the wall with two strategically placed screws at the top and fill with your gaming goodies. Bam! No more mess. 

Here are a bunch of even easier ways to keep your gaming gear organized.

The self-cleaning option on your stove is a great lazy way to keep it clean. It only self-cleans to a point, though. 

After the oven cools down, wipe down the interior with a damp cloth to remove any soot and leave the door open for a few hours to let the oven air out. So shiny! 

Bonus: Keep the floor around your stove clean with this easy tip.

Orange peels are great for cleaning, so the next time you have a snack, do a quick wipe-down of your stainless steel appliances. Here are five ways you can use oranges for cleaning.

Is your best bed friend feeling a little flat? Get it clean and fluffy again with these pillow-cleaning tips.

You can re-fluff your ragged towels, too. All you need is to run a load of towels through a wash with nothing but vinegar. 

The vinegar strips the residue from fabric softeners and detergents, leaving them soft again. Here are the details on how to re-fluff your towels.

One of the best ways to fix yellowed sheets is by letting them dry in the sun. The sunlight acts as a natural bleaching agent. 

It's important to wash your comforter and pillows at least every six months, so spring seems like the ideal time. To prevent them from balling up in the dryer, throw in a couple of tennis balls. The balls will bounce around and fluff your comforter or pillows as they dry.

Polishing stainless steel appliances makes your kitchen look nice, but it's a time-waster when you can just make your appliance smudge-proof with this tip. Think of all the things you can do now that you don't need to polish your stainless steel!

One day they will invent a self-cleaning ceiling fan, but until that day, try this simple tip.

Secure a used dryer sheet around the end of a long-handled paint roller with a couple of rubber bands. The angle of the paint roller is perfect for cleaning the tops of the blades without moving too much, and the length of the handle keeps you safely on the floor.

Dryer sheets are awesome for lazy cleaning. Here are a bunch of other ways to clean using dryer sheets.

Hey, life is too short to clean things by hand. Throw them in the washing machine for a quick scrub. Here are 10 unusual things you can get clean in the washing machine.

Your washer isn't the only one that can clean unusual items. For example, you can put kids' toys in mesh bags and throw them into the dishwasher for a quick cleanse. 

Here is the full list of 25 things you can clean in the dishwasher.

Getting rid of clutter can lead to cleaning less. Who doesn't want to clean less? Here are some easy tips for wrangling all those small appliances and clearing the clutter. Your kitchen will thank you.

Your toaster is probably full of gunk, and trust me, you don't want that on your toast. But flipping your toaster over and shaking it just isn't getting the job done. 

Here's how to quickly clean your toaster so it's spring fresh.

The most effective tip for removing food and stains from pans and pots that I've ever found involves aluminum and a powdered cleanser. Very little effort is needed to get gleaming pots in no time with this strategy. 

Learn more about my foil and cleanser pot-cleaning tip here.

You can make your own dishwasher detergent out of just two ingredients: dishwashing liquid and baking soda. It totally works. Here's the recipe for homemade dishwasher detergent.

You can also make your own laundry detergent. Well, not so much make as measure. All you need to do is measure out 1 cup of baking soda and throw it into your load. Your clothes will come out smelling good and looking clean.

You many not remember Mama ever tossing anything out that still looked good, but there are probably some things in your pantry that need to go. 

Most foods don't stay good indefinitely. For example, yeast, mustard, mayo and ketchup are not pantry items after they're opened. Once the seal is broken they should be put in the fridge. Got some bottles open in your pantry right now? Best toss them and start fresh.

Here are some more pantry items that may need tossed.

Your mom may have had a rule about no animals on the couch, but you just can't deny your pet. No worries. You can whip up a fur-removing gadget by slipping a sock over one of the beaters on a hand mixer and securing it with a rubber band. Here's more on how to make this magical device.

Your slow cooker can be used for way more than just making chili. It can clean your jewelry, too. Mix vinegar, salt and water in your slow cooker, add your jewelry and let it sit for 15 minutes on low. 

Your jewelry will shine like new. For measurement details and other non-food uses for your slow cooker, take a look at this article.

A mixture of one part coconut oil and one part baking soda can remove scuffs from most types of floors and even removes dried paint drips from linoleum.

Your little artist uses your walls as a canvas? Set your blow dryer to warm and wave it over the drawing. The warm air will soften the crayon markings. Then, just wipe them away with a paper towel. 

Here are some more cool ways to use your blow dryer for more than just hair.

While you're cleaning with your blow dryer, don't forget to give it a little love, too. Just a few wipes from a makeup sponge can easily clean up the vent on the back of a blow dryer. This can prevent overheating and make your blow dryer last longer.

Coffee filters are great for cleaning glass because they don't streak or leave lint behind. Here are some more creative things you can do with coffee filters.

No need to scrub your shower curtain. Just throw it in the washing machine. Here are five tips to machine washing without destroying your curtain.

Drips make their way inside your oven window and seem impossible to get out. There's a little slot on the bottom of the door that allows you to get in there and deep-clean, but you'll need this homemade cleaning tool to get the job done.

I know you have a horde of plastic sacks under your kitchen sink. Stuff as many as you can into an old tissue box for under the sink and recycle the rest. A lot of grocery stores have a bin for recycling plastic bags, look for one the next time you go shopping.