The thing with cleaning hacks is that sometimes they … just aren’t hacks at all -  they either don’t work or they leave you with a bigger mess than you started with. Not ideal, to say the least. When you’re spending time cleaning your house, you want to have something to show for your efforts, right!? And we want to help! So we’ve rounded up 11 of our best, most brilliant cleaning hacks — including the easiest and laziest way to get rid of odours coming from the sink to how you can clean up broken glass with a piece of bread, and much more. Check out our list below:

1. Clean Your Oven with a Dishwasher Tablet

So it turns out, the little dishwasher tablets you frequently use for cleaning your dishes in the appliance can be used for much more. We love to use it as a tool for cleaning ovens. And even toilets. Yes, seriously!

Simply dip the pod in the warm water and hold it long enough to soak up a bit of the water, but not too long that it starts to crumble. Lay the tablet flat, and use your palm to move the tablet in circular motions and scrub away the stains. Then dip the tablet again when it starts to dry out. It works well on the glass, and is also effective on the surrounding metal part of the oven door (but you might need to apply a little more pressure). When you’re finished, simply wipe away any residue with a clean damp cloth.

2. Use Vinegar to Unclog Taps

If you have hard water in the area where you live, you may find that the faucet (tap) on your kitchen sink gets clogged/blocked from time to time. Simply fill a bag with equal parts water and white vinegar, submerge your kitchen faucet, secure it with a rubber band or a zip tie and voila: keep it on overnight and by tomorrow morning your kitchen faucet should be free of gunk and back to working order. Just remember to let the water run for a minute or so after removing the bag to get rid of any lingering vinegar or buildup.

3. Squirt Some Dish Soap Down the Drain

Finding your drain a little slow to, um, drain? Squirt a little dish soap down there and run the hot water. Dish soap is formulated to cut through grease. Usually that grease is on your dishes and cookware, but it can also accumulate in your drain/pipes, causing blockages and odours - so give this hack a go and see the difference it makes.

4. Cut a Corner Off Your Sponge

You know that sponge you use to clean the dishes with? And the other sponge you use to wipe down the walls? Keep track of which one is which with this smart trick: Just cut off the corner of the sponge you use for the dirty work. It'll act as a visual reminder as to which sponge is for which chore. So simple, yet so effective.

5. Polish a Stainless Steel Sink with Flour

Yes, you read that correctly - you can polish stainless steel with the help of the flour already in the kitchen cupboard. All you have to do is wash and dry the sink, sprinkle the whole unit with flour, and then get to buffing. You’ll be surprised at how sparkly the metal gets in such a short amount of time!

6. Use Your Dishwasher to Dry Hand-Washed Dishes

This is a great hack that skips the use of a dish rack. After all, a dish rack takes up too much  space on the side, so instead you can use your dishwasher’s empty racks to dry your hand-washed dishes. Your dishwasher will hold more than a dish rack, anyway, so you can clean a sink full of hand-wash-only dishes in no time.

7. Add a Bowl of Vinegar to Your Dishwasher

Keeping with the focus on your dishwasher - if you live in an area with hard water, you are probably pretty frustrated with dirty-looking dishes that come out of your dishwasher. To solve this, you simply need to put a bowl right-side-up in your dishwasher and pour in some vinegar. Run the dishwasher — the vinegar will help combat that hard water so your dishes come out sparkling again.

8. Banish Sink Odours with Baking Soda and Lemon Juice

If you've read other blogs of ours, you've probably got the hint we love using baking soda for cleaning purposes, so of course we have to bring a hack to you in this blog too. When you think of all the gross stuff that goes down the drain of a kitchen sink, it makes sense that it’ll start to smell eventually. Try this DIY de-clogger to keep your pipes clear of gunk and smelling nice again: Flush your drain with very hot water, then slowly pour a cup of baking soda down. Finish it off with about a cup of lemon juice and wait for the fizzy chemical reaction. It's magic!

9. Use a Potato to Clean Rust

Again, yes you read that correctly... you can clean with a potato. Here’s how it works: Cut the potato in half, dip the cut end in dish soap or baking soda, and rub it over the rusted area. If the end of the potato gets slick, slice it off and dip the newly cut end. Repeat until all the rust is removed!

10. Clean up Broken Glass with a Piece of Bread

It happens from time to time: You gesture a little too enthusiastically and down goes your fancy wine glass that only comes out for special occasions. The big pieces of glass are easy enough to pick up, but the tiny shards? Not so much — or are they? What if we told you all you need is a slice of bread? That's right, get a slice of bread and just press it gently over the glass and the little fragments will stick to the soft dough. (They don’t call it Wonder Bread for nothing.)

11. Microwave Your Cleaning Rag Before You Get to Work

And for the final hack in today's blog - you should zap your cleaning rag in the microwave before you start cleaning. Just make sure it’s damp before you put it in and figure out how long it needs to be nuked in order to be hot but ok to handle (make sure it's not scalding - no injuries here please). Once it’s steamy and hot, the rag will be way more powerful when it comes to cutting through the messes in your kitchen.